Manual method
Preserve original audio and video recordings from folders or recorder apps.
- In Voice Memos on Mac, select a recording and drag it into a Finder archive folder, or use Share.
- For other recorder apps, use their original-file Export/Share function and choose a local folder.
- For recordings already saved as files, copy the original files without transcoding.
- Keep separate folders for originals, edited versions and any transcripts you create later.
Coverage and limitations: The documented Voice Memos route is an example, not a universal recorder menu. A transcript does not preserve the voice; a recompressed video is not the camera original. Some app-specific editing layers may require a separate project backup.
Size and time to allow
Illustrative small / central / large case: 1 / 20 / 500 GB (decimal GB). These are planning assumptions, not a measured average per person. 20 GB illustrates about 10 hours of compressed video plus audio. For audio alone, 100 hours at 128 kbps is about 5.8 GB; uncompressed audio is larger.
Preparation: Local export has no service queue; rendering/conversion can take additional time. Internet estimates below apply only to cloud retrieval or backup.
For the central 20 GB example, network transfer alone is approximately:
| Connection | Estimated transfer |
|---|---|
| 10 Mbps | 6.3 hours |
| 50 Mbps | 1.3 hours |
| 100 Mbps | 38.1 minutes |
Assumes 70% sustained use of the stated connection. Provider throttling, many small files, retries, local extraction and copying add time. For online backup use your upload speed. These are not estimates of the provider’s preparation queue. See calculation and large-file advice.
Store and verify the archive
An encrypted external drive is a practical main archive; a USB key can carry a copy if it has sufficient free space. Keep an additional encrypted copy on another device or private online backup, outside the source account’s sync folder.
Create local_recordings/YYYY-MM-DD/originals/, preserve the untouched download, and extract a separate working copy when needed. Allow extra free space for archive plus extraction; compressed text can expand far beyond twice its size. Record account/scope, export date, date coverage and missing items in a local README without passwords.
Play the beginning, middle and end of long recordings, compare duration and confirm the expected audio tracks are present. Reopen a sample from the second copy before deleting or replacing any source. Storage choices and verification.
Sources and review
Public documentation was reviewed on 27 October 2026. No signed-in export or restoration was performed. Account options and availability can change; follow the current provider instructions.