recording will not open

Hello, ​@Alistair Beattie! Welcome to the Zoom Community! We’re glad to have you here!

That message usually appears when Zoom is looking for the local recording files on the computer. Let’s first locate the recording, then check whether it needs to be converted.

On the computer where you recorded it, try these steps:

1. Open the Zoom desktop app and sign in.
2. Go to Settings > Recording and look for Storage location. This shows the folder where Zoom saves local recordings. Click Open to open the folder in File Explorer on Windows or Finder on Mac.

If you find the recording but it won’t open, it may not have finished converting properly. You can try converting it manually.

In the recording folder:

• Look for files ending in .zoom.
• You may see files such as double_click_to_convert_01.zoom or double_click_to_convert_02.zoom.
• Double-click the .zoom file to start the conversion.

Zoom should then convert the recording into playable files, such as MP4 or M4A.

It’s also worth checking Zoom > Settings > Recording to make sure the storage location matches the folder you’re opening. This helps confirm you’re working with the original recording files.

If you can see the .zoom files but the recording still won’t convert, let us know what files you see in the recording folder, and we’ll be happy to help with the next steps!