How to Use Otter.ai in 2026: Calendar, Notetaker, Recording, Import and Sharing Step by Step

Otter.ai is easy to sign up for and surprisingly easy to misuse. A common way to get frustrated with it is to connect a calendar, let the notetaker join everything, hit the free plan’s limits in the first week and decide the tool is flaky. In that case the tool is not the problem. The setup choices and the limits are.

I have been in ecommerce for 15+ years, and at Ecommerce Paradise I look at every tool through one question: does it save a store owner time on the work that makes money? In the model I explain in my guide to what high-ticket dropshipping is, a lot of that work is conversations with dealers, reps and VAs, where one misremembered term costs real money. A searchable record of those calls is the whole point of using Otter.

This is a walkthrough of how to use Otter in the order I would set it up: account, calendar, Notetaker, live recording, imports, reviewing the notes, search, sharing and integrations. I cover price and plan limits in my Otter.ai pricing breakdown. My take on quality is in my Otter.ai review, so this post stays on the clicking.

The steps below come from Otter’s help center articles and pricing page, which I read on October 7, 2026, plus its terms of service. I have not clicked through every screen in a fresh account for this post. Otter moves menus around, and its own articles sometimes name the same page differently, so treat the paths as a map and trust the screen in front of you. Confirm plan limits on the signup page before you pay.

Disclosure: I may earn a commission if you sign up through my Otter.ai link, at no extra cost to you.

Way to capture a conversation	Best for	Needs a bot in the call?	Where you start it
Otter Notetaker (auto-join)	Scheduled Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams meetings	Yes, it joins as a visible participant	Connect a calendar, then pick which meetings it joins
Otter desktop app	Calls where you do not want a bot visible	No, it records from your Mac or Windows computer	Record button in the desktop app
Browser or phone recording	In-person talks, phone calls on speaker, voice memos	No	Record button on the web, microphone-style record button on mobile
Import a file	A call you already recorded elsewhere	No	Import at the top right on the web, upload icon on mobile

How to Use Otter.ai in 2026: What to Know Before You Click

Otter has four plans: Basic (free), Pro, Business and Enterprise. Everything in this walkthrough works on the free plan unless I say otherwise, but the free plan has hard limits that shape how you use it. The Basic plan lists 300 transcription minutes a month, 30 minutes per conversation and 3 audio or video imports for the life of the account.

One naming point will save you confusion. Otter’s help center now calls its auto-joining assistant Otter Notetaker. Older Otter pages, and plenty of reviews including mine, call it OtterPilot, and the old name still turns up in some help articles. I treat the two as the same feature, though Otter does not say so in one sentence.

I would also set one expectation. CNET’s review of Otter, updated in April 2024, praised how easy it is to record meetings and edit transcripts, but said the transcripts “still need a good cleaning.” That matches the advice later in this post: record, then spend a few minutes tidying the notes that matter.

Step 1: Create Your Account and Install the Apps

Otter’s quick start guide says to sign up on the Otter account page, verify your email through the link it sends, and check spam if the message does not show up. It recommends a work email if you want workspace features. The same guide says you reach Account Settings through your profile photo or initial at the top left, which is where you will update your profile, add custom vocabulary, manage your subscription and connect apps.

Next, install the mobile app. Otter’s help center lists iOS and Android apps, and its system requirements page lists iOS 15 or above and Android 5.0 or above. For the web app it lists recent versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Edge, and it does not support Internet Explorer.

If you plan to record calls from your computer, the desktop app is worth a look too. Otter’s help center says it runs on macOS 12.3 or higher and Windows 10 or higher, and you need to allow microphone and screen or system audio recording permissions before it works. I come back to it in Step 4.

Before you move on, add your own name and the names that come up in your calls to custom vocabulary. Otter’s pricing page lists 5 custom vocabulary terms on Basic and larger allowances on paid plans. Supplier names, product model numbers and brand names are the words an AI transcriber is most likely to get wrong.

Step 2: Connect Your Calendar

Connecting a calendar is what lets Otter know when your meetings happen. Otter’s help center says it supports Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook Calendar and, on iPhone, Apple’s iOS Calendar. Android users get the Google and Microsoft options only.

