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Zoom, Local Recordings (University of Illinois)
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign IT help desk, undated
Read the originalRead on October 17, 2026
- What it is
- A University of Illinois help page that describes the files Zoom saves when you record a meeting to your computer, including the file names, the default folder and the conversion step after a meeting ends.
- How much weight it carries
- A university IT page that repeats Zoom's local recording behavior. It is not Zoom's own article, and its date is not shown, so check the file names on your own Zoom version.
Facts taken from this source
- Zoom names the audio-only file from a computer recording audio_only.m4a by default, and later recordings are numbered audio_only_0, audio_only_1 and so on.
“Audio-only file that is named audio_only.m4a by default.” (Zoom recording file formats)
- The Illinois Zoom help page says that by default recordings made to a computer go to a Zoom folder inside the Documents folder: C:\Users\[user name]\Documents\Zoom on a PC and /Users/[user name]/Documents/Zoom on a Mac.
“By default, all recordings will be placed in the following locations” (Overview of Local Recording)
- Zoom converts a computer recording after the meeting has ended, so the files can be opened only once that conversion is done.
“After the meeting has ended, Zoom will convert the recording so you can access the files.” (Zoom recording file formats)
- Zoom names the audio and video file from a computer recording zoom_0.mp4 by default, and later recordings are numbered zoom_1, zoom_2 and so on.
“Audio/Video file that is named zoom_0.mp4 by default.” (Zoom recording file formats)
- If a Zoom meeting shuts down unexpectedly, or the conversion of a computer recording is interrupted, the recording files can become corrupted and cannot be recovered.
“If the meeting unexpectedly shuts down or if the conversion process is interrupted, the recording files could become corrupted and non-recoverable.” (Zoom recording storage and conversion)