How to find a meeting recording by describing it

A client asks what was agreed about the launch date, and you know it came up on a call some time in the spring. There were weekly check-ins, two workshops and a handful of ad hoc calls, all recorded, all named something like “Weekly sync” or “Zoom meeting 87412”. The recording you need is one of thirty, and the useful part is somewhere in the middle of it.

This page covers where meeting recordings usually end up and how people search them, then how to capture or upload them to Fabric so you can find the right recording by describing what was discussed.

Where meeting recordings usually live

Each video call tool keeps its own recordings. Zoom stores cloud recordings in its web portal or saves local ones to a Zoom folder on your computer. Microsoft Teams saves to OneDrive or SharePoint, and Google Meet saves to the organizer’s Google Drive. Each list is sorted by date and meeting name, and meeting names are often recurring calendar titles, so a dozen calls share the same one.

Some of these tools also produce transcripts, and AI notetakers such as Otter join calls as a bot to transcribe them. Both make the content searchable inside that tool. The difficulty comes when meetings span tools: an internal call on Teams, a client call on Zoom, an in-person workshop recorded on a phone. Each is searched separately, and the transcript sits apart from the notes, slides and documents the meeting was about.

Without transcripts, the method is checking the calendar for likely dates, opening each recording and skipping through. Someone else may remember better, so a message goes out asking “which call did we talk about the launch on?” That approach gets there, though for thirty calls it can take an afternoon.

Step 1: Capture calls with the desktop app

Install the Fabric desktop app on Mac, Windows or Linux. When you start a call in Zoom, Microsoft Teams or Google Meet, Fabric detects the meeting and offers to start transcribing. No bot joins the call, so the other participants don’t see a notetaker in the attendee list. How to take meeting notes without a bot joining the call covers the setup in more detail.

The transcript appears in real time during the call, and you can search it or ask the AI questions while the meeting is still going. Notes you write before or during the meeting sit alongside the transcript. When the meeting ends, Fabric analyzes your notes and the transcript together and produces a write-up.

For in-person meetings, start a meeting note manually in any Fabric app, including on your phone, and the same write-up happens when you stop. Recording and transcribing meetings needs a paid plan.

Step 2: Upload the recordings you already have

Older recordings can join the same library. Download them from Zoom, Teams or Meet, then drag them into Fabric or click Upload a file. Fabric transcribes uploaded video and audio in MP4, MOV, WebM, MP3, WAV and M4A, which covers the formats these tools export. Transcripts are searchable and can be edited.

Recordings saved to Google Drive by Meet can also come across through a Google Drive connection, which syncs files in both directions. Connections need a paid plan.

As each recording is added, Fabric creates embeddings so search can match by meaning, writes a summary, extracts topics and suggests tags. Smart collections can then group recordings for you, such as every call that discussed pricing, without you renaming a single file. The summary also gives you a quick read on what each call covered.

Step 3: Search for what was discussed

Click Search or press Cmd+F (Mac) / Ctrl+F (Windows) and describe the conversation. Fabric search matches by meaning across transcripts, so “when we agreed to push the launch back” can find the call where someone said “let’s move go-live to the second week of June”.

Open the result and it goes to the matching timestamp, so you can check the exchange in context instead of starting from the top of an hour-long call.

Describe decisions, objections or topics rather than the meeting itself: “client pushback on the onboarding fee” or “discussion about hiring a second designer”. Put a client name or project code in quotes for a strict match. Filter by location if the client’s recordings are in their own folder or space, or by kind of item to see only recordings.

Step 4: Ask the AI assistant across your meetings

For questions that span several calls, the AI assistant is quicker than reading results one by one. Open a client’s folder, start the assistant there so it’s limited to that folder, and ask “When did we first discuss the launch date, and what changed after that?” The answer cites the recordings with timestamps you can click.

Follow-up questions work, and you can save the answer as a note to send or keep. If the question is about a specific line someone said, How to find something someone said in a meeting goes into that in detail.

Frequently asked questions

How do I find a meeting recording when I don’t know the date?

Transcribe your recordings in Fabric and search for what was discussed. Results open at the matching timestamp, so the date isn’t needed.

Does Fabric record Zoom, Teams and Google Meet calls?

With the desktop app installed, Fabric detects meetings in Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet and offers to transcribe them. No bot joins the call.

Can I upload old Zoom recordings to Fabric?

Yes. Download them from Zoom and upload the files. Fabric transcribes MP4 and M4A along with other common formats.

Can I record an in-person meeting?

Yes. Start a meeting note manually in any Fabric app, including on your phone, and Fabric produces a write-up when you stop.

What does Fabric produce after a meeting?

It analyzes the transcript together with any notes you wrote and produces a write-up of the meeting.

Can I search a meeting while it’s still happening?

Yes. The transcript appears in real time, and you can search it or ask the AI about it during the call.

Can AI tell me which meeting a decision was made in?

Yes. Ask the AI assistant, and it answers with clickable references to the recordings, including timestamps.

Can I keep each client’s recordings separate?

Yes. Create a space or folder for each client and keep their recordings there. Search can be filtered to that location, and the AI assistant can be limited to that folder when you ask about the client’s calls.

Do I need a paid plan for meeting transcription?

Yes. Meeting recording and transcription need a paid plan. See pricing for current plans.