Zoom recordings

A number of instructors have asked questions about Zoom recordings. Here is what we know.

Information:

• Meetings are recorded when a Zoom meeting is going and a Zoom Meeting Host hits Record. It does not happen automatically.

• Conversion into actual files doesn’t happen until the meeting is ended. So if someone closes the meeting without ending it, closes Zoom before the conversion is done, or network connectivity interruptions happens, etc., no recording might be made.

• Regular Zoom accounts have a 40 minute meeting limit. When the limit is hit, the recording is probably processed, but there is no clear cut answer on this.

• The only way to “bypass” the 40 minute limit is to upgrade to a Pro License (contact the Help Desk with your request) or to take a break before the 40 minute limit is hit, have everyone leave the meeting, and then use the Personal Meeting ID to resume. Multiple recording folders will be created this way as each new “meeting” will create a new folder of recordings.

• Local recordings are saved in OneDrive automatically in Documents\Zoom and then a folder for each Zoom meeting that looks like 2020-10-01 12.18.35 JOHN DOE's Personal Meeting Room 5526015570

• Cloud recordings can be accessed via the user’s Zoom portal. Cloud recordings are only stored for 6 months.

• There are 3-4 files that are generated. You can turn on File name extensions in the ribbon View menu of Explorer to see what types they are.

  • Audio_only – this is an m4a (audio) file for anyone who just wants the audio of the meeting without the video.

  • Playback – This is a playlist file. It has no video/audio data of its own. It can safely be ignored in most scenarios.

  • Zoom_0 – This is a video file with audio. This is typically what people want. There may be sequential videos if there were multiple recordings in this meeting (Zoom_1, Zoom_2, etc…)

  • Chat – If there was chat in this meeting, a text (.txt) file will be present with the Chat contents.

If the Zoom_# file won’t open, it might be corrupt. Per Zoom:

• If the meeting unexpectedly shuts down or if the conversion process is interrupted, the recording files could become corrupted and non-recoverable. Restarting or shutting down your computer, putting the hard disk to sleep, or closing your laptop will interrupt the conversion process.

• If the conversion process is not successful after the meeting has ended, you can try to convert the files again by navigating to the recording location and double clicking the recording files.

However if the recording is corrupt, there is nothing IT can do to “fix” it. The data itself is incomplete.