On the web

One help article tells you to open Apps in the left menu, find the Connect calendars & contacts section, and click Add next to your provider. Another help article describes the same step under Integrations. Menus change, so look for whichever of those two names your left menu shows.

Sign in to your Google or Microsoft account when prompted and grant the permission. Otter says the email on your calendar does not have to match your Otter login, and you can repeat the step for more than one calendar. Your events then show on the calendar on your Otter homepage.

On your phone

Per the help center, tap Account at the lower right, then Account Settings, then Connect calendars under Setup. Tap the plus button next to your provider and follow the prompts.

Limits to know about

The help center says Otter syncs only the primary calendar of each connected account. Secondary or subscribed calendars are not supported, and on-premises Microsoft Exchange calendars do not work, only Microsoft 365 Outlook online calendars. If your supplier calls are booked on a shared or secondary calendar, they may not show up, and you will need to add the Notetaker by link instead.

If you ever want to undo this, the help center says you disconnect a calendar from the same Integrations page and the change takes effect immediately. Past events stay visible, previously synced future events are removed, and you can still add Notetaker to a meeting manually.

Step 3: Set Up Otter Notetaker to Join Your Meetings

With a calendar connected, Notetaker can join Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams meetings, record them, transcribe them and share the notes. Otter’s help center is blunt about how it appears. It joins as a visible participant (the Teams article calls it an anonymous guest), so everyone on the call can see it.

Choose which meetings it joins

Otter’s help center describes the settings under Account Settings, then Meetings (one article writes the path as Integrations, then Meetings), or from the Meetings tab on the homepage. The default auto-join options are meetings with a video link, meetings where you are the host, external meetings, internal meetings, or only meetings you select by hand. The external and internal options compare your guests against your workspace domain.

For a store owner, I would start with “Meetings I manually select.” Auto-joining every internal call is how you end up with a workspace full of noise and a free plan with no minutes left by the second week. Choose that setting from the Default auto-join settings dropdown, then toggle on the meetings that matter.

To toggle a single meeting, open the Meetings or Calendar tab on your homepage and flip auto-join for that event. The help center says to do this at least 30 minutes before the start, because a late change may not take effect in time. Turning it on for a recurring event applies to the whole series.

Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams

Zoom needs a little setup on the host’s side. Otter’s help center says the host has to turn on “Record to computer files” in Zoom’s recording settings and check “External meeting participants.” It also recommends checking “Auto approve their permission request,” because otherwise the host has to approve the Notetaker by hand each time. It also says meetings hosted by Zoom Rooms are not supported, because the room cannot approve the permissions.

Teams has its own requirement. The help center says a Teams administrator may need to enable anonymous users joining meetings in the admin center, and that Notetaker can show as “Unverified” in the participant list, which is expected. If you do not run the Teams tenant, you may be the guest here, so ask the host.

If it does not show up

The Notetaker troubleshooting article names two blockers on Zoom, a host who disabled recording for the meeting and a host who denied Notetaker’s recording permission, and it also covers waiting rooms. It says Notetaker waits up to 5 minutes for a host to start a meeting, with up to 4 attempts, and waits about 12 minutes in a waiting room before it leaves.

Its recommended workaround is to paste the meeting URL into the “Paste meeting URL to record” field on Otter’s homepage during the meeting. That is also the fix for a quick ad hoc call that never made it onto your calendar. If you are the one hosting a call with a supplier, admit the Notetaker from the waiting room and tell the other person what it is before you start talking.

Step 4: Record a Conversation Yourself

Not every conversation is a scheduled video meeting. For in-person talks, calls on speaker and voice memos, you can record directly from the web app or your phone.

In the browser or on your phone

Otter’s in-person recording guide says to log in, click Record in the top right and check that the live transcript and audio waveform appear. On mobile, look for the microphone-style record button and the Pause, Resume and Stop controls. I could not confirm the exact position of the mobile button, so go by what your app shows.

You need a stable internet connection for real-time transcription, and Otter recommends at least 512 kbps of uplink bandwidth. You will also have to grant microphone permission. After you stop, the recording goes into processing, and you can find it in My Conversations. Otter’s system requirements page says headsets are discouraged for browser recording of virtual meetings, because the other side’s audio plays in your ears instead of through speakers, and recommends the Notetaker for those.

