Publish Google Meet Recordings
To Your Class Website
Publish Google Meet Recordings
To Your Class Website
Handout:
This handout covers the technical requirements, step-by-step recording instructions, and the workflow for embedding Google Meet videos into Google Sites webpages and Google Classroom.
A Teacher’s Guide to Archiving Lessons and Reaching Students
Before you start, ensure your school’s Google Workspace version supports recording. As of 2026, the following editions have the Record Meeting feature:
Google Workspace for Education Plus (Full suite)
Teaching and Learning Upgrade (Optional add-on for Fundamentals)
Education Standard (Note: In some districts, this requires an admin to enable the feature for staff).
Important: If you are on Education Fundamentals (the free version), the native "Record" button will not appear. You would need your district to upgrade or use a screen-recording tool like Screencastify or Loom to capture your session.
Start your Meet: Open Google Meet and join your session.
Open Activities: Click the Activities icon (shapes: △○□) in the bottom right corner.
Start Recording: Select Recording > Start Recording.
Tip: Always inform your students you are recording for privacy compliance!
End Recording: When finished, go back to the Activities menu and click Stop Recording, or simply end the call. The recording stops automatically when everyone leaves.
You don't need to manually save the file; Google does it for you.
Wait for the Email: You will receive an automated email when the video is finished processing (this can take 5–20 minutes).
Find it in Drive: Open your Google Drive and look for a folder automatically created for you called Meet Recordings.
CRITICAL STEP (Permissions): * Right-click the video file in Drive and select Share.
Change "Restricted" to [Your District Name] or Anyone with the link (if you want parents to see it too).
If you don't do this, students will see a "Request Access" error on your website!
Open your Site: Go to sites.google.com and open your class website.
Insert Video: * On the right-hand Insert panel, scroll down and click Drive.
Navigate to your Meet Recordings folder.
Select your video and click Insert.
Organize: Drag and drop the video box to where you want it on the page. You can add a text box above it titled "Lesson: [Date] - [Topic]."
Publish: Click the blue Publish button at the top right to make the changes live for your students.
Note: If you are pulling a video from a Shared Drive, you need to make sure the Shared Drive permissions allow for public viewing, not just the file itself. Shared Drives were formally called Team Drives. You can insert the video from "Insert From Drive," and you will have a specific "Shared Drives" tab.
If you want to ensure students see the recording in their daily feed:
Go to your Classroom and click the Classwork tab.
Click Create > Material (or Assignment if they need to respond to it).
Click the Google Drive icon.
Select your recording from the "Recent" tab or "Meet Recordings" folder.
Add a Title and Description, then click Post.
Next Step: If students cannot view your Google Meet video, check the "Troubleshooting Guide" below.
Quick Fixes for Teachers and Students
It is common for a few students to run into issues when you first start posting recordings.
Use this guide to solve 99% of those problems.
The Cause: This is the most common error. It means the video's sharing permissions are set to "Private" or "Restricted" in your Google Drive.
The Fix for Teachers:
1. Go to your Meet Recordings folder in Google Drive.
2. Right-click the specific video file.
3. Select, "Share."
4. Under "General Access," change it from "Restricted" to [Your School District] or "Anyone with the link."
5. Click, "Done." The video should now work on your Site immediately.
The Cause: Google needs time to convert the high-quality recording into a version that can be streamed on the web.
The Symptom: You see a black box with a message that says: "We're processing this video. Please check back later." or "Video unavailable."
What it actually means: This is the most common "false alarm." If you see this message, the link is working perfectly. It means Google has successfully received the file, but it is still "baking" it. Google has to convert the high-quality recording into a format that can stream smoothly over the internet.
The Fix: You just have to wait.
Small videos (10 mins) usually process in 5 minutes
Hour-long lessons can take up to 30 minutes.
If you see the text, "Video is Still Processing," the link is working—the file just isn't "ready" to play yet.
The Cause: If a student is using a home computer, they might be logged into their personal @gmail.com account instead of their @school.edu account.
The Fix for Students:
Look at the top right corner of the browser.
Ensure the profile picture belongs to the school account.
Tip: Tell students to use a Chrome Guest Window or a separate Chrome Profile for schoolwork to keep accounts from getting "tangled."
The Cause: Sometimes the Google Sites app or mobile browser struggles with embedded Drive videos if "Third-Party Cookies" are blocked.
The Fix for Students:
Update the browser (Chrome or Safari).
If it still won't play, provide a direct Link to the video (from Drive) right below the embedded video on your Site. Students can click the link to open the video directly in the Google Drive app.
The Cause: This often happens if the teacher was wearing a headset and the recording didn't capture the "system audio," or if the student's tab is muted.
The Fix for Teachers: When presenting your screen in Google Meet, choose "A Tab" instead of "Your Entire Screen" if you are playing a video with sound. This ensures the highest audio quality for the recording.
This checklist empowers students to solve their own technical issues before emailing you, or asking you to troubleshoot for them.
You can copy and paste the following text into a handout for students to use. Create a Google Doc, and link to it on your website under a "Help" section. Or, you can add a text box on your website, and paste the text below onto it. Call that section, "Help."
Try these 4 steps before asking your teacher for help.
Are you logged into your school Google account?
Look at the top-right corner of your browser. If you see your personal email (like gamer123@gmail.com), the video will stay locked for your protection. Your teacher created the video within your school's "domain," and Google's security system will block your personal Google account as an "outsider" to the school's domain.
Google does this to protect student privacy by only allowing verified school users to see classroom content.
The Fix: Switch to your school account (the one ending in @[yourschool].edu).
Sometimes the website just needs a "wake-up call."
Press Ctrl + R (Windows and Chromebooks) or Command + R (Mac) to refresh the page.
If the video says "Still Processing," it means the teacher just finished the lesson. Give it 15 minutes and try again.
Sometimes "cookies" or old saved data block the video from playing.
Open a New Incognito Window (Ctrl+Shift+N) or Private Window.
Log back into your school account and try the website again. If it works here, you just need to clear your browser cache!
See your teacher if you don't know how to clear your "cache" and "cookies."
If the video player on the website looks grey or won't click:
Look for the link that says "Click here to view in Google Drive" (if your teacher provided one).
This will open the video in a new tab using the official Drive player, which is often more reliable on phones and tablets.
If you’ve tried all 4 steps and it’s still broken, contact me. Or, email me at [Insert Your Email Here] with a screenshot of the error message you see!