Are breakout rooms in Teams recorded?

There are extra meeting rooms in Microsoft Teams separated from the main meeting room. They are often used for learning, where the primary group is broken down into smaller groups to participate in tasks. So if the main meeting room is being recorded, does that mean the breakout rooms are recorded, too?

You can record breakout rooms in Microsoft Teams. However, they are not recorded by default, and you must record each room individually. Recorded rooms are saved on SharePoint for channel meetings or on OneDrive for everything else.

• How do you know if your breakout room is being recorded?
• How do you record a breakout room?
• Are recordings saved permanently?

Please continue reading this visual, in-depth guide to learn everything you need to know about recording breakout rooms in Microsoft Teams.

Let’s get started…

How to know if your breakout room is being recorded

A breakout room can be thought of as an independent meeting room. The breakout rooms are usually accessed through the lobby (the main meeting room). However, users can be given the option to bypass the lobby. The image below will help you visualize the structure of breakout rooms.

Much like in the main lobby, a notification will appear at the top when a recording begins or ends. Additionally, a red circular icon in the top left corner will indicate when a recording is in progress. If the main lobby is being recorded, that does not mean the breakout rooms are being recorded, too. Each breakout room must be manually recorded, and each recording will be saved to a different file.

• If you can see a red circular icon in the top-left corner, the room is being recorded.

How to make and record a breakout room in Teams

Breakout rooms are great for dividing a large group of people into smaller, manageable groups. But if the main meeting room is being recorded, that doesn’t mean the breakout rooms are being recorded, too. Before we record a breakout room, we must first make one. If you already have a breakout room, please head down to the section on recording.

Make a breakout room

• Click ‘Rooms‘ or the Rooms icon on the top menu.

• Click ‘Create rooms.’

• Click ‘Assign participants‘ to add users to the breakout room.

• Click ‘Unassigned‘ across from the user’s name.
• Select your room name from the drop-down menu.

• Click the ‘Assign‘ button in the bottom-right corner.

• Click ‘Open‘ or right-click > ‘Open room‘ to open the room.

• Now right-click the room and select ‘Join room.’

Record a breakout room

You can start recording once the breakout room has been created. This will have to be done manually for each breakout room as they are not recorded by default.

• Head up to the top menu and click ‘More‘ or the three dots.

• Select ‘Start recording‘ from the drop-down menu.

You will now see a red circular icon in the top left corner. The icon indicates that the breakout room is being recorded. Also, you will see a notice explaining that a recording is in progress. Another notice will appear when the recording ends, and the red circle will disappear.

How recordings are saved in Microsoft Teams

Recorded meetings are automatically saved to SharePoint (for channel meetings) or OneDrive. Admins or room owners can download the file once it has been saved. Otherwise, it will expire after 20 days. The expiration date can be removed or modified. However, editing the expiration date falls outside the scope of this article.

• To access the file, go to your Teams app and click ‘Teams.’
• Select your room from the list.

• You will now find the latest recordings in your Teams app.
• You can click the recording to view, download, or change the expiration date.

To learn more about accessing recorded files with Microsoft Teams, you can read our guide on How to access Teams meeting recordings.

Conclusion

Are breakout rooms recorded in Microsoft Teams? You can record breakout rooms, but they are not recorded by default. Also, each breakout room has to be individually recorded.

If the main meeting room is being recorded, that doesn’t mean the breakout rooms are being recorded, too. In order to know which rooms are being recorded, you can look out for the red circular icon.

If you want to learn more about recording meetings in Microsoft Teams, you can read our guide on How to record a call in Microsoft Teams.

Thanks for reading.