The desktop app and bot-free recording

The desktop app is the option for people who do not want a bot visible in the call. Otter’s help center says it records and transcribes supported meetings without a bot joining as a participant, works with Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Slack huddles, dialers and messaging apps, and lets you wear headphones. You start it with the Record button at the upper right.

The help article does not say which plans include the desktop app. Otter’s pricing page puts the Mac and Windows download buttons on the free Basic card, which suggests it is available on every plan, but confirm that when you sign up. It also notes that you should follow applicable laws and policies on consent before you record. A bot-free recording does not announce itself, so the telling is on you, which I cover below.

Pause, stop and the 20-minute rule

Otter has a short article on recording best practices. It says to use Stop rather than Pause whenever you can, because stopping lets processing begin immediately. It says to resume a paused recording within 20 minutes, because Otter automatically finalizes recordings after about 20 minutes of inactivity.

It also says to keep the tab open for a few seconds after you click Stop, and to keep the recording device connected until the upload finishes. If a recording still shows as “Live” the next day, open Otter on the original device with a strong connection and the upload should resume.

Step 5: Import a Recording You Already Have

If a call was recorded somewhere else, you can upload it. Otter’s quick start guide says that on the web you click Import in the top right and select a file, and that on mobile you tap the cloud upload icon. The file uploads to Otter and Otter transcribes the voice audio.

Otter’s “What is Otter?” article lists audio formats MP3, AAC, WAV, M4A and WMA, and video formats MP4, AVI, MOV, WMV and MPG. Other pages may list more, so check the import screen. The import troubleshooting article says each file must be under 5 GB, and that imported files count toward your plan’s monthly limit.

That last point matters on the free plan. Basic allows 3 audio or video imports for the life of the account, not per month, and Pro allows 10 a month, per the pricing page. If you are tempted to dump a folder of old calls into Otter, count your imports first.

For big files, the troubleshooting article suggests a stable connection of at least 3 Mbps, keeping your computer awake, and exporting video as audio only to shrink the file. It also says files over 200 MB may need extra care on mobile.

Step 6: Review the Summary, Transcript and Action Items

When a recording finishes, open it from My Conversations. Otter’s conversation page has two main tabs: Summary and Transcript, with a side panel for AI Chat, comments and the outline.

The Summary tab

Per the help center, the Summary tab holds an AI-generated summary, a list of action items and an outline of the main topics. I could not confirm in current help articles how short a recording can be before the summary gets thin, so judge it on a real call rather than a ten-second test.

The help center also says the summary cannot be regenerated, because it is based on the live meeting or recording, and it points you to Otter AI Chat if you have tagged new speakers. That is a reason to tag speakers early. If you want a different layout, Otter’s meeting templates let you choose or build a template that controls which sections appear, such as overview, action items, insights and a custom prompt. Templates are available on all plans with usage limits that vary by plan.

Clean up the transcript and the speakers

The Transcript tab is editable. You can fix words, highlight lines, add comments and attach images, and the playback stays synced to the text.

For speakers, the help center says to click a speaker bubble in the transcript to tag a name, and that you can rename or merge duplicate speakers from the same menu. Renames and merges apply across all conversations in your account, but you can only manage speakers you created yourself. Speaker names from meeting platforms can also show up in the tagging menu.

Spend your cleanup time where it counts. For a supplier call, check the numbers, model names, dates and any term about warranty, shipping or minimum advertised pricing. The rest of the transcript can stay rough.

Action items

Action items appear in the Summary tab for each conversation, and Otter also collects the ones assigned to you on the Action Items tab next to the Calendar tab on your homepage. The help center says you can edit an item, assign it to yourself or another user, and check it off to move it to Completed. The global list only shows items assigned to you, and deleted items cannot be restored.

The help center says the “View in transcript” link works for AI-generated items only, so add the source line yourself if you create one by hand. I would still read each AI item before trusting it. A transcript can attach a task to the wrong person, and in a supplier call that is worth a minute of checking.

