How to export your data from Zoom

Export data from Zoom before you leave: what you can take out

Most organizations start this work because of a renewal, a change in Zoom pricing or a data residency requirement that makes staying on the current setup hard to justify. Before you cancel anything, know what leaves with you: cloud recordings, chat text and transcripts can be downloaded from the recordings page as MP4 video, M4A audio, TXT chat, VTT transcript and CC.VTT caption files. Settings, reports, user and role assignments, and integrations do not move as a package, so they have to be written down and rebuilt by hand.

Start with an inventory. Export a list of the recordings you need to keep, grouped by host, date and retention need, and check each one for the file types you require. Confirm with your Zoom administrator which recordings sit in the account's cloud storage, which are only on individual computers, and whether any retention policy will delete files before your migration window closes. Plan downloads with enough time for large files, and record where each file lands so it can be checked against the inventory later.

The rest of the export is documentation. Capture account and meeting settings, such as waiting room, recording and authentication options, along with the usage reports your finance or compliance teams rely on, the groups and roles that control who can host, and every connected app or calendar integration. Each of these needs a replacement decision on the new platform, so the export is also the list of things to rebuild. Keep a copy of this record with your evidence files, since auditors will ask how you handled retained recordings.

Which Zoom data has a documented export path

This table lists each Zoom data type you may need to keep, the export method, the file format and what to confirm in your own admin console before you start. Read it as a checklist: the file formats are documented by Zoom, while retention windows and bulk download behavior depend on your account settings and must be verified locally. The main takeaway is that media and text files can be exported, but settings, reports and integrations need manual documentation.

Data type	Export method	File format	What to confirm
Computer recordings saved locally	Copy from the local recording folder on each host's computer	MP4 video, M4A audio	Which hosts recorded locally and where those folders sit on each device
Cloud recordings	Download from the web recordings page	MP4 video, M4A audio	How long cloud recordings remain available and whether downloads can be bulk-selected
Chat text	Saved with the recording and downloaded from the recordings page	TXT	Whether chat was saved for each meeting and who must approve the export
Transcripts	Downloaded from the recordings page when generated	VTT	Whether audio transcripts were enabled for the account and for which meetings
Captions	Downloaded from the recordings page when generated	CC.VTT	Whether caption files exist for older recordings and how they were generated
Reports, settings and integrations	Manual documentation from the admin console; no single file export is documented here	Not applicable	Which reports, settings and connected apps your team relies on, and how each must be rebuilt

What does not export as files and how to capture it

Recordings and transcripts download as files, but the configuration around them does not. Users, meeting settings, admin policies, integrations and Zoom Node configuration have to be captured another way before the account is closed. Each card below names the item, the manual capture method and what to confirm with Zoom first.

Account and user lists

Active users, licence types, groups, roles and owner assignments determine who can host and who owns recordings. Export the user list from the admin console if your plan offers it, and record the groups and roles in a spreadsheet, since these drive who receives recording links. Note users who are deactivated but still own recordings, because those recordings need a named new owner before migration. Confirm with Zoom support which user fields the export includes and whether it covers deactivated accounts.

Meeting and webinar settings

Waiting room, passcode, recording, breakout and join-before-host settings are set per account, group or meeting. Screenshot each account-level settings page and write down the group overrides, since no supplied source documents a file export for these. Recreate the equivalent options in Jitsi Meet or BigBlueButton, and mark which Zoom settings have no direct match. Confirm with Zoom's documentation which settings are visible to your role.

Admin policies and security controls

Sign-in methods, single sign-on enforcement, password rules, recording permissions and data retention rules are admin policies that do not appear in recording files. Export a written inventory with a dated screenshot of each policy page. These policies inform the security controls you set on the replacement, such as authentication for room creation. Confirm with Zoom's admin documentation or support which policies are readable and which are only visible to the account owner.

Integrations and app connections

Calendar sync, LMS plug-ins, chat connectors, CRM add-ins and marketplace apps connect Zoom to other systems through tokens or OAuth grants. List each connected app from the marketplace or app management page, the owner who authorized it and the data it reads or writes. Replacements need their own connectors, so the list sets the rebuild scope. Confirm with Zoom and each vendor how to revoke these grants safely after cutover.

