Guide · 2 October 2026
You don't need a notetaker bot in the meeting to get a recording or a transcript. Zoom can record to your Mac itself, and apps on your Mac can record what Zoom plays. Here's each way, what you get, and what it needs.
I make Quern, the third way here; Quern for Mac is coming soon. Everything about Zoom is from Zoom's own support articles, on local recording and audio transcripts, read on 2 October 2026.
For a video file of the call, use Zoom's recording to your computer. For a transcript from Zoom, you need its cloud recording on a paid plan. For a transcript and summary made on your Mac, with nothing uploaded, that's what Quern for Mac is for.
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Zoom's recording to your computer works on free and paid plans in the desktop app (Zoom); audio transcripts need cloud recording on a Pro, Business, Education or Enterprise account (Zoom). Read on 2 October 2026.
On a call, the other people's voices come out of Zoom and yours goes in through the microphone. A Mac app can record both, without Zoom or anyone in the meeting being involved.
macOS lets an app record one other app's audio, with your permission: Quern uses a Core Audio process tap on Zoom, so other apps' sounds stay out of it.
Recorded as its own stream, so Quern knows which words are yours. Your side reads as You, and only the other voices need telling apart.
Apple's on-device speech recognition writes it down as people speak, and Apple Intelligence on the Mac summarises it afterwards. Nothing goes to a transcription company.
There's no participant to see, so nobody knows unless you tell them. Quern gives every call a line to copy into the chat.
Whichever way you record, these make for a better call and a better transcript.
Say you're recording and why, and put it in the chat. It's courteous, and in some places it's the law.
Many organisations say which calls may be recorded and where recordings may be kept.
Your own voice is only as clear as your microphone. A headset or a wired microphone beats a laptop in a busy room.
Transcripts get names wrong and summaries can be wrong. Listen to anything you're going to quote or act on.
Teams or Google Meet instead? Transcribe Teams and Meet calls on a Mac. Comparing notetakers? Meeting notes without a bot.
Quern for Mac · Coming soon
Records your Zoom, Teams and Meet calls on your Mac. No bot joins. Nothing is uploaded.
Tell me when Quern for Mac is out.
The plan: free for 30 days, then £19.99 once, with one purchase covering iPhone and Mac. Requires a Mac with Apple silicon and macOS 26.4 or later. More about Quern for Mac
Anything else: support, or [email protected]
With Zoom's own recording, participants can record locally when the host or the account allows it, and Zoom lets participants ask the host for permission (Zoom). An app on your Mac that records Zoom's sound doesn't ask Zoom, so the host isn't asked either. That's why you should tell everyone yourself, and some places need everyone's agreement.
Yes. Zoom's recording to your computer works on free and paid plans, in the desktop app. A transcript from Zoom needs cloud recording on a Pro, Business, Education or Enterprise account (Zoom).
Many AI notetakers record by sending a bot into the meeting as a participant, so they can hear the call from their servers. Apps that record on your Mac hear the call through Zoom itself instead, so nothing joins.
Yes. Choose the browser the call is in, and Quern records what it plays, with your microphone. It records the browser's sound, so close other tabs that are playing anything.
No. Quern records sound only: Zoom's audio and your microphone. For video, use Zoom's own recording.
Laws differ from country to country, and some places need everyone's agreement. Your workplace may have a policy too. The rule that works everywhere: let people know you're recording before you start.