Guide

Teams meeting notes without Copilot or a bot

You can have notes from a Microsoft Teams meeting without Copilot, Teams Premium or a bot by recording it on your own computer: your microphone and the sound your computer plays, transcribed and written up there. It works on a Teams call another company organised, where Microsoft says Copilot is not available and you cannot start its transcript. Recordist does this, and we make it. Telling the people on the call stays yours to do.

What Teams needs for its own notes

Teams writes AI notes in two ways. Intelligent recap gives AI notes and tasks after the meeting, and Microsoft's admin page lists what it needs: a Microsoft 365 subscription with Teams, a Teams Premium or Microsoft Copilot licence, and transcription turned on by an admin. Copilot in Teams needs a Microsoft Copilot licence, and for its notes to be there after the meeting, the meeting's transcript or recording turned on.

Both are built from Teams' own transcript, and that is where calls with other companies get hard. Microsoft's help says a person from another organisation cannot start or stop transcription, and that Copilot is not available in a meeting an external participant created. When the transcript does run, everyone sees a notification, and it is stored in the meeting organizer's OneDrive.

For meetings your own company hosts, on a plan it already pays for, Teams' recap may be the right record. For a client's Teams call, a call with a partner, or a plan without the licence, there is the other way.

Notes on your own computer

Recordist records two channels on your computer: your microphone, and the sound your computer plays, which is everyone else on the call. When Microsoft Teams starts using the microphone, Recordist recognises it by name and a small card asks "Record this meeting?" By default it asks before it records, and nothing is written to disk until you click Record. Teams in a browser is noticed through the microphone too.

Nothing joins the call, nothing is asked of the organizer, and nothing is sent to Microsoft. No licence on either side is involved, so it works the same on a meeting your company created, one a client created, and a call from a personal account.

When the call ends, the transcript is already there, written on your computer with Whisper, and the notes follow a few minutes later: the summary, the decisions, the open questions and the action items, each linked to the line it came from. An item no line supports is removed before the notes are saved. On Pro, the follow-up email is drafted with the notes and checked against the transcript the same way, for you to read, change and send from your own mail. Recordist sends nothing.

The audio stays on your computer, for 30 days by default or as long as you choose, so you can press the time beside any line and hear it said, while the audio is kept.

Side by side

Teams' own notes, from Microsoft's pages read on 15 October 2026, beside notes on your own computer. The numbers name the sources listed at the foot of the page.

Question	Microsoft Teams	Your own computer (Recordist)
What it needs	A Microsoft 365 subscription with Teams, plus a Teams Premium or Microsoft Copilot licence for intelligent recap, or a Microsoft Copilot licence for Copilot in Teams. An admin turns transcription on. [1][2]	Recordist on your own computer. No Microsoft licence, and no account.
What it is built from	The Teams transcript. Copilot can also answer during a meeting without one, where the organizer chooses Only during the meeting, but then it is not in the Recap afterwards. [1][5]	Your microphone and the sound your computer plays, transcribed on your computer.
Who can start the transcript	The organizer and people in the same organisation. A person from another organisation, or an anonymous guest, cannot. [3]	You, on any call. A card asks whether to record.
On a meeting another organisation created	Copilot is not available, and you cannot start transcription. [2][3]	The same as on your own calls. You tell the others.
What the others see	A notification that the meeting is being transcribed. [3]	Nothing in Teams. You tell them, and Copy notice gives you the words.
Where the transcript is kept	In the meeting organizer's OneDrive for Business. [3]	In a folder on your computer, with the audio, which is kept 30 days by default.

Telling the others

When Teams transcribes, Teams tells everyone. When you record on your own computer, nothing in Teams does, so you tell them, as you would with any recorder. Copy notice on the record card copies a short notice to read out or paste into the meeting chat, and a second click while the call records marks the notice as given, with the time and the words, kept under the transcript.

