> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://cogno.studio/docs/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Record an in-person conversation > Press one key to record the room from Cogno Desktop, and get a transcript, summary, and tasks. Ad-hoc recording captures the conversation in front of you — a desk chat, a whiteboard session, a call on a platform Cogno does not detect. Press one key and Cogno Desktop records the room; press it again and the recording becomes a **Meeting** with a transcript, a summary, and tasks, exactly like a call the **Notetaker** recorded. Nothing needs to be on your calendar and no meeting URL is involved. ## Prerequisites * The Cogno desktop app on an Apple Silicon Mac or 64-bit Windows computer. * Microphone access allowed for Cogno. * A workspace open in the app — that is where the recording is saved. Ad-hoc recording does not use the **Microsoft Teams** or **Slack Huddles** switches in your account settings. Those decide whether Cogno records a call it detected on its own; here you asked for the recording by pressing the key. ## Start and finish a recording The default is ⌘⌃R on macOS and CtrlAltR on Windows. It works while any app is in front — Cogno does not come forward. On macOS the recording badge appears at the top of the screen with a clock, the destination, and a waveform. The waveform is how you know sound is arriving; if nothing is heard for ten seconds it reads **No sound is being picked up**. The recording ends and is saved to the workspace shown on the badge. You can also choose **Finish recording** from the badge or the menu bar. ## What gets recorded Cogno mixes **your microphone and whatever your computer is playing** into one audio track. That is what makes it work for a call on a platform Cogno cannot detect: the other side comes through your speakers. There is no video. Anything playing on your computer is recorded — music, a video, another call. Stop other audio before you start. ## Control a recording while it runs On macOS a badge floats over whatever you are working in, and the same controls are in the menu bar. On Windows they are in the Cogno menu, reached from the recording indicator. | Control | What it does | | ------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Stop recording** | Holds the recording. **Resume recording** continues the same one — it does not end it. | | **Finish recording** | Ends the recording and keeps it. Only ad-hoc recordings have this. | | **Delete recording** | Ends the recording and throws it away. | | **Saving to … — change** | Chooses the workspace, or **Only me** to keep it private. | | **Minimize** | Shrinks the badge to a clock. **Show recording controls** brings it back. | Your computer will not sleep while a recording runs. The display still dims and locks as usual — that does not stop the recording. ## Where the recording goes The destination is the workspace that was open when you pressed the key, not the one on screen when you finish. Change it from the badge at any time during the recording. A finished recording appears in **Meetings** with the title **Ad-hoc recording** until the summary is ready, at which point Cogno renames it after what was discussed. Recordings are deleted after 7 days, or 3 days when only audio was recorded. Share one with a workspace or download it before then to keep it. Transcripts are kept either way. ## Who said what An in-person recording reaches Cogno as a single audio track, so the transcript arrives without speakers separated. Cogno reads the conversation and works out who was speaking — names people are called by, introductions, who answers what — then matches those names against your workspace members. A speaker the conversation does not identify stays anonymous rather than being guessed at. Nothing in the transcript wording is changed. Attribution runs on recordings long enough to have a conversation in them. A few seconds of speech is transcribed but not split by speaker. ## Change the recording key Find **Desktop recording**, then **Ad-hoc recording key**. The field reads **Press keys…** while it listens. Press Esc to cancel, or **Reset** to go back to the default. The key is claimed from every app on the machine, so a combination another app already holds is refused — Cogno says so and keeps your current key. The choice is stored per computer. On macOS, ⌃⌥ is VoiceOver's modifier. Cogno accepts a key that uses it but warns you, because it takes over one of VoiceOver's commands. ## Reference | Item | Value | | ------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Default key | ⌘⌃R (macOS), CtrlAltR (Windows) | | Audio | Microphone + computer output, mixed | | Video | Never | | Longest recording | 100 minutes, then it finishes on its own | | Recordings at once | One per computer, ad-hoc or meeting | | Destination | The workspace open when the recording started | | Title before the summary | **Ad-hoc recording** | ## Troubleshooting | Symptom | Likely cause | Fix | | ------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------- | | **A meeting is being recorded right now.** | Cogno is already recording a detected call, and a computer records one thing at a time. | Finish that recording first. | | **… is already used by another app.** | Another app claimed the key first. | Choose a different key in **Settings → Account**. | | **The microphone is picking up nothing** | The microphone is muted, or the room is out of its range. | Check the input device and move the computer closer. | | **This machine cannot record.** | Desktop recording is not available on this computer. | Use an Apple Silicon Mac or a 64-bit Windows computer. | | The waveform is flat but people are talking | The waveform follows the microphone only. Audio playing on the computer is still recorded. | Check the microphone if the room is what you meant to record. | For anything not listed here, see [Troubleshooting](/docs/troubleshooting). ## Related docs * [Record calls and meetings with Notetaker](/docs/meetings) * [Tasks](/docs/tasks) * [Memory](/docs/memory)