Step 7: Search Your Meetings and Ask Otter AI Chat

This is the part that pays you back. Once a few weeks of calls are in Otter, you can find the one where a rep quoted a lead time or a price break instead of re-listening to them.

Otter’s pricing page lists keyword search, and its Pro card lists advanced search, with the comparison table adding search by speaker, date range and more. Inside a conversation, CNET notes that clicking a section of the transcript plays the audio from that point.

Otter AI Chat goes further. Per the help center, you open it from the right panel on a conversation, the chat icon on the homepage, or AI Chat in the left menu. You can ask about one meeting, or type @ to pull in specific conversations, channels or folders and ask a question across all of them. The help article says it can also create summaries for emails, reports and social posts.

Chat has monthly caps by plan. The pricing page lists 20 questions per user a month on Basic with 3 per conversation, 50 on Pro and 200 on Business. A few good questions beat many vague ones, so try prompts like “what delivery times did the rep give” or “list every commitment I made on this call.”

The help center says the AI Chat connectors for Google Drive, Gmail, Jira and Notion are only available in Advanced mode, and that the Salesforce connector is for Enterprise. The pricing page also lists an Otter MCP server, which is for connecting other AI tools to your meeting notes.

Step 8: Share, Export and Organize

A transcript only helps if the right person can see it. Otter has a few ways to share, and a few settings that decide what gets shared by default.

Share a conversation

The help center says to open the conversation, click Share at the upper right, add emails, names or channel names, and set a permission level for each. Collaborators can edit, view, play back and export, and viewers can only view and play back. You can also generate a link set to anyone in your workspace, anyone with the link (viewer by default, with playback possible without signing in) or restricted to the people you named.

You can select several conversations at once and share them in bulk. You can also highlight transcript text and share just that snippet, which is handy when a VA only needs one section of a longer call. One caution from the help center: a shared snippet link cannot be restricted or revoked, so do not use it for anything sensitive.

Auto-share and channels

For calendar meetings, the Notetaker settings let you choose a default audience: all event guests, same-domain guests, workspace members, or nobody. For supplier calls I would pick “Don’t share” until I have reviewed the notes, because auto-share can send a transcript to guests before you have read it.

Channels group the people you share with often, and the quick start guide says everyone in a channel is notified by email and push notification when you share a conversation with it. The pricing page lists sharing through private channels and public links in its comparison table.

Export a transcript

Open a conversation, click the three dots near the top and choose Export. On mobile, open the Transcript tab, tap the three dots at the top right and choose Export text or Export audio. Per the help center, web formats are TXT, DOCX, PDF and SRT plus MP3 for audio, with options to show speaker names, timestamps and highlights.

Plan limits apply here. The help center says Basic users can export conversations only as TXT, and that bulk export is available on Business and higher. If you might cancel a paid plan, export what you need in DOCX or PDF first.

Folders

Click the plus button next to Folders in the left menu to create one, then use the three dots next to a conversation and choose Move. One warning from the help center: deleting a folder deletes the conversations inside it. Move anything you want to keep before you remove a folder.

Step 9: Connect Slack, Zapier and Your CRM

Integrations are optional, and I would add them one at a time after the basics work. Otter’s help center lists a Slack app available on all plans, which sends notifications when you are mentioned or assigned an action item, enriches Otter links posted in Slack with a summary, and lets you post a summary to a channel. You connect it from the Connected Apps or Integrations page.

The Zapier integration is for automations. Per the help center it is available on Pro, Business and Enterprise, supports two events (a new recording, and importing new recordings into Otter), and uses an API key from your account’s developer settings. Imported audio from Zapier uses up your monthly minutes like any other import.

HubSpot and Salesforce sync meeting notes into your CRM. For HubSpot, the help center says meetings sync only when they were recorded from a calendar event, include at least one guest outside your domain and match a contact that already exists in HubSpot. The pricing page says connection limits vary by plan and the integrations are subject to user limits.

Otter also lists Dropbox and Zoom sync. The Dropbox help article says Dropbox is only available on Business and Enterprise plans, and that files imported from it count against your monthly minutes, so check that before you plan a workflow around it.