Zoom Node configuration

Zoom Node is deployed on customer premises but managed from the Zoom cloud, with hosting modules such as Zoom Meetings Hybrid, Recording Hybrid, Meeting Connector and Recording Connector. The local network settings, certificates and module assignments live partly in the Zoom web portal, so the on-premises device alone does not hold the full configuration. Record the module list, network ranges, storage paths and the portal account that manages them. Confirm with Zoom's Zoom Node documentation what can be exported and what must be rebuilt.

The sequence for a complete Zoom export

The sequence turns scattered cloud recordings, chat logs and transcripts into a verified, inventoried archive that you control before any migration begins. Each step ends with a check, so a gap is caught while Zoom access is still available.

Inventory recordings and their owners
Export a list of cloud recordings from the Zoom admin or account recordings pages, covering the meetings, webinars and users whose content you need to keep. Record the host or owner for each meeting, the date range and the retention rules that apply to your account. Confirm with your Zoom administrator which accounts are in scope and whether any recordings sit under users who have left the organization. The step is done when every in-scope recording appears on one list with an owner assigned to it.
Set a freeze date for new recordings
Agree a cutoff date after which no new recordings are downloaded, and tell hosts that content created after the cutoff will need a separate pass. Without a freeze, the inventory from the previous step goes stale while the export runs. Ask hosts to stop recording meetings they plan to move, and confirm with your legal or records team whether any holds apply. The step is done when the cutoff is written down, communicated to owners and reflected in the inventory.
Download each file type from the recordings page
For each recording, download the MP4 video, M4A audio, TXT chat, VTT transcript and CC.VTT caption files that Zoom saves, from the recordings page of the owning account. Zoom's file format reference explains what each file contains, so check which files a given recording actually produced, because not every meeting generates chat or transcript files. Store files in folders named by meeting ID and date. The step is done when each recording's folder holds every file type that Zoom reports for it.
Record file names and sizes in a manifest
Create a manifest, such as a spreadsheet or CSV, with one row per file: meeting ID, topic, owner, date, file name, file type, size in bytes and a checksum such as SHA-256. Generate the checksums from the downloaded files rather than copying them from the portal. This manifest is the reference you will use to prove the archive is complete later. The step is done when the number of rows matches the number of files on disk and every row has a checksum.
Verify playback and text completeness
Open a sample of recordings in each category, including long meetings and meetings with shared screens, and confirm the MP4 plays with audio and video in sync. Open transcripts and captions to check they cover the full duration and are readable. Compare file sizes and checksums against the manifest after copying. Ask a few owners to confirm their content is correct. Where a file is missing, empty or truncated, re-download it from Zoom while access remains. The step is done when every checksum matches and the sampled files play and read correctly.
Move the archive to storage you control
Copy the verified archive, with the manifest, to storage that your organization administers, such as an on-premises file server, object storage or a backup platform under your control. Restrict access to the people who need it, and confirm that encryption at rest and backup copies are in place as your policy requires. Recheck the checksums at the destination against the manifest. Keep the manifest with the archive, since it is the evidence of what was kept. The step is done when the destination checksums match the manifest and access rules are confirmed by the data owner.

What to plan before the Zoom renewal or termination date

Exporting Zoom data is mostly a scheduling problem. Contract dates, recording freezes, data owners, legal holds, archive location and a parallel run all depend on each other, so settle them in the order below. Confirm every contract term with your Zoom account team rather than assuming it from a template.

Confirm notice and retention dates

Ask your Zoom account team for the written notice period, the exact termination date and the date after which cloud recordings are no longer available in the admin console. Find out whether the export window is tied to the subscription end or to a separate retention setting. Record the answers with the contract reference, because the export plan is only as reliable as those dates.

Set a recording freeze date

Pick a date after which no new cloud recordings are made, or after which new recordings move to the replacement platform only. A freeze keeps the set of files to export fixed, so the inventory and checksums do not change while the team works. Tell hosts in advance that recording is switched off on the freeze date and where to find meeting notes in the meantime.

