How to Recover Microsoft Teams Recordings

Microsoft Teams is a collaboration hub for organizations and their employees and is part of the Microsoft 365 family of software. What’s more, users without an active Microsoft 365 subscription can still access the free Teams version, and thus partake in file sharing, chatting, and video conferencing. It’s the last option that most often needs a revisit after the meeting finishes. Common reasons for that include revision, references, training material, and internal/external audits. Therefore, it’s no surprise that the software has multiple built-in safeguards. We’ll cover them all as we show you how to recover Microsoft Teams recordings. Let’s begin.

Note. Microsoft Team recordings are no longer saved to Microsoft Stream since early 2021. Because its Recycle Bin storage expires in 30 days, the files cannot be accessed by any means.

1. Double-check Microsoft Teams folders

You should verify that the files are missing before taking any radical steps. Case in point, recordings of Microsoft Teams meetings remain in the Azure Media Services cloud for 21 days. During that time, they’re available on Teams directly and uploaded to OneDrive for Business. In case of deletion, a copy is automatically uploaded to SharePoint. With that said, let’s get into how to find Microsoft Teams recording by default:

1. Launch Microsoft Teams.
2. Click on the Teams channel or a specific meeting in the left sidebar.
3. Once it opens, click on the Files tab in the top right corner.
4. Search for the recording on the list and right-click on it.
5. Select Get the link to get an URL to view the file in a web browser. Alternatively, click on Open in OneDrive.

2. Recover Microsoft Teams recordings from OneDrive for Business

We already told you where to find a duplicate if the recording is gone. Before you do, it’s important to note that recordings can remain in the OneDrive folder indefinitely. However, once deleted, they stay in the Recycle Bin for 30 days (Microsoft account) or 93 days (work or school account). Both values will be adjusted to 60 days by default as of September 1, 2021, but remain manually configurable by the administrator. Now, let’s dive into the solution.

Who has access to the file and where to look?

You can find the Microsoft Teams recording in these locations based on the type:

1-on-1 internal or external calls

Caller’s OneDrive for Business account will host the Microsoft Teams recordings. Callee in an internal party has read-only access, but can’t share. In contrast, a callee in an external party must get an URL from the caller.

Group calls

The recording is delivered to the OneDrive for Business account of the group member who pressed Record. Group members that belong to the same “tenant” as the recording person have read access but cannot download the file. External group members have no access except via a direct URL.

Scheduled/Adhoc meeting with/without external users

Organizer’s OneDrive for Business account will contain the duplicate Microsoft Teams recordings. Internal members (part of the same “tenant“) have read access but can’t download the file. External users can only view the recording with a direct link.

Desktop

Follow these steps to recover Microsoft Teams recordings from OneDrive on Desktop:

1. Head on over to the OneDrive for Business website and sign in.
2. Click on Recordings in the left sidebar. If it’s missing, check Files and Recent folders.
3. Select the file or files, and click on Download.
4. Note. You can also click on Recycle Bin, select a file, and click Restore. Or, mark multiple files and click Restore all items.

Mobile

If you’re using a OneDrive for Business app on Android, iOS, and Windows 10, you can do this:

1. Launch the OneDrive app and log in.
2. Look through the folders mentioned in step 2 above.
3. After selecting the file or files, click on Keep offline.

3. Restore Microsoft Teams recordings from SharePoint

If the recording you seek was of a Channel meeting, you’ll primarily find it in the SharePoint folder. We explained what it is and how it works in method 1 of our guide on recovery of Microsoft Teams files. However, we failed to mention that the default storage time changes from 93 days to 60 days by default on September 1, 2021. Identically to OneDrive, the period is flexible. Therefore, the organization might have configured it to be between 1 and roughly 3 months.

4. Find the recording using the Microsoft eDiscovery service

Both SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business are Tier-D compliant with Office 365 and Microsoft 365. What this means is that recordings are available for viewing (but not downloading) to compliance administrators for internal and external audits. If that’s your occupation or know someone whose it is, here’s what to do:

1. In Microsoft 365/Office 365, open the Security & Compliance Center.
2. Click on Search & investigation.
3. Select eDiscovery.
4. Click on Content search in the top left corner.
5. Search for “recording” to see a list of all recordings in the organization.

5. Reach out to Microsoft Support

While Microsoft Support can’t help when you are way past the expiration date, they might assist somehow. It’s undoubtedly the last resort solution, which we demonstrated in method 4 of the “recover Microsoft Notes” guide. The webchat method requires chatting with a bot before a human representative appears, ergo we recommend calling.