The University has seen a dramatic increase of video storage due to moving to remote instruction in March 2020. Continuing to retain files in Zoom is no longer feasible, and therefore important changes are coming to Zoom Cloud Recordings. Beginning January 7, 2021, Zoom Cloud Recordings will be deleted 30 days after the recording was created. Your recordings are backed up, but you may need to take action.
Important Note: The information in this post relates to the main UNC Zoom account and may not apply to Zoom sub-accounts for individual schools, departments, or centers. Please check with your unit’s IT staff to learn more about your account.
Accessing & Sharing Zoom Cloud Recordings
Recordings Created *On and After* September 5, 2020
As we announced earlier this month, Zoom Cloud recordings created on and after September 5, 2020, are automatically sent to UNC Panopto, the University’s new video storage system. You can log in to your Panopto account 
now and access your recordings through My Folder > Meeting Recordings.
While you can still share the direct link to a Zoom Cloud recording for a limited time, it’s best to simply share the Panopto video link (see Panopto FAQ on “Sharing Zoom Course Meeting Recordings With Students”). The Panopto link will continue to work, whereas the Zoom link will expire once it moves to your Zoom Trash bin (30 days after recording was created). At that time, your viewers will receive an error message when accessing the Zoom link.
Recordings Created *Before* September 5, 2020
Any Zoom Cloud recordings created between January 1, 2018 and September 4, 2020, are available on SharePoint until December 1, 2021. If you were the Zoom meeting/webinar host, you may access your recordings on the Zoom Cloud Recording SharePoint site (only accessible to users with files). Open your folder, labeled yourOnyen@email.unc.edu. The files for each Zoom cloud recording are organized into folders labeled with the date the meeting was held.
To share these recordings with others, we recommend downloading your videos from SharePoint and uploading them to Panopto . If you have been sharing direct links to your Zoom Cloud recordings, please note these Zoom links will no longer work once your recording is deleted according to the schedule below.
Note: If any of your Zoom recordings created prior to September 5, 2020 were added to the Warpwire tool, they will need to move to Panopto. You may either upload them to Panopto yourself or wait until they are automatically migrated by May 17, 2021. See our announcement on Panopto replacing Warpwire.
Zoom Cloud Recording Deletion Schedule
Zoom Cloud recordings will be subject to scheduled deletion beginning January 7, 2021. Once deleted, Zoom Cloud recordings will move to your Cloud Recordings Trash bin for 30 days. Cloud Recordings made:
- before December 8, 2020 will be deleted.
- between December 8, 2020 and January 6, 2021 will remain available in Zoom for 1-29 days, according to the date they were recorded.
- on January 7 and afterward will be available for 30 days from the date of recording.
Note that shared links to deleted recordings will no longer work while they are in your Trash bin or once they are permanently deleted. You may briefly recover a recording, however it will soon move back to your Trash bin. After 30 days in the Trash (60 days after recording was created), the recording will be permanently deleted from Zoom but still available in Panopto.
Get Help
Please see the Zoom Cloud Recording Auto-Deletion FAQs or submit a help request if you have any questions.