Can I automatically delete Microsoft Teams meeting recordings after a certain number of days?
Yes! Microsoft Teams allows admins to set an automatic expiration period for meeting recordings. This ensures recordings are automatically deleted after a defined number of days — helping with storage, compliance, and building trust with your team.
🔐 Why It Matters
Setting a shorter retention period is more than just a storage decision — it’s a trust and compliance best practice.
- Increased trust: When attendees know recordings are temporary, they’re more likely to engage.
- Faster adoption: Teams are more open to using recordings when they’re used only for short-term recap and documentation.
- Compliance-ready: Aligns with internal or industry data retention requirements.
- Better hygiene: Reduces the risk of outdated or sensitive content lingering unnecessarily.
Recordings can still be used to generate meeting recaps or minutes with Decisions AI — but once they’ve served their purpose, they’re automatically cleaned up.
⚙️ How to Set a Shorter Retention for Teams Recordings
Follow these steps in the Microsoft Teams Admin Center:
- Sign in to the Microsoft Teams Admin Center.
- In the left-hand menu, go to Settings & policies > Meetings.
- Click on Meetings under "Meetings & events."
- Select Meeting policies.
- Choose the Global (Org-wide default) policy or create a new one.
- Scroll down to the Recording & transcription section.
- Enable the toggle for “Automatically expire meeting recordings”.
- Enter the desired number of days (e.g., 30 days) for Default expiration (days).
- Click Save.
🕒 Heads-up: This setting only applies to new recordings going forward.
✅ Who Can Do This?
Only Microsoft 365 admins with appropriate permissions in the Teams Admin Center can apply or update these policies.
Want More Control?
For more advanced retention needs (like different rules per department or handling older recordings), explore Microsoft Purview’s Data Lifecycle Management options.