If anyone says no, choose Not this one and take notes by hand. Recording law differs by place: some places need everyone on the call to agree, some need one person. How to ask to record a call gives you the words and the rule where you and they are, and Recording law by place has general information.

On Windows, and one setting for Teams

Many Teams calls are taken on Windows. Windows and Linux are built from the same code as the Mac app. They are a preview until real calls have been recorded on them, and the Windows installer is not code-signed yet, so Windows asks you to confirm before it runs. Record a call you can afford to lose first, and see the known issues for what differs from the Mac.

One setting to change if you mute Teams from the keyboard. Recordist's marker shortcut is Cmd+Shift+M on a Mac and Ctrl+Shift+M on Windows and Linux, the same keys Teams uses to mute and unmute, and while Recordist runs the keys reach it first. Give the marker other keys under Settings → General.

Free and Pro

Free for Mac, Windows and Linux. No account and no email needed. Windows and Linux are a preview. The Mac app is signed with our Developer ID and notarised by Apple.

Recording, transcription and search are free, with no time limit, and Free writes notes for 3 calls a month. Every install includes 7 days of Pro, with no card, starting with your first recorded call of 10 minutes or more. Pro writes up every call and drafts the follow-up email with the notes. Pro is US$9 a month or US$90 a year for anyone who subscribes by 30 November 2026, and that price stays for as long as the subscription stays active; from 1 December 2026 new subscribers pay US$15 a month or US$144 a year.Pro is CA$9 a month or CA$90 a year for anyone who subscribes by 30 November 2026, and that price stays for as long as the subscription stays active; from 1 December 2026 new subscribers pay CA$15 a month or CA$144 a year.Pro is €9 a month or €90 a year for anyone who subscribes by 30 November 2026, and that price stays for as long as the subscription stays active; from 1 December 2026 new subscribers pay €14 a month or €139 a year.Pro is £8 a month or £79 a year for anyone who subscribes by 30 November 2026, and that price stays for as long as the subscription stays active; from 1 December 2026 new subscribers pay £12 a month or £119 a year.

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Questions

Do I need a Copilot or Teams Premium licence?

Not for Recordist. It records your own computer's microphone and sound, so no Microsoft licence is involved, yours or the organizer's. Teams' own intelligent recap needs a Teams Premium or Microsoft Copilot licence, and Copilot in Teams needs a Microsoft Copilot licence.

Does it work when another company organised the Teams meeting?

Yes. Recordist records what your computer plays, so who created the meeting makes no difference. Microsoft's help says Copilot is not available in a meeting an external participant created, and that a person from another organisation cannot start transcription. You still tell the others, as you would with any recorder.

Does a bot or an app join the Teams meeting?

No. Nothing joins the call, nothing is installed in Teams, and nothing is sent to Microsoft. That is why telling the people on the call is yours to do, and the record card gives you the words with Copy notice.

Does it work with Teams on the web?

Yes. Teams in a browser uses your microphone like any other app, so the card appears. On a Mac, Recordist names it from the browser's window title; on Windows and Linux it shows as Browser unless the Chrome extension is paired.

My Teams mute shortcut stopped working. Why?

Recordist's marker shortcut is Cmd+Shift+M on a Mac and Ctrl+Shift+M on Windows and Linux, the same keys Teams uses to mute and unmute, and while Recordist runs the keys reach it first. Give the marker other keys under Settings → General, and Teams has its shortcut back.

Where do the audio and the transcript go?

They stay on your computer. The audio is never uploaded. With the built-in engine, the transcript and the notes are written there too. If you choose a cloud AI provider for notes, the transcript of that meeting goes from your computer to that provider under your own account; that is your choice, off by default, and the Privacy Ledger in the app lists each request.

Microsoft's own pages, read on 15 October 2026:

Microsoft Teams, Microsoft 365, Copilot and OneDrive are trademarks of their owner, named here only to identify its products. Recordist is not affiliated with Microsoft. This page is general information and not legal advice. If something here is out of date, write to support@recordist.app and we will correct it.