Choosing Where Microsoft Teams Meeting Recordings Are Stored: Stream (classic) vs OneDrive/SharePoint

Decision and constraints

You need to decide where new Microsoft Teams meeting recordings will be saved. The choice affects compliance, user experience, and administrative overhead. The decision must be made in a Microsoft 365 tenant that has Teams enabled and the appropriate storage licences (either Microsoft Stream (classic) or OneDrive for Business/SharePoint). Changing the setting only affects recordings made after the change; existing Stream recordings remain in Stream unless you migrate them manually.

Supported options compared

Option	Where recordings are stored	Key capabilities	Licensing requirement
Microsoft Stream (classic)	Centralised video portal (Stream)	Built‑in transcription, simple sharing links, limited analytics	Stream licence (included with some M365 E3/E5 plans)
OneDrive for Business / SharePoint	Recorder’s OneDrive > Recordings folder (or a designated SharePoint library)	Inherits file collaboration features, respects retention labels, uses existing SharePoint storage, future‑proof	OneDrive for Business or SharePoint licence (standard with most M365 plans)

Trade‑offs

• Stream (classic) – Provides a dedicated video experience with auto‑generated transcripts and easy sharing via Stream URLs. However, Microsoft is retiring Stream (classic) in favour of OneDrive/SharePoint, so investing in Stream‑specific workflows may require future migration.
• OneDrive/SharePoint – Recordings appear as regular files, letting you apply SharePoint retention labels, sensitivity labels, and eDiscovery holds. Sharing requires standard file‑share permissions, which may need adjustment for users accustomed to Stream links. The storage counts against the user’s OneDrive quota and is subject to SharePoint list view thresholds if the Recordings library grows large.

Implementation: setting the storage location

1. Sign in to the Teams admin center with a user assigned the Teams Service Administrator role (or higher).
2. Navigate to Meetings > Meeting policies.
3. Select the policy you want to modify (e.g., Global (Org-wide default)) or create a new custom policy.
4. Under Recording and transcription, find the setting Meeting recording storage.
5. Choose OneDrive and SharePoint (or Microsoft Stream (classic) if you still need it).
6. Click Save. The change may take up to 24 hours to propagate, but usually applies within a few hours.

PowerShell verification (optional)

If you prefer to confirm the setting via PowerShell, run the following in a Microsoft Teams PowerShell module session. You need the Teams Administrator role.

# Connect to Teams (run once per session)
Connect-MicrosoftTeams

# Replace <PolicyId> with the policy you edited, e.g., Global
(Get-CsTeamsMeetingPolicy -Identity <PolicyId>).RecordingStorageMode

The output will be either OneDriveForBusiness or Stream. If you see the expected value, the policy update succeeded.

Validation: confirming a recording lands in the expected location

1. Schedule a test meeting (or start an ad‑hoc meeting) with a user whose policy you just changed.
2. Record the meeting, then stop recording.
3. Wait a few minutes for the file to upload.
4. In the Teams client, go to Chat → find the meeting recording message, click Open in OneDrive (or Open in SharePoint).
5. Verify that the .mp4 file appears in the recorder’s OneDrive Recordings folder (or the designated SharePoint library).
6. Right‑click the file, select Properties, and confirm the sharing link points to OneDrive/SharePoint, not to stream.microsoft.com.

Limitations and practical checks

• Recordings inherit the user’s OneDrive quota. Monitor usage via the OneDrive admin centre (Storage > OneDrive) to avoid unexpected quota exhaustion.
• If many recordings accumulate in a single SharePoint library, you may hit the 5,000‑item view threshold. Consider creating a retention policy that moves older recordings to an archive library or applies a deletion rule.
• Changing the storage setting does not affect existing Stream recordings. To move them, you must download each file from Stream and upload it to OneDrive/SharePoint manually or via a migration script.

Rollback (if needed)

Because the setting only influences new recordings, you can revert to Stream (classic) by repeating the steps above and selecting Microsoft Stream (classic) under Meeting recording storage. Existing OneDrive/SharePoint recordings remain where they are; new recordings will go back to Stream after the change propagates.

Conclusion

Choose OneDrive/SharePoint for Teams meeting recordings when you need compliance features, retention label support, and a future‑proof storage location. Opt for Stream (classic) only if you rely on its built‑in transcription and simple sharing links and are prepared to migrate before its retirement. Validate the change with a test recording and verify the file location in OneDrive or SharePoint to ensure the setting is applied as expected.