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Did you know you can record or transcribe meetings in Microsoft Teams?

15 January, 2026

#InsideIT

A practical guide to saving time on meeting notes at KAUST

Meetings move fast, and taking notes while actively participating is not always easy. Important points can be missed, especially in longer or discussion-heavy sessions.

Microsoft Teams recording and transcription are optional tools that help capture conversations, decisions, and context, so you can focus on the discussion instead of typing everything down.

Transcription and recording in Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams allows meetings to be recorded, transcribed, or both. These features capture spoken conversation so you can review discussions, decisions, and context after the meeting ends.

  • Recording captures audio, video, and shared content.
  • Transcription converts spoken conversation into text with speaker labels and timestamps.
  • Transcription can be used without recording, depending on the meeting setup.

Starting a recording or transcription

  1. Join the Teams meeting.
  2. Select More actions (⋯) in the meeting controls.
  3. Select Record and transcribe, then choose Start recording or Start transcription.

Participants are notified automatically when recording or transcription begins.

Quick refresher: meeting roles and permissions

If you can’t start recording, enable transcription, or access meeting recap content, it often depends on your role. Here’s a simplified view to help explain what different roles can typically do.

CapabilityOrganizer / Co-organizerPresenterAttendee
Speak and share video✓✓✓
Share content✓✓–
Mute or remove participants✓✓–
Change participant roles✓✓–
Start or stop recording✓✓–
Start or stop transcription✓✓–
Change meeting options✓––

Note: This is a simplified view for quick guidance. Available actions can vary based on meeting settings and organizational configuration.

Common KAUST use cases

Research and project meetings
Capture decisions, technical discussions, and next steps without relying on memory alone.
Administrative and operational meetings
Easily revisit what was agreed, who owns which action, and key discussion points.
Training sessions and workshops
Share recordings or transcripts with colleagues who could not attend, or extract FAQs and highlights.

Privacy and consent matter

Always inform participants before starting any recording or transcription. This applies to virtual, hybrid, and in-person meetings.

Review the KAUST Privacy Notice

How to find and download your meeting transcript

Once the meeting has ended, follow these steps in Microsoft Teams:

  1. Open Microsoft Teams.
  2. Go to Chat (if you have the meeting chat), or go to Calendar and open the meeting from there.
  3. Open the meeting details or meeting chat, then select the Recap tab.
  4. Select Transcript to view the meeting transcript.
  5. Select Download, then choose Download as .docx (document) or Download as .vtt (captions format).

If you don’t see “Recap” or “Transcript”:

  • Transcription may not have been started during the meeting.
  • Your role or meeting settings may limit access.
  • Guests or external participants can have reduced access depending on the meeting configuration.
Microsoft Teams meeting recap showing transcript download options

Example: Open Recap, select Transcript, then use the Download menu.

Learn more

KAUST IT

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