How to record a meeting on a Mac without a bot

Why skip the bot

Note-taker bots join from your calendar as a guest, so they show up in the participant list under a name like "Notetaker". The host has to let them in from the waiting room and can remove them, and many people now do. They also send the whole call to the bot maker's cloud.

Recording on your own Mac avoids all of that. Nothing joins the call, and with the right app the audio never leaves your computer.

Option 1: the meeting app's own recorder

Zoom, Meet and Teams can all record, with limits. Everyone in the meeting is told when a recording starts.

• Zoom: recording to your computer works on every plan, the free one included, but the host has to record or give you permission. Transcripts need a paid plan and cloud recording. Files go to Documents/Zoom on a Mac.
• Google Meet: only on some paid Google Workspace plans, or Google One with 2 TB of storage or more. The host, co-hosts or people they allow can record, and the file goes to the organiser's Google Drive.
• Microsoft Teams: needs a work Microsoft 365 licence. The organiser and people from the same organisation can record, guests can't, and the file goes to OneDrive or SharePoint.

Good for: meetings you host, when you want the video too. Not good for: someone else's meeting, or a free plan that doesn't allow it.

Option 2: macOS itself

From macOS 27, the screenshot tool can record the other people's voices. Press Shift-Command-5, choose Record, open Options and pick Include System Audio. On macOS 26 and earlier it records only your microphone, so you'd hear just your side.

You get a video file of your screen with sound. There's no transcript, no summary and no search.

Option 3: a recorder app on your Mac

A recorder app captures what your Mac plays and what your microphone hears, with the system audio permission macOS asks for. Nothing joins the call, so it works in any meeting app, including meetings you don't host, and even a phone on speaker next to your Mac.

Parrot is one of these. It's free and open source, transcribes on your Mac while you talk, and writes a report when you hang up. Here's how to set it up:

1. 1

   Download Parrot and pick a model

   Open the DMG, drag Parrot to Applications, and choose a Whisper model on first launch. It downloads once and runs on your Mac from then on.

2. 2

   Allow two permissions

   System audio for the other side and microphone for yours. The welcome tour opens the right settings panes. On macOS 14 the system audio permission is called Screen Recording, but Parrot records sound only.

3. 3

   Hit record when the call starts

   Click record or press Command-R. The transcript appears as people talk, and the report is ready when you stop.

Other apps work this way too, such as Granola, Meetily and Anarlog. See how they compare.

Compare meeting recorders

The three options side by side

Tell people you're recording

The law depends on where everyone is. In the US, federal law allows a recording if one person on the call agrees, but California and about ten other states need everyone's consent. In the UK and EU, data protection law expects you to tell people when you record for work.

This isn't legal advice. The simple habit that covers you almost everywhere: say at the start that you're recording, and why.

Questions

Will the other people know I'm recording?

Not from Parrot. Nothing joins the call and no notice is sent, which is why you should tell them yourself. The meeting apps' own recorders always notify everyone.

Does it work with headphones or AirPods?

Yes. Parrot records the call's sound inside your Mac, whatever you listen on, and your microphone separately.

Can I record a phone call?

Put the phone on speaker next to your Mac and Parrot hears it through the microphone. Calls you take on the Mac itself are recorded like any meeting.

Do I need to be the host?

Not with a recorder app or the macOS screenshot tool. With the meeting app's own recorder, usually yes, or the host has to allow you.