You finished the session, clicked Record on this Computer, and now you can't find the file — and it's a client's session. It's almost certainly still on your machine. By default, Zoom saves local recordings in a Zoom folder inside your Documents folder. This post covers where to look, what a .zoom file is, and why this is the one kind of Zoom recording with no backup unless you make one.
Where Zoom saves local recordings: the default folder location
When you record to your computer (Zoom calls it a computer recording), Zoom saves the files in a folder named Zoom inside your Documents folder, unless you've pointed it somewhere else:
| System | Default location |
|---|---|
| Windows | C:\Users\[Username]\Documents\Zoom |
| Mac | /Users/[Username]/Documents/Zoom |
| Linux | /home/[Username]/Documents/Zoom |
After the meeting ends, Zoom converts the recording, and the folder containing the files opens when the conversion finishes. If you missed it, or the Zoom folder isn't where you expect:
- Use the web portal. Sign in to the Zoom web portal, open Recordings & Transcripts, and choose the Computer recordings tab. The Location column shows the path each meeting was saved to — the quickest answer if you may have changed the folder, or recorded on another computer.
- Use the desktop app. Click your profile picture, open Settings, go to the Recording tab, and look under Local recording storage. That is where new recordings go; click Change to pick another folder. Zoom's guide to managing computer recordings covers this path.
Local recordings don't follow you between devices: if you recorded on a different computer, the files are on that one.
Inside the folder, Zoom's default file names are video[number].mp4, audio[number].m4a and chat.txt (when anyone typed in the chat), plus a playback[number].m3u playlist on Windows and, if you turned on separate audio files, one .m4a per participant. Zoom describes the audio-transcript .vtt as a cloud recording file, so don't expect one here. For what each file is for, see what's in a Zoom recording folder and which file to send.
Zoom recording not converted to MP4? What a .zoom file is
Zoom doesn't hand you a finished MP4 the moment you click Stop. After the meeting ends, Zoom converts the recording so you can access the files. When that conversion doesn't complete, the folder holds files named double_click_to_convert_01.zoom and double_click_to_convert_02.zoom instead of a playable video. Those .zoom files are the recording waiting for its conversion step.
Per Zoom's troubleshooting guide, the usual reasons the conversion didn't finish are:
- Low disk space (Zoom reports error code 614)
- An invalid save folder, or a network connection problem when the folder is on a network location
- Closing the laptop or shutting down while it was converting
- Renaming files while the conversion was running
- An internal conversion error
Zoom also warns that if the meeting shuts down unexpectedly or the conversion is interrupted, the recording files could become corrupted and non-recoverable. So act on a .zoom file sooner rather than later.
How to convert a .zoom file to MP4
Free up disk space or fix the cause first, then:
- Open the recording folder and find
double_click_to_convert_01.zoom. - Double-click it to convert the recording again. The MP4 and M4A should appear in the folder when it finishes.
- Don't close the laptop or rename anything until it's done.
If Windows asks "How do you want to open this file?", choose More apps, then Browse, and select zTscoder.exe in C:\Users\[PC username]\AppData\Roaming\Zoom\bin. On a Mac, the double-click needs Zoom's Transcode app set as the "Open with" app for the file — Zoom's guide has the steps.
A local recording has no second copy
A computer recording is saved on your computer, not in Zoom's cloud, so there is no cloud copy to fall back on, and nothing archives it for you. Local is a fine choice; it just needs one extra step. A dead drive, a stolen laptop, a "clean up my Documents" afternoon, or a reinstall that wipes the folder takes the only copy with it. For a client deliverable, that is the real risk — more than the .zoom file.
- For the recording you already have: copy it today to a cloud-synced folder, an external drive, or your own Google Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox, so it lives in two places, not one.
- For the next ones: if your Zoom plan includes cloud recording, record to the cloud, so a copy can be made without you remembering to make it.
How RecordFlow fits
Local recordings sit on one disk until you copy them; cloud recordings can be copied for you. RecordFlow works with the second kind only — it doesn't read your Documents folder, and a local recording never reaches it. When you record to the Zoom cloud, RecordFlow copies each recording to storage you own, such as Google Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox, after Zoom finishes processing it, going directly from Zoom to your storage. Cloud recording needs a paid Zoom plan and uses Zoom's storage allowance — the storage guides cover how that works; on a free plan, copying local files by hand is the way. Cloud vs local walks through which to pick.
Give your next recording a copy you didn't have to make.
Record to the Zoom cloud, connect Zoom to the storage you own once, and RecordFlow copies each recording automatically. Free to start.
