Microsoft rolls out new feature to automatically delete meeting recordings

Tech giant Microsoft has rolled out a new feature for Teams that can automatically delete recording files stored in OneDrive or SharePoint after a pre-set period of time.

Microsoft flagged the new feature in its December updates for the Teams collaboration platform, which included end-to-end encryption for calls and fixes for an issue between Teams and Android that caused some devices to freeze after making an emergency call, reports ZDNet.

Admins can disable the auto-expiration feature which will be on by default. Once rolled out, all new recordings automatically expire 60 days after they are recorded if no action is taken.

Microsoft expedited the feature's roll out "due to overwhelming customer requests," Microsoft said in a blogpost.

"All newly created Teams meeting recordings (TMRs) will have a default expiration of 60 days. This is on by default for all tenants," the company explained in a support document.

"This means that by default, all TMRs created after this feature was turned on will be deleted 60 days after their creation date," it added.

Admins can also set meetings to never auto-expire in the Teams admin centre or by using PowerShell commands

Microsoft described the feature as a "lightweight housekeeping mechanism to reduce storage clutter" created by old recordings, which on an average consume about 400 MB of cloud storage per hour of recording.