How to get started with Cloud Recording

Learn how to use the Cloud Recording feature and how it differs from Local Recording on your device

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Written by Benjamin Yee
Updated over a week ago

Cloud Recording is available on Pro and Enterprise plans. It gives you several advantages over recording on your local device, including:

  • Automatically saving recordings to the cloud

  • Automatically sharing recordings with all hosts in a Space

In addition, we also have a range of customizations for Enterprise users, including

  • Automatically turn on recording for sessions (if activated for your institution and turned on by an administrator)

  • Record all breakout rooms (even if a host isn't there!)

  • Adjust permissions for who can access and download a cloud recording

Turn Cloud Recording On and Off in a Space

If you're in a Space, you can turn on Cloud Recording just like you would Local Recording with the following steps:
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1. Click the "More" button on your video tools bar

2. Click "Record"

3. Select "Record on Cloud" and you're done! (But keep scrolling to see how to stop your recording)

4. By default, we only record participant video and screenshares. If you'd like to record content on the whiteboard, you will need to screen-share your current tab during the call. You can find a guide on how to do that here


4. To stop your recording, just click the "Rec" button and select "Stop Recording". If you accidentally leave the call without stopping your recording - don't worry! Your recordings are saved automatically

Accessing saved recordings

Cloud Recording automatically saves recordings in the Analytics dashboard of your Space. All recordings will be viewable by Hosts but Administrators can control whether or not Hosts can download or delete them.

To view your recordings:

1. Open the Pencil Spaces App Library

2. Select Analytics at the top of your App list.

3. Select the Session you want to view on the left, then select "Playback" in the top navigation bar.

4. If you used Breakout Rooms, select the Room for which you'd like to view the recording, then click "View"

5. Any host in the Space can access playback for past recordings. If your organization administrator allows it, you can also optionally Download or Delete the recording using the "More" menu.

[Enterprise only] Adjusting recording permissions

Enterprise users (users with an institution on Pencil Spaces) have access to a range of administrator controls to control recordings.

To access these features, you need to be an Institution Admin for your institution. To get started, go to https://my.pencilapp.com/spaces and open up "Settings"
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Go to "Permissions" > "Recording", and you should see the screen below
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On this page, you can:

  • Prevent recording altogether, allow hosts to record a Space, or record all calls associated with your institution (if enabled for your institution)

  • Control whether recordings can be downloaded by hosts. Admins will always retain rights to download recordings

  • Control whether recordings can be deleted by hosts. Admins will always retain rights to delete recordings

[Enterprise only] Always-on recording

We also support a feature to record all calls made in Spaces associated with your institution - this includes breakout rooms, even if you're not in the call.

To get started:

  1. Always-on recording has to be enabled for your institution for you to select in settings. Please contact support and we'll be happy to set this feature up for you.

  2. After always-on-recording has been enabled, please hard-refresh Pencil Spaces (Cmd / Ctrl + Shift + R) on your keyboard.

  3. Activate "Always-on recording" for your institution by selecting "Always-on recording" in Settings and clicking "Update" at the bottom of the page.
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Please note: This feature may take some time to fully activate (up to 24 hours) for Spaces with recent calls. To speed this process up, please make sure all your existing Spaces don't have active calls, and please refrain from starting calls in any recently active Spaces. Always-on-recording will work correctly for any newly created Spaces in your institution.

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