New retention period to be applied to Zoom cloud recordings
Many individuals or departments record classes, town halls, webinars or other Zoom-based meetings using Zoom's "Record to the Cloud” option. Those cloud recordings are stored indefinitely in their Zoom accounts. To reduce storage costs and align with the University’s privacy principles, the University will implement a new 36-month retention period for Zoom cloud recordings on June 10, 2026.
The 36-month retention period will be retroactive, meaning that all Zoom cloud recordings created prior to June 10, 2023 will be deleted on the day it goes into effect and on a rolling basis as recordings reach 36 months of age.
Deleted recordings may be recovered and downloaded from the trash folder in the Zoom web portal for 30 days.
If you have Zoom cloud recordings, we recommend that you:
- Review your Zoom cloud recordings and determine which need to be saved per Harvard's records schedules or for business continuity purposes.
- Download any Zoom cloud recordings that you need to save.
- Save downloaded recordings to the appropriate storage platform.
- If you have shared the URL of your Zoom cloud recording, notify viewers of the new location.
Faculty members using recordings for classroom instruction may move files to Panopto for future playback or request help from their local academic support staff for additional assistance.
If you don’t want to keep your recordings, you may delete them or wait for them to reach the end of their retention period when they will be deleted automatically.
If you have questions or need help, you can contact the HUIT Service Desk or your local IT support. You can also register to attend Zoom office hours.