Meeting Record Features for Zoom

Zoom AI Companion is available for meetings hosted by faculty and staff.

Zoom offers three main features for creating a meeting record. The table below lists and compares each feature, but the following points apply to all:

  • The use of these features within a specific meeting is completely within the control of the host (creator) or co-hosts. As noted, some features require the host to enable them in their account settings prior to the meeting start.
  • Transcripts, cloud recording captions, and meeting summary accuracy is dependent on the quality and clarity of the spoken audio as detected by Zoom. Any transcript or summary is likely to have inaccuracies that hosts and meeting participants will need to review and correct.

Instructions are also available for how to enable each record feature.

Meeting Record Features
FeatureOverviewTranscript OptionsBenefitsDrawbacks

Meeting Summary

(AI Companion)
Generates a detailed summary of your meeting discussions. The summary includes discussion topics, main points, and action items.Available by default for AI Companion users. Can be enabled or disabled by hosts in their Zoom account settings. Transcripts can be downloaded before the meeting ends or after the meeting ends. This is a word-for-word transcript separate from the generated summary.Creates a summary of what was said and shared on the screen, including discussion topics, main points, and action items.– The summary itself is not a word-for-word account of the meeting.
– Will have inaccuracies, so it must be reviewed and edited.
– All transcripts are formatted with timecodes throughout.
Meeting TranscriptProvides a text-only word-for-word transcript of the meeting as the meeting is in progress in a scrollable, searchable transcript panel.Not available by default except for AI Companion users. Can be enabled by hosts in their Zoom account settings. Transcripts can be downloaded before the meeting ends or after the meeting ends.Creates a word-for-word record of what was said during the meeting.– Will have inaccuracies, so it must be reviewed and edited.
– All transcripts are formatted with timecodes throughout.
Cloud RecordingGenerates an audio and video recording of your meeting. Includes any screen sharing, such as slide presentations, and camera views of participants.Yes by default. Transcripts are generated with other recording files unless disabled by the host.Gives you a full video and audio record of the meeting discussion with an optional word-for-word transcript.– Will have inaccuracies, so it must be reviewed and edited.
– All transcripts are formatted with timecodes throughout.

Enabling Meeting Record Features

Many meeting record features are enabled by default and just need to be turned on during the meeting, but some features are disabled by default and need to be enabled in the meeting host’s (creator’s) Zoom account. Hosts can also choose to disable features they never want to use in their meetings.

Meeting Transcripts

Meeting Transcripts are not enabled by default except for AI Companion users.

  1. Go to the Settings > Meetings page in your Zoom account on the web.
  2. Go to the In-meeting (Advanced) section and find Meeting transcript.
    • Turn the switch on to enable transcripts.
    • Allow all meeting participants to view transcripts during the meeting is disabled by default. Check the box to make the full transcript panel available to participants during meetings.
    • Allow saving transcripts to computer is disabled by default. Check the box to enable saving of the transcript during the meeting. You can also restrict who is allowed to save.
    • Click the Save button if it appears.

During your meeting, use the Transcript button to access this feature.

Meeting Summary (AI Companion)

The Meeting Summary feature is enabled by default for eligible groups. During your meeting, use the AI Companion button to start the meeting summary.

Transcripts are generated by default for meetings using Meeting Summary only. AI Companion users can change the default settings in the settings for Meeting Transcripts referenced above.

To access the summary and source transcript after the meeting:

  • Go to the Summaries page in your Zoom account on the web for a list of all available summaries.
  • Go to the Recordings & Transcripts page in your Zoom account on the web for a list of all available AI Companion source transcripts.

Cloud Recording

Transcripts for cloud recordings are enabled by default unless the host has disabled the setting.

  1. Go to the Settings > Recording page in your Zoom account on the web.
  2. In the Advanced cloud recording settings section, find the Create audio transcript setting and make sure it is checked.

To access cloud recording transcripts after a meeting:

  1. Go to the Recordings & Transcripts page in your Zoom account on the web for a list of all available cloud recordings. Click one to open it.
  2. Click the Audio transcript item to download the file.