Built-in note-taker
Google Meet is recording your call: who started it, and how it stops
A Google Meet recording is made by Meet itself, not by a bot. Everybody is notified when it starts and when it stops, and the file goes to the organiser's Google Drive.
Part of Google's own app
Read on 10 November 2026
How it got into your call
- The host, or somebody the host's company allows, pressed Record under Meeting tools. Hosts can record by default; a Google Workspace admin decides who else can.
- Recording works from a computer or an Android phone, on the Workspace plans that include it.
Turn it off
- Meeting tools → Recording → Stop recording, then Stop recording in the pop-up.
- If the admin has switched on Quick Stop and host controls are off, anybody from the organiser's company can stop it for everyone.
Stop it in a call that is running
- Google notifies everybody in the call when a recording starts or stops, so you will know it is running.
- A guest cannot stop it. Ask the host to stop, or turn off your camera and microphone for anything you do not want recorded.
- It stops by itself when everybody leaves, and after eight hours in any case. Other windows and notifications on a shared screen are not saved.
What it keeps
The recording is saved to the organiser's Google Drive, and Google emails the link to the organiser and to whoever started it.
In Google's own words
Who can record
Google“Hosts can record meetings by default.”
support.google.com/meet/answer/9308681
Everybody is told
Google“Participants get a notification when the recording starts or stops.”
support.google.com/meet/answer/9308681
Quick Stop
Google“to end the capture for all participants, an internal user can click Stop”
support.google.com/meet/answer/9308681
When it ends
Google“The recording stops automatically when everyone leaves the meeting.”
support.google.com/meet/answer/9308681
Eight hours at most
Google“Meetings can only be recorded for a total of 8 hours, then the recording stops automatically.”
support.google.com/meet/answer/9308681
What it leaves out
Google“Other windows or notifications aren’t saved in the recording.”
support.google.com/meet/answer/9308681
Who gets the link
Google“An email with the recording link is sent to the meeting organizer and the person who started the recording.”
support.google.com/meet/answer/9308681
Read on 10 November 2026 from Google's own help pages. Something changed? Tell us.
A meeting with nothing to remove
On Meetful the notes are written by the meeting itself, from each person's own microphone, so no extra guest joins. Anybody can leave themselves out of the notes and stay in the call.
Other notetakers
Teams FacilitatorFacilitator is Microsoft's AI agent inside Teams meetings. It writes notes everybody from the organiser's company can watch being written, and only organisers and presenters can switch it off.Teams recording and transcriptionA Teams recording is made by Teams itself. Everybody is told when it starts, only people from the organiser's company can stop it, and it carries on even after the person who started it leaves.Outreach KaiaKaia is the meeting recorder inside Outreach, a sales platform. It shows up as a participant called “Kaia” unless the company renamed it, and once removed it cannot come back into that meeting.BuildBetterBuildBetter records calls for product and customer teams. Its bot joins Zoom, Google Meet, Teams and Webex calls from its user's calendar, and its user can stop it mid-call, which makes it leave at once.BluedotBluedot can record a call from its user's Chrome extension or desktop app, with nothing in the call, or send a bot called “[name]'s AI NoteTaker”. Whether you are told about the extension is up to the person using it.Pipedrive Nova AI NotetakerNova is the AI in Pipedrive, a sales CRM. Its AI Notetaker joins Google Meet, Zoom and Teams calls as a visible participant — about two minutes early, even before its user arrives — and the host can remove it at any time.
Try Meetful
Meetings that take their own notes
Free video meetings in the browser: every line of the transcript under the name of who said it, and the summary and action items when you hang up. Nothing to install — guests just open the link.