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Import a Zoom cloud recording

If Zoom import has been enabled for your studio, a completed cloud recording can arrive in BitterClip without downloading and uploading it yourself. BitterClip creates one Capture Session for the meeting, brings in the available video views, and builds an editable Episode inside the configured Project.

This guide starts with the configuration check, then follows the exact buttons you will use. It also includes a short confidence test for your first real meeting.

Already signed in? Open Zoom import settings.

Before the meeting

1. Open Zoom settings in BitterClip

  1. Sign in to BitterClip.
  2. Click your name or avatar in the upper-right corner.
  3. Click Settings.
  4. Scroll to Recording import → Zoom.

The direct link above opens the same section.

2. Confirm the destination

The Zoom row should say Configured and name the Project that will receive meetings. Click Open target Project to make sure it is the destination you expect.

Look for Last successful delivery underneath the Project. That timestamp is stronger evidence than Configured. If Settings instead says that no successful delivery has been proven yet, use the short test meeting in this guide as your first proof and keep the Zoom original until the entire checklist passes.

If the row says Setup incomplete, Targets another Studio, or Not configured, stop there. The explanation under the status names the problem. Click Check setup again after your deployment operator changes it, or contact BitterClip support before recording anything you expect to import automatically.

3. Check the Zoom side

This path works with a Zoom cloud recording, not a recording stored only on your computer. In Zoom, make sure the meeting is being recorded to the cloud. End the meeting normally and wait until Zoom says the cloud recording has finished processing.

Only record people and material you have the right and consent to record. Importing does not publish the meeting anywhere.

Follow the recording into BitterClip

4. Find the new Episode

Return to the target Project you confirmed in step 2 and reload the page. A new Episode card will say Importing from Zoom. Click View progress to open its Capture Session.

If the card has not appeared yet, use the diagnostic path: click your name or avatar, click Settings, scroll to Recording import → Zoom, and click Check for updates. Under Recent Zoom deliveries, the meeting should appear as one of these states:

  • Received — Zoom delivered the meeting and the import is waiting to start.
  • Waiting for Zoom — Zoom is still preparing the cloud recording files, or the import is queued.
  • Receiving files — BitterClip is bringing the completed files into the Capture Session.
  • Building Episode — the files arrived and BitterClip is organizing the Episode.
  • Episode ready — the editable Episode has been built.
  • Needs attention — the automatic import stopped and needs a retry or manual recovery.

From a delivery row, click Open Capture Session when that action appears. You can leave while an import is working. Long meetings and several video views take longer, and Zoom's own processing happens before BitterClip receives the delivery.

5. Open the Capture Session

The Capture Session says whether it is Receiving your Zoom recording or Building your Episode and checks again automatically. Do not add the same files manually while the automatic import is still working; that can create a second, unnecessary intake attempt.

When the page says Episode ready, click Open Episode.

Verify the first Episode

Before deleting the Zoom original, check the parts that would expose an incomplete import:

  1. Play the first and last 20 seconds.
  2. Find one sentence near the start and one near the end in the transcript, then play each one to check that the words and audio agree.
  3. If the meeting used screen sharing or more than one Zoom view, click Sources · Compact (the Inspect sources control) and check that the useful views arrived once each.
  4. Listen across two speaker changes and make sure the meeting audio is continuous.
  5. Select a short passage, click Preview as Clip, then Create First Cut. When it is ready, click Download MP4 and play the file through once.

Expect the meeting's mixed audio and the completed video views Zoom made available. Separate per-participant audio and automatic participant-name assignment are not part of this import yet.

If the import needs attention

Keep the original cloud recording in Zoom while you recover it.

  1. Return to Settings → Recording import → Zoom.
  2. Find the meeting marked Needs attention.
  3. Read the recovery sentence on that row. It distinguishes a retryable delivery from one that needs manual recovery.
  4. If shown, click Retry Zoom import once. Expect the state to return to Waiting for Zoom.
  5. If Open Capture Session appears, click it. Files already received are preserved there; follow the recovery sentence and use Browse files only for missing footage.
  6. If there is no Capture Session and no retry, download the completed video from Zoom, click Open target Project, click Add footage, then Browse files. This creates the manual fallback without discarding the Zoom original.

If no meeting appears at all, confirm that Zoom finished processing a cloud recording, reload Settings, and recheck that the Zoom row still says Configured. Then contact support with the meeting topic, approximate end time, and the status shown in BitterClip. Do not send the Zoom download link, passcode, or credentials.

Need a hand? Email us at hello@bitterclip.com and tell us what you were trying to do. A real person reads every message, and the more detail you share, the faster we can help.

BitterClip is a product of SheetGenius, Inc. The company keeps a BitterClip support page with the same contacts, account and billing help, and data requests.

Tomorrow's confidence check

  • Zoom says the test meeting's cloud recording is ready.
  • BitterClip Settings shows the expected Project and either a recent successful delivery or the new test delivery.
  • The target Project card says Importing from Zoom and View progress opens it.
  • Open Capture Session shows progress without asking for a duplicate upload.
  • Open Episode reaches a playable, editable Episode.
  • Beginning, end, transcript timing, audio, and useful Zoom views are present.
  • A short Clip exports and the downloaded MP4 plays correctly.
  • The original Zoom recording remains available until every check passes.