Using Otter on Your Phone

The mobile app is where Otter is most useful for the kind of work store owners do. Otter’s help center says you can record, get notifications on all your devices, and see everything synced across them. On mobile you can record in-person conversations, import a file with the upload icon and read your transcripts on the go.

The pricing page lists audio input from the built-in microphone, Bluetooth and AirPods, plus iOS and Android widgets and Siri shortcuts support. For in-person recordings, Otter’s best-practices article says to put the microphone in the center of all speakers or near the speaker you want to capture, and to do a short test recording first to confirm live transcription appears. If audio is not being captured, it says to check for noise suppression or noise reduction settings on your audio input and try turning them off. It also says that if your connection drops you should not close the browser or app, because Otter caches the audio locally and uploads when you reconnect.

Menus on mobile move around more than on the web. If a tap path in this post does not match your app version, look for the Account tab, the record and upload buttons and the three-dot menu, since those are the entry points Otter’s help articles keep returning to.

Recording Consent: Tell People Before You Record

Using a notetaker means recording other people, and the law on that varies. This is general information, not legal advice, and I am not a lawyer. If a call is high stakes, ask one.

Otter’s own terms are clear that this is your job. Section 9.2 says the laws on notice and notification vary by location, and that you are solely responsible for providing any notices to, and obtaining consent from, people in connection with recordings as required under applicable law. Its help center also tells you to obtain any required consent and follow recording laws.

The FCC’s guide on recording telephone conversations says the FCC has no rules about individuals recording their own calls, but that some state laws prohibit the practice. Justia’s 50-state survey of recording laws says a majority of states require only one party’s consent, and lists California, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington as all-party states. It also says that if a call crosses state lines you may want to comply with the most restrictive law.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press says in its state-by-state recording guide that many of these laws carry criminal penalties and some also allow civil lawsuits. My habit, and the one I would suggest, is simple: say at the start of every call that you are using an AI notetaker and ask if that is fine. If someone says no, stop the recording or leave Otter out.

Otter gives you a little help. Its Notetaker settings include pre-recording emails, sent 5 to 10 minutes before the event, that tell guests Notetaker will join and record, and the Notetaker shows up in the participant list. If you use the bot-free desktop app, none of that applies, so you have to do the telling yourself. If you take calls with suppliers overseas, ask them about local rules too.

A Simple Supplier-Call Routine With Otter

Here is how I would put the steps together for the calls that matter most in a high-ticket store. I explain how to find and approach those suppliers in my step-by-step supplier guide, and this is the note-keeping layer that sits on top. It is my suggested routine, not something I am claiming is the only way.

Before the call, add the supplier’s name and product lines to custom vocabulary, switch auto-join on for that event, and set auto-share to nobody. At the start, say the call is being recorded for notes. During the call, ask the rep to repeat anything numeric, because that gives the transcript a clean line to search later.

After the call, open the conversation, tag the speakers, read the action items and fix any wrong number. Then move the conversation into a folder for that supplier, so a “warranty” or “minimum advertised price” search later has one place to start. When a VA needs a section, share the highlighted snippet instead of the full recording.

Records like this help when a verbal term turns into a written dealer agreement. Dealer applications often ask for a registered business and an EIN, which is what my guide to business formation for dropshipping covers. If you are still choosing what to sell, start with my high-ticket niches list before you pay for any tools.

Limits and Mistakes That Catch New Users

The biggest one is the free plan’s 30-minute cap. Otter’s help article on Basic limits says each conversation is capped at 30 minutes, and that the recording or import does not stop past that point, but you can only access up to 30 minutes of the transcription. That is stronger than what the pricing page says, and it means a 45-minute supplier call loses the last 15 minutes on Basic.

The second is the monthly pool. The help center says Basic’s 300 minutes cover recording and importing, that once you exceed them you cannot record or import until your next monthly cycle, and that deleted conversations still count. By my arithmetic, 300 minutes is ten 30-minute calls. Pro’s 1,200 minutes is 20 hours, per the pricing page, with a 90-minute cap per meeting.

The pricing page is not fully consistent here. Its comparison table lists monthly limits per plan, but also carries a note reading “Unlimited in-app recordings. Limit applies only to imported files.” I could not reconcile the two, so I plan around the help center’s numbers and suggest you ask Otter support in writing if the answer decides your plan.

