# When the client hosts the meeting, who keeps the recording and the notes?

> For freelancers and consultants who attend Google Meet and Microsoft Teams calls their clients organise: where the platform's own recording, transcript and AI notes are saved, who can open them, why that leaves the record of your work in someone else's account, and what to keep on your side. Ends with where a TrackHeros notetaker's record lives.

Canonical: https://trackheros.com/blog/client-hosted-meeting-who-keeps-the-notes/  
Author: Sami Kanafani  
Updated: 2026-10-22

**In short:** When a client hosts a Google Meet or Microsoft Teams call, the platform's recording, transcript and AI notes are saved in the organiser's Google Drive or OneDrive, under the client's storage, sharing and retention rules. A freelancer outside their organisation gets access only if the organiser shares it. Keep your own record as well: your notes, a recap email, or a notetaker such as TrackHeros.

| Fact | Detail |
| --- | --- |
| Google Meet recording and transcript | Saved in the meeting organiser's Google Drive |
| Teams meeting recording and transcript | Saved in the organiser's OneDrive; channel meetings in the team's SharePoint site |
| Access for outside participants | Not automatic on either platform; the organiser has to share |
| Who can record, on Teams | Not guests or people from another organisation, per Microsoft |

When a client hosts the meeting, the platform's record of it belongs to the client. The recording, the transcript and any AI notes that Google Meet or Microsoft Teams produce are saved in the organiser's account, kept on the organiser's terms and shared at the organiser's discretion. That is reasonable: it is their meeting. But it means the most complete record of what you agreed sits in someone else's storage. This guide is for freelancers and consultants who attend calls their clients organise, on Google Meet and Microsoft Teams, and it argues that you should always keep a record of your own.

## Where do Google Meet's recording and transcript go when the client hosts?

Into the organiser's Google Drive. Google's [recording page](https://support.google.com/meet/answer/9308681?hl=en) says recordings are saved to the organiser's Drive, in a folder for Meet with a sub-folder per meeting. That holds even when someone else pressed record. The link is emailed to the organiser and to whoever started the recording, and added to the Calendar event if recording began at the scheduled time; individual participants in the organiser's organisation get access automatically. Google describes no automatic access for guests from outside, who need the file shared with them.

Transcripts follow the same route. Google's [transcripts page](https://support.google.com/meet/answer/12849897?hl=en) puts them in the organiser's Drive and lets invitees in the host's organisation open the Calendar attachment. And as an outside guest you usually could not have started either: Google lists the host, co-hosts and, with Host management off, people in the host's organisation. The mechanics are in [how to transcribe a Google Meet call](/blog/transcribe-a-google-meet-call/).

## Where do Teams recordings and transcripts go when the client hosts?

Into the organiser's OneDrive, even if the organiser did not attend. Microsoft's admin page on [recording storage](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/tmr-meeting-recording-change) says recordings land in the organiser's OneDrive Recordings folder, or in the team's SharePoint site for a channel meeting, and that external participants "have no access, and the Organizer must share it to them". Its page on [recording a meeting](https://support.microsoft.com/office/record-a-meeting-in-teams-34dfbe7f-b07d-4a27-b4c6-de62f1348c24) adds that guests and people from another organisation cannot start a recording, that by default only organisers and co-organisers can download or delete it, and that administrators set when recordings expire.

Transcripts sit with the recording. A participant from another organisation can read the transcript live but not open it afterwards; the details are in [how to get a Teams meeting transcript](/blog/teams-meeting-transcript/).

## And the AI notes some plans offer?

The same, with an extra layer of licence. Google's help on its [AI meeting notes](https://support.google.com/meet/answer/14754931?hl=en) saves them in the organiser's Drive and lets the meeting's hosts and co-hosts decide whether guests from outside receive them. Microsoft's [recap page](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/teams/meetings/recap-in-microsoft-teams) says people outside the organiser's organisation won't have access to the AI recap, though the organiser can email AI summaries to invited participants.

In one table:

| What the platform makes | Google Meet, client hosts          | Microsoft Teams, client hosts              | What you get as an outside guest           |
| ----------------------- | ---------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------ |
| Recording               | Organiser's Google Drive           | Organiser's OneDrive (channel: SharePoint) | Nothing unless the organiser shares it     |
| Transcript              | Organiser's Google Drive           | Organiser's OneDrive, under Recap          | Teams: live reading only. Meet: ask for it |
| AI notes                | Organiser's Google Drive           | The organiser's recap                      | Whatever the organiser chooses to send     |
| Who could start it      | Host, co-hosts, their organisation | Organiser and their organisation           | Usually not you                            |

## Why does this matter to a freelancer?

Because the record of your work is held by the other party, on their schedule, behind their permissions. None of that is sinister. All of it bites eventually.

