One of the many benefits of Zoom is the recording feature that allows users to repurpose meetings. You can use a Zoom recording of customer testimonials for marketing or share actionable insights from clients with your team.
Recording a Zoom birthday even enables you to relive those virtual transcontinental parties—all possible after making some editing adjustments.
But you probably knew these already, which is why you searched for how to edit zoom recording.
How to Edit Zoom Recording: Where to Find your Recording
The obvious place to begin is finding the recording you want to edit. Zoom has two options for recording, which also informs where to find the recorded file.
- Local Recording - available to all Zoom users. The recording is on your computer.
- Cloud Recording - only available to paid users. Files are in the Zoom Cloud.
If you use a free account, i.e., local recording, the file will be in your Documents folder. For Mac devices, this will be Finder.
When you are there, search for Zoom. Your computer will return a folder named ‘Zoom Meeting.’
Your recording will be here as an MP4 file.
For cloud recording, it takes a minute for Zoom to process the file. When it is available, Zoom sends an email notification.
Alternatively, you can go to the Meetings tab on your Zoom desktop client and select the Recorded tab. You will see a list of your recorded meetings.
This applies to local and cloud recordings.
Optimizing your Recording for Third-Party Editing
Zoom supports some “editing” on the app but you still need a third-party editor if the recording needs serious work.
That is why you need to make the file compatible with any video editing software by optimizing every recording.
Here is how.
For cloud recording, log in to your account and go to zoom.us. In the navigation menu on the left, click Settings.
Then go to the Recording tab under Settings.
In the Recording tab under Advanced Cloud Recording settings, check “Optimize the recording for 3rd party video editor’. Then click Save.
To do the same for local recordings, go to settings and click Recording from the navigation menu.
Check the option for ‘Optimize for 3rd party video editor.’
NOTE: Optimization only works for recordings made applying this setting. Make sure it is in place before your next recording.
How to Edit Zoom Meeting Recording inside Zoom
Not everyone searching for how to edit zoom recordings wants to make significant changes to the whole file. Some only want to set the beginning and end of the recording.
For those people, Zoom’s ‘editing’ feature, Playback Range, might be enough. Editing is in quotes because while it does allow you to trim the video, it doesn’t permanently edit them.
It only sets where the recording begins and ends for the viewer when they play the recording. If they download the video instead, they get to see the whole thing.
Also, it only works with cloud recordings. And it is not compatible with all devices and browsers, including Safari and mobile devices.
Still, it helps save the viewer’s time by cleaning up the irrelevant parts when sharing the recording.
If that fits your needs, here is how to use it.
STEP 1 - Find the Recording
Again, go to zoom.us and log in to your account. Click the Recordings tab to find your cloud recordings.
Click the meeting topic you want to share/edit to reveal additional details.
When it is opened, click the play button.
STEP 2 - Set the Playback Range
Zoom will open another tab to play the recording. While there, click the scissor icon to set the playback range.
Inside the Playback Range, you can set the start and end position of the recording by dragging the sliders.
Alternatively, you can manually enter the time stamp in the text box underneath.
Click Save when you finish.
That’s it. When you share the recording, the recipients will only see the video within the set range. As long as they don’t download it instead.
How to Edit a Zoom Recording on PC using Photos and Windows Video Editor
After optimizing your recordings for third-party editors, free tools like Windows Video Editor and the Photos app are handy software.
They are easy to use, and unless you want to reshape the entire recording, capable of everything you might need to customize the video. That includes trimming, cutting, and adding on-screen text.
Here is how to use it.
STEP 1 - Import the Recording
For cloud recordings, you need to download the file first. You can do this by accessing the specific recording under the Recording tab in the Zoom web portal.
Different story for local recordings though. The file is already on your computer, so all you have to do is locate the file in the Zoom Meeting folder. Or wherever you save your recorded files.
Once the file is on your computer (or folder), right-click on the recording and choose Open With. Then click Photos.
Windows will open the Photos app, and your import is complete.
STEP 2 - Edit the Recording
Within the app, in the upper-right corner, click Edit and Create.
Select the edit you want to make from the list. You can trim the beginning and end permanently than in Zoom’s Playback Range.
You can use the animated text option to brand the recording with your name and title and add 3D and slo-mo effects.
For more editing tools, select Create a video with text. It opens the main Video Editor with tools like splitting and background music. Also, there is one for creating subtitles and contextual text.
Check here for more help on using the Video Editor.
STEP 3 - Export and save the video
Once you finish editing the recording, preview it to make sure everything is in order.
