How to Preserve Microsoft Teams Recordings After an Employee Leaves
Question details
The user needs to ensure that Microsoft Teams meeting recordings involving a former employee are retained and accessible after the employee's account is deactivated.
- Product
- Microsoft Teams
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Managing organizational data and preserving important meeting recordings during the employee offboarding process.
- Observed behavior
- Recordings may expire or become inaccessible once the associated user account is deleted or when organization retention policies take effect.
Ensure you have the necessary administrative permissions or coordinate with your IT department to access the departing employee's Teams chat, OneDrive, or SharePoint files before their Microsoft 365 license is revoked.
Manually Download and Transfer Recordings to a Shared Location
This is the most reliable method to ensure a recording is saved. By moving it to a central organizational repository, you guarantee access regardless of the former employee's account status.
Microsoft Teams meeting recordings are typically saved to the recording initiator's OneDrive or the channel's SharePoint site. If the user leaves, their personal OneDrive data may eventually be deleted. Moving these files to a shared location prevents permanent data loss.
Open Microsoft Teams and navigate to the chat or channel where the meeting took place to find the recording link, or search for it directly in the departing employee's OneDrive if you have admin access.
Click on the recording to open it in SharePoint or OneDrive, then click the 'Download' button in the top menu bar to save the video file locally.
Navigate to an approved, shared organizational SharePoint site, a shared OneDrive folder, or Microsoft Stream.
Upload the downloaded recording to this new location. Once uploaded, use the 'Share' or 'Manage Access' feature to grant view or edit permissions to the required team members.
Update Microsoft 365 Retention Policies
Administrators can set or modify retention policies to ensure all Teams data is preserved for a specific duration automatically.
Enhance Team Collaboration with WPS Office
While you manage file permissions and employee transitions in Microsoft Teams, consider optimizing your team's document workflow with WPS Office. It is a free, lightweight, and powerful alternative to Microsoft Office that makes collaborating, sharing, and managing documents incredibly simple, ensuring your team stays productive without heavy licensing costs.
- 1. Download and Install: Visit the official WPS website to download the free installation package for your operating system.
- 2. Sign In to Cloud: Create a free account to activate built-in cloud storage, allowing your team to easily save and share files in a centralized workspace.
- 3. Open Existing Office Files: Simply drag and drop your existing Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint files into WPS Office to continue editing without any formatting loss.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where are Microsoft Teams meeting recordings stored by default?
By default, Teams meeting recordings are saved to the OneDrive of the person who started the recording (for private meetings) or to the team's SharePoint site (for channel meetings).
How long do Teams meeting recordings stay available?
Recordings have a default expiration date, which varies by organization but is commonly set to 120 days. Once they expire, they are automatically sent to the recycle bin unless an admin or the owner extends the expiration date.
What happens to a user's OneDrive files when their account is deleted?
When an employee's Microsoft 365 account is deleted, their OneDrive data is typically retained for a default period of 30 days. During this window, an administrator can access the files and transfer them to another user or a shared library.
Can I recover an expired Teams meeting recording?
Yes. Once a recording reaches its expiration date and is deleted, it goes to the SharePoint or OneDrive recycle bin. It can generally be recovered from there within 90 days by the file owner or an administrator.
