Teams saves its recordings in the cloud: one-to-one and scheduled meeting recordings go to the organiser’s OneDrive, channel meeting recordings go to the team’s SharePoint site. For a lot of people that is the wrong destination. The file belongs to someone else’s account, it expires on a schedule you did not choose, guests often cannot record at all, and an administrator can switch the whole feature off.
Recording the meeting to your own computer avoids all of it. This guide walks through it end to end.
What “local recording” actually means
There are two very different things people mean by recording a Teams meeting locally.
The first is downloading a cloud recording after the fact. That still requires a Microsoft 365 licence, still depends on the organiser sharing the file with you, and still runs into the retention timer – you are just copying a file that was going to expire anyway.
The second is capturing the meeting on your machine as it happens, without Teams’ cloud recorder being involved at all. That is what Evaer does. It reads the audio and video that the Teams desktop app is already decoding, so the file exists only on your disk, from the moment you press stop.
Step by step
- Download and install Evaer for Teams on the Windows PC you take the meeting on. It is a one-screen installer, and the trial is fully functional.
- Start or join the Teams meeting in the normal Teams desktop app. Evaer works alongside it – you do not switch apps or dial in through anything else.
- Choose a layout in Evaer before or during the call: side-by-side landscape, side-by-side portrait, picture-in-picture, separate video files per participant, or screencast for a shared screen.
- Press Start Recording once the call connects. If you would rather not think about it, turn on automatic recording and Evaer starts a new file every time a Teams call connects.
- Swap the main video if needed. In picture-in-picture and side-by-side modes you can change which participant fills the main window while recording continues.
- Press Stop. The MP4 (or AVI) file is already on your disk. No processing queue, no upload, no waiting for a link.
Choosing a layout
| Layout | Best for |
|---|---|
| Side-by-side, landscape | Interviews and two-person calls you want to publish or transcribe |
| Side-by-side, portrait | Vertical video, mobile-first clips |
| Picture-in-picture | Showing a presenter with the other party small in the corner |
| Separate video files | Editing later – one file per participant, so you cut in any order |
| Screencast | Screen-sharing sessions, demos and walkthroughs |
Audio: pick the channel you need
Evaer can capture both sides mixed, your microphone only, or the remote party only. The last option is more useful than it sounds: it gives you a clean copy of the other person’s voice with none of your own room noise, which is what you want for transcription, for a quote, or for a record where only their side matters.
A separate MP3 track can be written alongside the video, and voice-only calls are saved as MP3 automatically without any video container at all.
Why the picture quality holds up
Evaer captures the original media stream rather than taking screenshots of your desktop. That means the resolution is whatever Teams received – up to 1080p – and it does not change if you resize or move the Teams window mid-call, open another application, or get a notification pop-up. A screen recorder would record all of that; Evaer records the call.
What you need
- Windows 10 or 11, 32-bit or 64-bit
- The Microsoft Teams desktop application (the free version is enough – no Microsoft 365 subscription)
- About 8 MB of disk space for the installer, plus room for the recordings
The trial records up to five minutes per file, which is long enough to check the quality against your own meeting setup. A licence removes the limit.
One thing to decide before you record
Teams’ own recorder tells everyone it is running. A local recorder does not, because it sits outside Teams and Microsoft never knows about it. That difference is a technical fact, not a legal one: in jurisdictions that require all-party consent, you still need consent. Decide your policy before the meeting, not during it.
Quick answers
Can I record a Teams meeting without a Microsoft 365 subscription?
Yes, if you record locally. Teams’ own cloud recorder requires a paid Microsoft 365 licence, but a desktop recorder such as Evaer captures the meeting from the Teams desktop app, so the free version of Teams is enough.
Where are Evaer recordings saved?
On your local hard disk, in the folder you choose in Evaer’s settings, as MP4 or AVI video with optional MP3 audio. Nothing is uploaded to Microsoft or to any other service.
Does the recording quality drop if I resize the Teams window?
No. Evaer captures the original media stream rather than the screen, so moving or resizing the Teams window during a call has no effect on the recorded resolution.
Can an administrator block this kind of recording?
Not from the Teams admin centre. Tenant policies control Microsoft’s built-in recorder. A local recorder runs on the user’s own PC and is outside that control.
Can I record a Teams meeting I was invited to as a guest?
Yes. Guests and external participants usually cannot start a cloud recording, but a local recorder on your own computer does not depend on your role in the meeting.