Privately Recording Meetings

Groupthink can take meeting notes privately through the desktop app. Instead of the visible notetaker bot joining your call, the desktop app captures the conversation locally on your computer. Nothing appears in the meeting, other participants do not see Groupthink, and the resulting notes and transcript stay private to you.

Groupthink keeps the recording. The audio is captured on your computer, uploaded to Groupthink, and kept alongside the transcript, summary, and notes. We keep the recording so we can give you a better transcript later as transcription improves. It stays as private as the rest of the meeting: it sits on your private agenda, where nobody else can reach it.

Heads up: Private capture requires an active trial or paid plan, the same as the visible notetaker. Without one, Groupthink will not start taking notes.

Heads up: Private capture runs in the Groupthink desktop app. If you do not have the app installed, Groupthink will prompt you to download it when you turn private capture on.

Overview

Private capture is the alternative to the visible Public with Bot notetaker:

• No bot in the call. Groupthink records through your desktop app, so nothing joins your Meet, Zoom, or Teams call and other participants do not see Groupthink.
• Private by default. The notes and transcript are visible only to you. They carry a 📝 Private notes (only you) label in the app.
• Same automatic output. You still get a transcript, notes filed against your agenda, and a recap after the meeting ends, just like the visible notetaker.

Warning: It is your responsibility to comply with the recording laws that apply to you and the people on your call.

Requirements

Private capture runs in the Groupthink desktop app, so you need the app installed and running.

1. Install the Groupthink desktop app. See Groupthink Desktop App for download links and setup steps for your computer.
2. When the app prompts you, grant the system permissions it needs to capture audio.

If you turn private capture on without the app installed, Groupthink saves your preference and prompts you to download the desktop app before it can record.

Turning On Private Capture

There are two ways to use private capture.

Option 1: Set it as your default

Choose private capture once and it applies to your future meetings. This setting lives in User Settings > Calendar, under the heading How should Groupthink attend your meetings?

Select Privately Take Notes. Groupthink will record privately through the desktop app, no bot will join your calls, and your notes, transcript, and summary stay private to you.

To attend scheduled meetings this way, connect your Google Calendar first so Groupthink can see your meetings and their conferencing links.

Option 2: Start it on a single meeting

You can also turn on private capture for one meeting at a time.

• From a meeting agenda, click Start Notetaker and choose Private with App. Groupthink will record that meeting locally on your desktop.
• From your calendar, open a meeting's three-dot menu and choose Add Invisible Note Taker to capture it privately through the desktop app.

In both cases, if the desktop app is not installed, Groupthink will prompt you to download it.

What You Get

Private capture produces the same things as the visible notetaker, kept private to you:

• A full transcript of the conversation.
• Notes filed against the items on your agenda.
• A recap with topics, decisions, and follow-ups once the meeting ends.

The agenda is visible only to you, because a private recording lands on an agenda that has only you on it — that is where the privacy comes from, not from any badge on the page.

You can tell a private meeting from a shared one by the chip on its card, in your calendar, in the feed and on the meeting itself: ✨ Private (hover: Private Recording) versus 🤖 Shared (hover: Shared Bot Notes).

The 📝 Private notes (only you) label is not that indicator. It appears on the notes box of every agenda, including fully shared ones, and it labels that box — your own scratchpad, which nobody else can read — not the meeting around it. Do not read it as "this meeting is private.".

Switching Between Private and Shared

You can switch a meeting between private and shared capture from the meeting's three-dot menu on your calendar. Choose Swap to Invisible Note Taker to go private, or swap back to the bot to go shared, then confirm in the dialog (Switch to Private Notes? or Switch to Shared Notes?). For a recurring meeting, you can apply the change to a single event or the whole series.

Two things to know before you switch:

• Switching to private removes everyone else. All other users immediately lose access to the shared agenda and its notes. Their content is not copied into your private agenda.
• Switching to shared starts fresh. Your private agenda stays private, and a new blank shared agenda is created. If you want anything from your private notes in the shared one, move it over yourself.

For more on private versus shared notes, see Automatic Meeting Notes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can other people see my private notes?

No. A private recording lives on an agenda that has only you on it, so nobody else can open the meeting, its transcript, or its recap.

Be careful not to read this the other way round. Access is decided by who is on the agenda, not by how the meeting was captured. If people are on an agenda, they can read it whether the notes came from the desktop app or the bot. Check the agenda's people list when it matters — see Note Access and Permissions.

The 📝 Private notes (only you) label is not the signal for any of this. It sits on the notes box of every agenda, shared ones included, and only means that that box is yours alone.

Do I need the desktop app?

Yes. Private capture records locally through the Groupthink desktop app. If the app is not installed, Groupthink prompts you to download it before it can record. See Groupthink Desktop App.

Does Groupthink keep my audio?

Yes. Groupthink keeps the recording of a private capture rather than deleting it once the transcript is made. We keep the recording so we can give you a better transcript later as transcription improves: transcription keeps getting better, and holding the original audio means we can run a meeting through a better transcriber later, instead of leaving you with the transcript that was possible on the day.

The recording stays as private as the rest of the meeting. It belongs to your private agenda and follows the same access rules described above, so nobody else can reach it. If you would rather Groupthink did not keep the recording of a meeting, email support@groupthink.com.

Why did private capture not take any notes?

A few things have to be in place: the Groupthink desktop app needs to be installed and running, you need an active trial or paid plan, and private capture has to be turned on, either as your default setting or on the specific meeting.

Is anything visible to other people on the call?

No. With private capture, no bot joins the call and your notes stay private to you.

Getting Help

Questions about private capture, or running into trouble? See Troubleshooting Private Meeting Recording, or email support@groupthink.com.