When you like what you see, hover over the three dots in the upper-right corner of the screen.
Choose the Save as option.
Select a location to save the edited file in the dialog box to start the export.
When it is complete, the video will be in the specified folder.
How to Edit a Zoom Recording on Mac with iMovie
Mac users also have a native solution for editing zoom recordings. Apple’s iMovie is a mid-tier editor with enough tools to edit any video.
It has a polished and intuitive interface, which makes it easy and fun to use.
Here is how to use it to edit your zoom recording.
STEP 1 - Import the recording
Open the app and tap the Plus icon.
Select Movie to start a project and import the Zoom file.
Navigate to the folder containing the file to import the video.
STEP 2 - Edit the Recording
Once the recording is in the timeline, start chopping and trimming however you want.
To trim the beginning and end, select the video in the timeline (it will be highlighted in yellow when you do).
Next, drag the handle at the beginning to the right. Drag the one at the end to the left to complete the trim.
To add animated text, select the Titles tab in the left toolbar and choose your preferred style.
Then place it in the timeline and edit as you please.
STEP 3 - Export the Recording
Use the preview window in the right panel to check the final changes. When you are ready to render the result, click the Export button at the top right corner of the editor.
Choose the option that fits the intended purpose. You can render and share directly via email, YouTube, Vimeo, and Facebook.
You can also save it to your computer by selecting File.
That is it. It doesn’t take much to edit zoom recordings.
How to Edit a Zoom Video Recording for free - EZGIF
EZGIF is another solution worth trying if you don’t fancy the native options. It is a web-based app for editing videos.
It is a capable tool, especially if you want to repurpose the video recording for a mobile app. Zoom typically records in landscape mode, so you might need to crop and change the aspect ratio.
EZGIF lets you do all that with clicks and buttons.
Here is how.
STEP 1 - Import the Recording
Once again, make sure you already have the recording on your computer, especially when it is a cloud recording.
Then go to the EZGIF site.
Upload the file by clicking the Choose File button then selecting the recording via the dialog box.
After that, click Upload Video!
STEP 2 - Edit the Recording
When the upload is complete, select the editing tool you need from the list above the video.
If, for example, a funny moment happened in the middle of the recording, you can make a GIF out of it with the Video to GIF tool.
Other tools allow you to do more. Crop Video lets you remove unwanted parts in the frame, say an object in the corner of your background.
There is also a tool for adding subtitles. Helpful if you plan on sharing the video on social media.
Click each one, then follow the instructions. When you finish dotting the Is and Ts, apply the changes by clicking the big action button in blue.
STEP 3 - Save the Recording
After clicking the button (each tool has different), you can apply additional edits or save the video.
Click the relevant icon if you want to do more, like crop, add effects, or cut the video. Then choose Save when you finish.
How to Edit a Zoom Recording: Adding Captions
Captions and subtitles are necessary edits to apply to your Zoom recording, especially if you plan on sharing to the broader public.
Three out of the four ways we have discussed support adding subtitles one way or the other. iMovie, Photos, and EZGIF all let you create them manually. The latter also supports subtitle files.
But it is a lot of effort.
The Zoom solution is the better option in this category, even if it is only available to cloud recordings. All you have to do is enable audio transcription on your Zoom account.
- Go to zoom.us
- Click Settings in the navigation menu
- Choose the Recording tab and select Cloud recording
- When you are on the page above, check the Audio transcript to enable it. Then click Save to confirm the change
Next, start a cloud recording. When it is over, Zoom will send you two emails. The first tells you your video is available, and the other says the audio transcript is ready.
Locate the transcript by checking your list of recorded meetings on your Zoom account.
Download it to edit with a text editor or word processor. You can also upload the VTT file to a video editor like EZGIF.
That’s not to say you can’t edit on Zoom.
Play the video or audio file, and the text of the transcript will show on the right side of the screen under the Audio Transcript tab.
The transcript has two columns. The first is the timestamp of the accompanying phrase. It's for making sure the transcript lines up with the video.
In the second are the words of the speaker(s). You can edit them by clicking the pencil icon.
After making your changes, click Save. The transcript is updated immediately.
Conclusion
This is how to edit a Zoom recording. Even if we don’t always need to, recording meetings is good practice. And when you do need them, you don’t have to share the raw version.
iMovie and others are simple, free tools to help you clean things up a bit.
You could also try Keevi Video Editor. It is a video editor that also generates subtitles. For users with local recordings, it is a convenient solution.
Visit our learning page for more tutorials to help you get the best out of your video content.
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