Preface

The Zoom installer doesn’t link the .zoom files to the converter app anymore. Last week I wrote posts about how to convert the files manually. While that works fine, it’s not convenient to always use the command line for the conversion.

This guide explains how to restore the ability to convert .zoom files by just double-clicking them on macOS. Here you can find the guides for Linux and Windows.

I’m assuming that you’ve installed the Zoom client using the standard way.

Step 1

Dialog window with the text ‘There is no application set to open the document ’double_click_to_convert_01.zoom’. Search the App Store for an application that can open this document, or choose an existing application on your computer.’. The buttons are ‘Choose Application…’, ‘Cancel’, and ‘Search App Store’.

Double-click the .zoom file you want to convert. macOS will ask you for the app to open the file with. Click “Choose Application…”. If the dialog doesn’t show up there is already another app associated with the extension. In this case do a right-click on the file, click “Open With” and “Other…” to open the selection dialog.

Step 2

The macOS app selection with an open ‘Go to folder’ dialog. The path ‘/Applications/zoom.us.app/Contents/Frameworks/’ has been typed in.

The app we need to select is not in the /Applications/ folder, instead press Command-Shift-G to open the “Go to folder” dialog. Insert the path /Applications/zoom.us.app/Contents/Frameworks/ (you can copy-paste it from here) into the selection box and press “Go”.

Step 3

The macOS app selection with the folder ‘Frameworks’ open. The file ‘Transcode.app’ is visible. The ‘Enable:’ is set to ‘App Applications’ and ‘Always Open With’ is checked.

The window now shows the “Frameworks” folder. Select the “All Applications” option for “Enable:” and make sure “Always Open With” is checked. Scroll down until you see the “Transcode.app” in the list. Select it by clicking on it and click “Open”.

Step 4

Dialog window with the title ‘Allow Zoom to access files and folders’, the text ‘Open System Preferences > Security & Privacy to grant access.’ and two buttons, ‘Cancel’ and ‘Open System Preferences’

This step may be necessary, depending on the folder the .zoom files are in. If this dialog appears, click “Open System Preferences”. If it does not, skip this step.

The Security & Privacy config window from macOS. A red circle highlights the lock symbol in the bottom left corner.

Click on the Lock icon in the bottom left corner and type in your password. Then select the “Full Disk Access” entry in the left list.

The Security & Privacy config window with the lock unlocked. In the left list the entry ‘Full Disk Access’ has been selected, in the right list the checkbox near ‘zoom.us.app’ has been enabled. Red borders highlight both selections.

Now you need to check the checkbox for “zoom.us.app”. Close the “Security & Privacy” window. The conversion automatically starts once the correct permissions are set.

Step 5

A Zoom windows showing the conversion progress. The title reads ‘Converting meeting recording’, the text reads ‘You have a recording that needs to be converted before viewing’.

Zoom now converts the files. This may take a while. Grab the beverage of your choice and wait.

Step 6

A Zoom window asking for the location to save the recordings in. The text reads ‘Save my recordings at:’, followed by an input box for the path with ‘/Users/tim/Downloads/rec/’ preinserted. The buttons are ‘Cancel’ and ‘Save’.

After the conversion, Zoom asks for the folder to put the converted files into. The default is the folder our .zoom files were in.

Step 7

A Finder window with the converted recordings, the files are: ‘audio_only_1.m4a’, ‘audio_only.m4a’, ‘playback.m3u’, ‘zoom_0.mp4’, ‘zoom_1.mp4’

The Zoom window closes and you can use the converted files. If you want to convert the recordings in the future you just need to double-click the files.