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Microsoft Teams: Recording & Downloading Setup Guide

The ultimate guide to optimising Teams for seamless recording access and Contented AI integration

Updated this week

Quick Overview

Most teams use Microsoft Teams for different types of meetings, each with unique recording access challenges. This guide shows you how to set up Teams optimally for every meeting scenario so your team can easily capture and upload recordings to Contented AI.

Meeting Types We'll Cover:

  1. Channel Meetings

  2. Client Meetings

  3. Private Meetings
    ​

The Challenge

Your team needs to easily download meeting recordings to upload to Contented for analysis, but Teams makes this difficult by default.

Default Microsoft Teams behaviour:

  • Only meeting organisers can download recordings from private meetings

  • External participants can never download recordings

  • Channel meetings require specific admin settings to enable downloads

Internal Team Meetings (Channel Meetings)


When to Use:

  • Weekly team meetings

  • Project planning sessions

  • Internal brainstorming

  • Sprint retrospectives

  • Department meetings

  • Meetings with no external participants needed

Why Channel Meetings are Best:

  • All channel members can download recordings

  • Recordings stored in SharePoint (accessible to all)

  • No dependency on specific organisers

  • Perfect for Contented integration

Setup Required:

  1. Admin Setup (One-time): Complete PowerShell Configuration Guide →

  2. Create dedicated Teams channels for different projects/teams

  3. Schedule meetings within channels (not as private calendar invites)

Workflow:

  1. Schedule: Create meeting in Teams channel

    1. In Teams , select the team you want to schedule a meeting in.

    2. Next to Meet now , select the dropdown arrow.

    3. Select Schedule a meeting .

    4. Select Send.

  2. Record: Click "Record" during the meeting

  3. Access: Go to channel Files tab → Recordings folder

  4. Download: Any channel member can download the MP4

  5. Upload: Upload to Contented for analysis

Channel Structure Examples:

📁 Marketing Team └── 📁 Files └── 📁 Recordings (auto-created) 

📁 Project-ClientName └── 📁 Files └── 📁 Recordings (auto-created) 

📁 Weekly-Leadership └── 📁 Files └── 📁 Recordings (auto-created)

Meetings with External Participants

When to Use:

  • Client calls and demos

  • External stakeholder meetings

  • Vendor meetings

  • Partner collaboration calls

Key Limitation:

  1. Cannot use channel meetings with external participants (which means the PowerShell commands will not work)

  2. External participants can never download recordings

  3. Only organisers and co-organisers can download

Workaround Strategy: Co-Organiser Approach

Before the Meeting:

  1. Add internal team members as co-organisers

    • Go to meeting invite → Meeting options

    • Change key team members from "Attendee" to "Co-organiser"

    • Make sure the people you want to add as co-organisers are added as required attendees.

      • Select Edit > More options.

      • In Event, select Meeting options .

      • In Roles > Choose co-organisers, search and select their names from the dropdown menu.

      • Select Save.

  2. Now multiple internal people can download recordings

  3. Designate recording responsibility

    • Assign one co-organiser as "recording lead"

    • Have backup co-organisers in case primary can't attend

During the Meeting:

  1. Ask for consent

  2. Start recording (any organiser/co-organiser can do this)

After the Meeting:

  1. Organiser/co-organiser(s) can download from OneDrive

  2. Share internally via file sharing or upload to Contented

  3. Share with external participants if needed (via email/link)
    ​

Client Meeting Setup Template:

  1. Meeting: Client Strategy Call

  2. Organiser: Account Manager

  3. Co-organisers: All other team members: Project Manager, Consultant Lead

  4. Other attendees: Client team members

  5. Recording Process:

    1. Any organiser/co-organiser can click record

    2. Account Manager downloads and uploads to Contented

    3. Account Manager shares summary/insights with client

Private Meetings

When to Use:

  • One-on-one meetings

  • Performance reviews

  • Sensitive discussions

  • Ad-hoc calls

Key Limitations:

  • Only organiser can download recordings

  • No admin settings can change this

  • Most restrictive option

Best Practices:

Option 1: Convert to Channel Meeting (If Possible)

  • Create a private channel for sensitive topics

  • Use channel meeting instead of private meeting

  • Benefits from admin settings enabling downloads

Option 2: Designated Recorder Strategy

  • Rotate organiser role among team members who need recordings

  • Always add a co-organiser for backup download access

  • Document who's responsible for capturing each meeting type

Option 3: Manual Sharing Process

  • Organiser downloads from OneDrive after meeting

  • Shares file with team members who need it

  • Team member uploads to Contented AI

Quick Setup Checklist

✅ For IT Admins (One-Time Setup):

  • Complete PowerShell configuration (Detailed Guide →)

  • Enable AllowCloudRecording for all users

  • Set ChannelRecordingDownload to Allow

  • Test with channel meeting to verify downloads work

✅ For Team Leaders:

  • Create dedicated Teams channels for recurring meetings

  • Train team on channel meeting vs private meeting workflows

  • Establish co-organiser protocols for client meetings

  • Document recording responsibilities for each meeting type

✅ For Team Members:

  • Understand which meeting types allow downloads

  • Know how to find recordings (channel Files tab vs OneDrive)

  • Practice the upload process to Contented AI

  • Know who to contact when recordings aren't accessible

Common Scenarios & Solutions

Scenario 1: Weekly Team Sync

  • Solution: Channel meeting in dedicated team channel

  • Result: Anyone can download for Contented AI analysis

Scenario 2: Project Planning with External Contractor

  • Solution: Make team co-organiser(s) strategy with contractor as attendee

  • Result: Internal team downloads, shares insights with contractor

Scenario 3: Sensitive HR Discussion

  • Solution: Private channel or private meeting with HR as organiser

  • Result: HR controls recording access and sharing

Scenario 5: All-Hands Company Meeting

  • Solution: Channel meeting in company-wide channel

  • Result: All employees can access recording thanks to PowerShell commands
    ​

Troubleshooting Guide

"I can't find the recording"

  • Channel meetings: Check channel Files tab → Recordings folder

  • Private meetings: Check organiser's OneDrive → Recordings folder

  • Wait time: Recordings take 5-15 minutes to process after meeting ends

"I can't download the recording"

  • Check meeting type: Only channel meetings allow member downloads

  • Check role: Private meetings require organiser/co-organiser role

  • Check admin settings: IT admin must enable downloads for channel meetings

"External client wants the recording"

  • Cannot download directly: External participants never have download access

  • Solution: Organiser/co-organiser(s) downloads and shares via email or file sharing platform

  • Best practice: Share Contented insights instead of raw recording

"Recording failed to upload"

  • Check storage: Organiser's OneDrive may be full

  • Temporary storage: Recording may be in 21-day temporary storage

  • Contact IT: May need admin assistance to recover

Related Articles
A Complete Guide to Contented
PowerShell Guide: Configure Microsoft Teams for Recording and Downloading Recordings
PowerShell Guide: Configure Microsoft Teams Transcripts
Microsoft Teams: Transcript Setup Guide
Microsoft Teams: Quick Start Guide
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