Issue where Zoom does not record the active speaker but another participant screen

[Prnx]

In a setting where Zoom is used to conduct a seminar, sessions are recorded with the “active speaker” option enabled, meaning whoever speaks gets featured in the main window (not gallery view), and hence should theoretically get featured in the recording (local recording enabled, in this case). Never had a problem with this setup until recently (September 2021).

The issue is as follow. The active speaker appears (is featured) in the main window, but the recording instead records the screen of someone else in the attendance (not speaking, apparently at random).  Hence, the actual active speaker does not appear in the recording, even if during the event the active speaker does occupy the main window. Instead, we get the recording of someone listening to the active speaker (and the sound of the active speaker). There is no way of knowing there is an issue with the recording until it’s too late. Any idea about how to prevent or fix this issue?

[Bort]

1. Check your recording settings to ensure you still have the correct recording layout selected. For cloud recordings, this is all done via the web settings, while local recordings just capture your view of the session.  
2. It could be that they are not muted and are making just enough noise to switch the speaker view to them. The host can mute everyone except for the presenter, which would ensure the focus stays on them. 
3. To ensure exactly who you want to be recorded, I recommend pinning (for local recordings) or spotlighting (for cloud recordings) the speaker's video. 

Hope that helps and please make sure to mark the solution as accepted if this information is what you needed.

[Bodyconnections]

• I have the same issue that started last week. Did you find a solution?

[Katkingyoga10]

I am having by this issue I have tried everything above to resolve it’s so frustrating 

[JS8]

I also have the same issue. For me this started in December 2021. Before that all recordings were of the speaker. Now I just get a recording of a participant.

Has anyone found a solution for this?

Thank you.

[BrokenAxle]

Similar issue for me.  I only use Zoom for 1:1 podcast recordings and my recordings used to capture whoever was speaking.  Now the recording is only showing my guest even when I'm speaking.

Any solutions?

[jcrittenden]

I have the same issue beginning January 13, 2022. I use Zoom for 1:1 coaching, and now my recordings only show my client even when I am speaking. I hope this can be resolved soon.

[dgreencr]

I am having this same issue. Makes Zoom near-useless for recording a video interview. I hope someone sees this and fixes!

[jcrittenden]

I have been working with the Zoom customer support on this. They have a solution though it is not ideal for me.  Under Video setting, check "See myself as the active speaker while speaking." [By the way, it's actually quite hard for me to see this option as you have to scroll down to find it, and, for me, the scroll bar is only available briefly when I first enter this settings screen.] Once that is checked AND you are on Active Speaker as the View setting during the meeting, then the recording will flash back and forth between the two of you (first your guest on the screen, then you, etc). Unfortunately, at least for me, the view also flashes back and forth during the course of the live meeting which I find rather distracting. 

[dgreencr]

This solution solved the issue for me, as I am recording for later broadcast. I can see where if you were just hosting a regular meeting it could get distracting seeing yourself in the main window, but a small price to pay.

[maxfacto]

Similar issue, sent two messages to customer support, no reply. I want to video recored both myself and guest. It used to work. My last two interviews, one in split screen, the second in speaker view all that was video recorded was me. Total loss on video interviews. 

[dgreencr]

See the above workaround from jcrittendon. Solved the problem for me.

[maxfacto]

Ya that’s already selected. When I record a 1 on 1, no matter what I select in terms of view, it’s only recording me. My guests don’t get recorded. In one instance I had the view on gallery, all it recorded was me. I’m a second interview I had it set to speaker view - same result: it only recorded me even though the switching back and forth between speakers worked fine; the recoding is that however was just me, again. Two 1.5 hour interviews w no video of my guest. Does anyone k ow of a fix for this?  

[maxfacto]

So I turned off dual monitor setting under general - that seemed to work but now I can’t see my camera view on a separate monitor. The issue seems to be with it’s only recording one monitor and the one it’s recoding is the static screen vs what’s been selected in on the view tab (gallery, speaker etc).

[Lorraine_L]

I've been having this same issue, for the first time (and was used to recording Zoom content before). I tried the other solutions above (eg. turning on 'See myself as the active speaker' which was both annoying and unsuccessful). 

For me, the fix was maxfacto's suggestion above: going to the Zoom settings while running the app, into Preferences => General, and unclicking the "dual monitor" function. I normally (as a lawyer) depend on the dual monitor function and use of multiple screens, but I will turn that off just for those times when I need to make recordings now.

[MAPASD]

 I started seeing this issue a month ago. I use Zoom to teach. Anyone who misses class uses the recording in speaker mode to catch up but very often Zoom only records a participant who is muted and may even have the video off, instead of the me. Any ways to resolve this issue. 

[DrMikeLloyd]

This has just happened. We ran a brief test and both were recorded. Then we ran the full interview and the recording initially failed to convert. I had to open a new Zoom recording and cut and paste in the new folder (directions from community). The converted video then only showed the host, not the guest (audio only). This is clearly a massive bug, as it worked on the test, not the main. Therefore Zoom has a bug for large file recordings, but the meeting was only an hour, and I have pro plan enabled.

This did not happen prior to 2022 when it recorded both and converted easily. Can someone from Zoom explain why this bug is not fixed, when people have been having issues with it for over two years? My recording is now scrap, so I did it again, the recording test worked, the main did not. Hours wasted on this useless Zoom garbage .