Zoom is a popular video conferencing platform that has seen a huge surge in usage during the COVID-19 pandemic, as people have turned to virtual meetings to stay connected while social distancing. One question that often comes up is whether or not Zoom calls have an expiration date – do the meeting links eventually stop working if you try to reuse them?
The short answer is yes, Zoom calls do expire after some time. However, the exact expiration time depends on the type of Zoom account you have, your account settings, and whether it’s a recurring meeting or a one-time meeting.
Expiration times for different account types
Zoom offers several tiers of paid and free accounts for both individuals and businesses. The expiration time for meetings depends on which type of account you have:
Free Zoom account
For free basic Zoom accounts, one-time meetings expire after 24 hours. So if you start a Zoom meeting with your free account on Monday at 1pm, that meeting ID and link will no longer work after 1pm on Tuesday.
Recurring meetings with free accounts expire after 30 days if not used. So if you set up a recurring meeting but don’t hold the meeting for over a month, the link will stop working.
Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Education accounts
For paid Zoom accounts, including Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Education plans, one-time meetings expire after 30 days if unused.
Recurring meetings with paid accounts expire after 365 days if inactive.
So with a paid account, your meetings have a longer expiration period, but will still eventually stop working if not used within the time limit.
Recurring vs. one-time meetings
As mentioned above, the expiration time also depends on whether a Zoom meeting is recurring or one-time only:
Recurring meetings
Recurring meetings are those that are scheduled in advance to take place on a regular basis (e.g. weekly team meetings, daily standups, monthly book club).
The meeting ID and link remain the same for every recurrence of the meeting. But if the meeting is not held for the expiration period (30 days for free accounts, 365 days for paid), the link will stop working.
One-time meetings
One-time or single meetings are scheduled on a one-off basis, with a unique meeting ID and link. These meetings expire 24 hours after starting for free accounts, and 30 days after starting for paid accounts.
So if you hold a single strategy meeting with your team and send out the Zoom link, that meeting will “disappear” based on the expiration time above.
Account settings that affect expiration
There are a couple settings in your Zoom account that can impact meeting expiration:
Extend meeting expiration for recurring meetings
Paid Zoom account holders have the option to extend the expiration date for recurring meetings from 365 days to up to 3 years. This will keep your recurring meetings active for longer without having to re-generate the link.
Enable auto-delete for ended meetings
Account admins can enable a setting to automatically delete Zoom cloud recordings and ended meeting data after a certain time period. This will purge old meetings faster compared to just waiting for the standard expiration.
What happens when a meeting expires?
When a Zoom meeting hits its expiration time, here’s what users can expect:
– The meeting link will no longer work and can’t be joined. Attendees will get an error trying to join an expired meeting.
– The expired meeting is deleted from the host’s list of upcoming meetings.
– Cloud recordings for the meeting are deleted based on the account auto-delete settings.
– Chat data is deleted after the expiration period.
So an unused meeting will essentially vanish from the host’s Zoom account after the predefined time. However, if the meeting has taken place, the host has options to access the recording and chat data before expiration.
Extending the expiration for an important meeting
If you have a particularly important Zoom meeting coming up that you want to keep accessible longer than the standard expiration timeline, there are options:
– For recurring meetings, paid account holders can extend to 3 years.
– For one-time meetings, you can schedule recurring meetings up to 3 years out, essentially making any meeting you need recurring.
– You can record the meeting and download the recording file to save locally before the cloud recording expires.
– You can copy the meeting chat text into a document and save it externally as well.
Best practices for meeting expiration
To make sure meeting links work when you need them, here are some best practices around Zoom meeting expiration:
– For recurring meetings, extend the expiration to 3 years in your account settings so links remain constant.
– Download any important cloud recordings before they expire if you don’t pay for extended storage.
– For single meetings, generate a new meeting ID instead of trying to reuse an old one.
– Check upcoming meetings in your Zoom account periodically to make sure links are still active.
– If re-using a meeting link after expiration, re-send the details and don’t just assume attendees have old invites.
Conclusion
Zoom meetings do have expiration dates beyond which the meeting IDs and links will no longer work. The exact expiration depends on whether the meeting is recurring or one-time only, and what type of Zoom account you have.
To avoid issues accessing expired meetings, extend expiration for recurring meetings, download recordings you need, and generate fresh links for new meetings. Checking for upcoming expirations periodically can help you stay on top of keeping access to important meetings.
| Zoom Account Type | One-time meeting expiration | Recurring meeting expiration |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 24 hours | 30 days |
| Pro | 30 days | 365 days |
| Business | 30 days | 365 days |
| Enterprise | 30 days | 365 days |
| Education | 30 days | 365 days |