Assign an owner for each data type

Give one named owner to each category: MP4 video, M4A audio, TXT chat, VTT transcripts, CC.VTT captions, reports, user and group settings, and integrations such as calendar, SSO and LMS connections. Owners confirm what was exported, where it went and whether it opened correctly. Without named owners, transcripts and chat logs are the items most often missed.

Agree legal hold and retention with counsel

Ask counsel which recordings, chat logs and transcripts are subject to a legal hold, a litigation notice or a statutory retention period. Decide whether those items must be exported with their metadata intact and kept in a read-only location. Do not delete anything from Zoom until counsel signs off, since a deletion made for cost reasons can create a compliance problem.

Decide where the archive lives

Choose the storage system for the exported files before downloading begins. It must hold the file formats Zoom produces, have enough capacity for the full library, and support access controls matching your data classification. Plan for backups of the archive itself, and confirm that the location meets your data residency rules for recordings that contain personal data.

Schedule a parallel run before cancelling

Run the replacement meetings alongside Zoom for a defined period before the termination date. During that period, test that exported MP4 and VTT files play and read correctly, that SSO and calendar integrations work, and that hosts can complete a full session. Keep Zoom active until the parallel run has passed and the archive has been checked against the inventory.

Cloud recordings and computer recordings need different steps

Cloud recordings are stored in Zoom's cloud and are the set most admins can export centrally. The account owner or an admin can open the recordings area of the Zoom web portal, review the list by user or date, and download each file. Zoom saves these recordings as MP4 video, M4A audio, TXT chat, VTT transcript and CC.VTT caption files, so each meeting may produce several files that belong together.

Download path: Sign in to the Zoom web portal, open the recordings section, select the meeting, and download each file type you need.
Retention: Confirm the account's cloud retention settings before you start, because recordings that age out or are deleted cannot be exported later.
Scope: Confirm whether your plan and roles let admins see recordings made by other users, or whether each host must download their own.
Naming: Keep the meeting ID, topic and date with each file so the archive can be matched to calendars and LMS records later.
Storage: Plan a destination with enough free space for the full set of files before downloading.

Before you start, confirm with your Zoom administrator which users and date range the export must cover, and whether the export is allowed under your data retention policy.

How to verify the archive before cancelling Zoom

Verification is the step that proves the export is usable after the Zoom account is closed, so it should run while the account and its recordings page are still available. Build a routine that compares what Zoom says it holds with what is on your own storage. Start by matching the manifest you built during the export against the downloaded files: every meeting ID, recording type and file name should map to exactly one local file, and any gap should be logged as an exception rather than silently dropped. Zoom saves recordings as MP4 video, M4A audio, TXT chat, VTT transcript and CC.VTT caption files, so the manifest should list each format separately for each meeting.

Next, test the content, not just the presence of files. Play each MP4 from start to finish, or run a scripted check with a media tool such as ffprobe that compares the stored duration with the duration recorded in the meeting log. Open a sample of VTT and TXT files and confirm that the timestamps, speaker names and topic line match the meeting they belong to. Compute checksums with your own tools, such as sha256sum, at the moment of download and again after each copy, and store the list apart from the files so that later tampering or copy errors are detectable without trusting Zoom. Keep at least one copy in a location outside the production Zoom account and outside the self-hosted platform that will replace it.

The acceptance criteria are your decision, not Zoom's and not DeployOpen's. Agree in writing with the legal, compliance, HR and records owners who need these recordings which meetings, formats and sample sizes count as complete, how long each copy must be kept, and who signs off before the account is cancelled. Confirm with your own records policy whether transcripts or chat text count as records alongside video. Record the sign-off, the checksum list and the exceptions log together, because an external auditor or a future dispute will ask for that evidence, not for the verification script.

Questions buyers ask before exporting Zoom data

How much effort does a full Zoom data export take?

The effort depends mainly on recording volume, the number of users who own recordings, where the files will land and how many people need access to them afterward. A small account with a few hundred recordings is a short, mostly mechanical job. A large account with years of cloud recordings, many owners and transcripts that must be cross-checked against retention rules takes far longer, because each file has to be located, downloaded, verified and filed. Zoom saves recordings as MP4 video, M4A audio, TXT chat, VTT transcript and CC.VTT caption files, so each meeting can produce several files that need to stay together. Ask your team to count recordings per owner and total storage before estimating anything.

