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Security & Privacy · Zoom
How to Turn Off AI Transcription and Recording in Zoom
Updated: May 9, 2026 · Applies to: Zoom (Business, Pro, Enterprise) · 5 min read
What This Article Covers Zoom has several AI and recording features that are enabled by default. This article walks you through exactly where to find them and how to turn them off — step by step, no technical experience required. It covers your account settings, your meeting settings, and what to check while a meeting is running. |
ℹ️ Before You Start You need to be the account owner or admin to change account-level settings. If someone else manages your Zoom account, forward this article to them. Individual users can still control some settings in their own profile — those are covered in Part 2. |
Part 1 — Account Settings (Do This First)
These settings apply to everyone on your Zoom account. Changing them here means no one on your team can accidentally enable AI or recording features.
How to get there: Open your browser → go to zoom.us → sign in → click Admin in the left menu → click Account Settings.
A. Turn Off AI Features
In Account Settings, use the search bar at the top and search for "AI Companion". Turn off each of the following:
Setting | Action |
| AI Companion — Meeting Summary | Turn OFF |
| AI Companion — Smart Recording | Turn OFF |
| AI Companion — Q&A | Turn OFF |
| Audio Transcript | Turn OFF |
| Closed Captioning (auto-generated) | Turn OFF |
| Full Transcript (inside Cloud Recording) | Turn OFF |
⚠️ Why These Matter AI Companion and Audio Transcript are the two features that actively listen to and process your meeting audio. Even if no recording is saved, these features send audio to Zoom's AI systems in real time. Turning them off stops that entirely. |
B. Turn Off Recording
Still in Account Settings, click Recording in the left menu. Turn off the following:
Setting | Action |
| Local recording | Turn OFF |
| Cloud recording | Turn OFF |
| Allow participants to record locally | Turn OFF |
| Automatic recording | Turn OFF |
C. Block Third-Party Recording Apps
Tools like Otter.ai and Fireflies.ai can join your meetings as a participant through Zoom's app marketplace. Restrict this access:
| Go to: Admin → Apps Find any apps related to transcription or note-taking (Otter, Fireflies, Fathom, etc.) and remove or disable them. |
| Go to: Admin → Account Settings → Meeting → In Meeting (Advanced) Find Allow third-party apps to join meetings and turn it OFF. |
Part 2 — Meeting Settings (Per Meeting)
These settings apply when you schedule a meeting. Apply them every time you're hosting a sensitive conversation.
How to get there: In the Zoom app or at zoom.us → click Schedule a Meeting → scroll to the options below.
Setting | Action |
| Waiting Room | Turn ON |
| Require authentication to join (sign in to Zoom) | Turn ON |
| Join before the host | Turn OFF |
| Allow participants to join from multiple devices | Turn OFF |
| Allow livestreaming | Turn OFF |
Part 3 — During the Meeting (Host Checklist)
Once the meeting is live, run through these steps as the host before you begin discussing anything sensitive.
| 1. Admit participants through the Waiting Room Only admit people you recognize by name. If an entry says "Otter," "Fathom," "Fireflies," or "Meeting Assistant," — do not admit it. |
| 2. Lock the meeting Click the Security button (shield icon) at the bottom of the screen → click Lock Meeting. This prevents anyone else from joining. |
| 3. Check for a recording indicator Look at the top-left corner of your screen. If you see a red "Recording…" badge that you did not start, stop the meeting immediately. |
| 4. Check for a live transcript banner If you see a "Live Transcript" notice at the top of the screen, click it and select Stop Transcript. |
| 5. Review the participant list Click Participants at the bottom of the screen. Scroll through the list. Anyone you don't recognize — remove them using the More menu next to their name. |
| 6. State your recording policy out loud Say clearly at the start: "Recording and transcription are not permitted in this meeting without prior authorization." |
Quick Reference — Full Checklist
Use this as your go-to reference before any sensitive meeting:
| Account Settings (one-time) |
| ✓ AI Companion features — OFF |
| ✓ Audio Transcript — OFF |
| ✓ Closed Captioning (auto) — OFF |
| ✓ Local and Cloud Recording — OFF |
| ✓ Automatic recording — OFF |
| ✓ Third-party app access — Restricted |
| Meeting Settings (each meeting) |
| ✓ Waiting Room — ON |
| ✓ Require sign-in to join — ON |
| ✓ Join before host — OFF |
| During the Meeting |
| ✓ Waiting Room reviewed — no unknown participants admitted |
| ✓ Meeting locked after all participants joined |
| ✓ No "Recording…" indicator visible |
| ✓ No "Live Transcript" banner active |
| ✓ Recording policy stated out loud at meeting start |
? One Thing to Keep in Mind These settings stop Zoom's built-in tools and most third-party bots. They cannot stop someone from holding a phone next to their speaker or running screen capture software on their own device. If a conversation is highly sensitive, the safest control is limiting who is in the meeting in the first place. |
YES Solutions · We Can Help
Want us to configure this for your account?
YES Solutions can log into your Zoom admin portal, apply all of these settings, and verify everything is locked down correctly — so you don't have to do it yourself.
© 2026 Yates Enterprise Solutions · yatessbs.com · Article ID: YES-KB-002 · Last Updated: May 9, 2026