**The record of what was agreed is theirs.** When a client says in March that the export was always meant to include archived orders, the only verbatim account of the January call is in their Drive. You can ask for it. You cannot insist.

**It disappears on their terms.** A recording in the organiser's account lives as long as their retention rules, their storage quota and their administrator allow. Teams recordings can be set to expire. A clean-up you never hear about removes the one record you were relying on.

**Your access ends with the contract.** If the client gave you an account in their organisation, recordings you organised from it are in that account's storage, and the account is switched off when you leave. [The client-issued Google Workspace account guide](/blog/client-issued-google-workspace-account/) and its [Microsoft 365 twin](/blog/client-issued-microsoft-365-account/) cover the exit.

**You usually could not have pressed record anyway.** Both platforms reserve recording and transcription for the organiser's people, with narrow exceptions. Being in the meeting is not the same as being able to keep it.

**It cuts both ways.** Their recording is their data. Downloading it into your own tools, or forwarding it, is a decision for them and for your contract, not for you alone. If an NDA covers the work, read [AI notetakers and client NDAs](/blog/ai-notetakers-and-client-ndas/) first.

## What should you keep on your side?

A written record you control, every time, whether or not the client records. The minimum:

1. **Your own notes of decisions, actions, dates and numbers.** Not a transcript; the parts you would be asked about later.
2. **A recap email the same day.** It is the one record both sides hold, and silence after it is a kind of agreement. Templates are in [the follow-up email after a client meeting](/blog/follow-up-email-after-client-meeting/).
3. **The platform's files, when they matter.** For a requirements session, a scope change or a hand-over, ask: "Could you share the recording and transcript of Tuesday's workshop? I'd like to check the requirements against them." Ask soon, before any expiry.
4. **A line in the contract.** Who may record, who keeps recordings, for how long, and whether you receive a copy. Rules on recording differ by country and by contract, so check yours rather than relying on a guide.
5. **Your notes kept per client.** Whatever you keep, keep it where one client's record cannot surface in another's; the habits are in [keeping client meeting notes separate](/blog/keep-client-meeting-notes-separate/).

## Should you bring your own notetaker when the client already records?

Only if they agree, and only if their record does not reach you. If the client records, transcribes and reliably sends you the files, a second recording adds little and a second bot adds friction. If their record stays in their Drive, your own notetaker is the only full record you control. Ask first, name it plainly, and remove it if anyone objects. How to raise it is in [how to tell clients you use an AI notetaker](/blog/tell-clients-you-use-an-ai-notetaker/).

## Where does a TrackHeros notetaker's record live?

In your TrackHeros workspace, under that client, not in the client's Drive or OneDrive. The TrackHeros notetaker joins the client's call as a visible guest that the host admits, records it, and files the transcript, summary, decisions and action items under the client the meeting belongs to. The recording plays back inside the app. Every client is a sealed workspace of its own, so one client's record cannot appear in another's: see [client isolation](/features/client-isolation/).

You decide what to send: "Copy for email" on every plan, and formal PDF minutes on [paid plans](/pricing/). There are no share links and nothing is emailed automatically. When the engagement ends, deleting the client erases its meetings, transcripts, summaries and recordings from TrackHeros' database, its storage and the meeting-bot service. Backups expire within 30 days and are never restored into a live account. The privacy commitments are at [/#privacy](/#privacy).

## Frequently asked

**Can I get the recording of a Teams meeting a client organised?**

Only if the organiser shares it. Microsoft's storage page says external participants have no access to the recording and the organiser must share it with them. Ask for it by date and title, soon after the meeting, and before any expiry policy removes it.

**Where does a Google Meet recording go when someone else hosts?**

To the meeting organiser's Google Drive, even if someone else pressed record. Google emails the link to the organiser and to whoever started the recording, and participants in the organiser's organisation get access. Google does not describe automatic access for outside guests.

**Is it wrong to keep my own notes of a client's meeting?**

No. Writing down what was agreed is ordinary professional practice. A recording is different: tell the client before you bring a notetaker, follow whatever your contract says about recordings, and accept a no.

**Should I ask the client to send me their recording?**

When it matters, yes: a requirements session, a scope change, a hand-over. Ask once, by meeting and date, and say why. For routine calls, a recap email that both sides hold is usually the better record.

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