Other mistakes are smaller but common. Leaving a recording paused for about 20 minutes ends it. Deleting a folder deletes its conversations. Basic shows only your 25 most recent conversations, and older ones are archived rather than deleted. Auto-joining every meeting burns minutes on calls you will never read.

Which Otter Plan Do You Need?

For most solo store owners, I would start on Basic with auto-join set to manual and run three or four real calls through it. If your calls run longer than 30 minutes, or you use all 300 minutes, Pro is the next step. Business makes sense when you need meetings over 90 minutes, unlimited imports or admin controls for a team.

The prices, as I read Otter’s US pricing page on October 7, 2026, are Pro at $16.99 a month or $8.33 a month billed annually, and Business at $30 a month or $19.99 a month billed annually, per user. My Otter.ai pricing guide works through the annual math, the refund terms and the cancellation steps, so I will not repeat them here. Otter’s terms say fees are non-refundable, which is one more reason to test on the free plan first.

When Otter Is Not the Right Tool

Otter is built around meetings. If most of your notes are things you type yourself, a notes app will serve you better, and if you hate bots in calls, a bot-free recorder may fit. I compare Otter with Fathom, Fireflies, Granola, Notion and others in my roundup of the best AI note taking apps, with prices and free limits.

For a wider look at meeting tools by use case, see my guide to the best AI meeting assistants. Pick on the limits that matter to your calls: meeting length, whether a bot is acceptable and how many minutes you need.

My Verdict on Using Otter.ai

Otter is not hard to use once you make four choices on purpose: which calendar to connect, which meetings the Notetaker joins, who gets the notes by default, and which plan fits your call length. The tool is at its best on scheduled video calls and on your phone for in-person conversations, and at its weakest when you let it record everything with no plan.

The cautions are the ones in this post. Menus move, transcripts need cleanup, the free plan cuts conversations at 30 minutes, and consent is your responsibility. If you set it up with those in mind, it can save you from re-listening to a supplier call for one number.

My suggestion is to start on Otter’s free plan through my link, record two or three real calls and read the summaries critically. If the limits pinch, move up a plan, and take annual billing only after you have used it for a month or two.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I use Otter.ai for the first time?
Sign up with your email, verify it, connect Google or Microsoft Calendar from the Apps or Integrations page, and choose which meetings Notetaker joins. You can also use the record button in the mobile app or click Record on the web to capture a conversation yourself. You can start on the free plan through my link and test it on one call.

Does Otter.ai record Zoom, Google Meet and Teams automatically?
Per Otter’s help center, Notetaker can join all three from your calendar. Zoom hosts need to enable “Record to computer files,” and Teams may need admin changes. It joins as a visible participant, so tell people before you start.

Can Otter.ai record without a bot joining?
Yes, through the desktop app on Mac or Windows, or by recording in the browser or phone app. The help center says the desktop app works without a bot as a participant. It does not announce itself, so you are responsible for telling people.

Is it legal to record calls with Otter.ai?
That depends on where you and the other person are. The FCC says it has no rules on individuals recording their own calls, but some state laws prohibit it, and Otter’s terms put the consent duty on you. This is general information, not legal advice, so ask a lawyer about your own situation.

Why did my free Otter.ai recording stop at 30 minutes?
The free Basic plan caps each conversation at 30 minutes, and Otter’s help center says only the first 30 minutes become accessible. Pro lists 90 minutes and Business lists 4 hours. If your calls run long, compare Otter’s paid plans through my link and confirm the limits at signup.

If you are newer to all of this, my free mini course is the place to start. I also take on coaching clients who want help with their own store.

Related Articles

If you found this useful, these guides go deeper on related topics:

• Otter.ai Pricing 2026: Every Plan, the Minute and Import Limits and What You Really Pay
• Otter.ai Review 2026: Worth It for Supplier and Team Calls?
• Best AI Note Taking Apps (2026): 8 Picks Compared by Price and Fit
• Best AI Meeting Assistants in 2026: Top Notetakers and Meeting Intelligence Tools Compared
• How to Find Suppliers for High-Ticket Dropshipping: The Complete Step-by-Step Guide (2026)