Can our own team export Zoom data without a partner?

Yes, for most organizations an internal admin team can download files from the recordings pages, export chat and transcript files, and record which reports and settings exist. The harder part is coverage: recordings belong to individual hosts, so an admin may need each user to download their own files or may need access to their accounts under your policies. Teams often need help with scripting bulk downloads from Zoom's APIs, verifying file integrity, mapping files to projects and retention rules, and documenting settings and integrations that must be rebuilt by hand. A partner is useful when those tasks compete with day-to-day work or when evidence of completeness matters for audit.

What does the export require from admins and from end users?

Admins need account-level permissions to view and manage cloud recordings, access to reports and settings, and a plan for who keeps the downloaded archive. End users need to download recordings they own and tell admins about meetings they host outside the main account. Plan for a short notice period so hosts know which recordings must be saved before a cutoff. Admins should also document webinar registrations, integrations, single sign-on configuration, custom domains, recording settings and any Zoom Node or hybrid components, since those are rebuilt rather than exported. Confirm the exact permissions and export options in your own Zoom admin console and contract, as they vary by plan.

How long should we plan for the export in calendar time?

Plan around your own inventory rather than a fixed duration. The calendar time is driven by how many recordings must be located, how much data must transfer over your network, how many people must act, and how long verification takes. Start with a read-only inventory of recordings, transcripts and captions by owner and date. Then schedule transfer waves, verify checksums or file counts after each wave, and agree on a cutoff date with users. Any timeline you receive should be tied to a written scope with named deliverables, so you can see which parts depend on user action and which depend on admin work.

Which export costs are one-time and which recur?

One-time costs usually include the inventory, bulk download tooling, transfer and verification work, the initial archive storage build and the documentation of settings and integrations. Recurring costs include storage for the archive, backups of that storage, access administration, retention reviews and any ongoing support you purchase. Storage often becomes the largest recurring item, so estimate it from the total size of your recordings in each format. Ask whether the archive must keep video, audio, transcripts and captions together, and whether any files must be retained longer than others, since that changes storage size over time.

What should we ask for in a written quote for the export?

Ask for a fixed scope that lists the systems in scope, the recording and transcript formats covered, the number of accounts and recordings, the download and verification method, the archive location and access model, and the documentation delivered. Request the assumptions behind any effort estimate, including what the client provides, such as admin access and storage, and what happens if the inventory shows more data than expected. Ask which items are one-time and which are optional retainers, how change requests are priced, and how completeness is confirmed before handover. DeployOpen works from a written scope agreed before work starts and does not publish a price list, so a quote follows from that scope.

How DeployOpen scopes an exit and export

DeployOpen starts an export with a written scope that lists which Zoom recordings, transcripts, chat files, reports and settings must leave the account and where they will be stored. The work runs inside your own cloud accounts, data centers or air-gapped networks, and the handover documents what was exported, checked and rebuilt.

How we scope

Inventory the recording formats in use, including MP4 video, M4A audio, TXT chat, VTT transcripts and CC.VTT captions.
Agree in writing which cloud recordings, time ranges and user accounts are in the export.
Document the reports, account settings, user lists and integrations that must be rebuilt by hand on the new platform.

How we build

Set up the download and transfer path to your own storage so recordings stay inside your environment.
Check file counts, sizes and playback of exported MP4, M4A and caption files against the Zoom inventory.
Map exported transcripts and chat text to the retention and access rules your organization already applies.

How we hand over

Deliver a runbook listing each export job, its source, destination, owner and verification result.
Provide a rebuild checklist for meeting rooms, user roles, integrations and scheduled settings that do not transfer.
Document the storage layout and retention settings so your team can find and manage archived recordings.

How we support

Engagements are fixed-scope, with scope, deliverables and timelines agreed in writing before work starts.
Ongoing support, upgrades and continuous testing are available as a retainer after handover.
Ask any provider, including DeployOpen, to confirm in writing which Zoom export methods and file formats are covered in their quote.