How to remove the Fireflies Notetaker from a meeting, and stop it from joining
Whether you can remove the notetaker depends on the platform and on your role in the call. Removed within the first 3 minutes, it leaves no transcript or notes. Choose the situation that matches yours.
It is in my meeting right now
It appears on the participant list as "Fireflies.ai Notetaker". Each platform decides who may remove a participant; the rules below are the platforms' own.
Zoom
| Your role | What you can do |
|---|---|
| Host, co-host or alternative host | Open Participants, choose More beside Fireflies.ai Notetaker, then Remove. To stop anyone else from joining, use Security › Lock Meeting. |
| Participant | Zoom does not let participants remove other participants. Ask the host to remove it. If in-meeting chat is enabled, typing /ff leave in the chat asks the notetaker to leave. Otherwise, leave the meeting and see section IV. |
Google Meet
| Your role | What you can do |
|---|---|
| Host or co-host | Open People, choose More actions beside Fireflies, then Remove from the call. |
| Participant in the organizer's domain, Host Management off | Google allows anyone from the organizer's domain to remove a participant when Host Management is off. Same steps as above. |
| Other participants | Ask the host. If chat is available, /ff leave asks the notetaker to leave. Otherwise, leave the meeting and see section IV. |
Microsoft Teams
| Your role | What you can do |
|---|---|
| Organizer, co-organizer or presenter | Open People, choose (...) beside Fireflies.ai Notetaker, then Remove from meeting. This is the Fireflies AI Teams remove path for anyone with a presenter role or higher. |
| Attendee, or an anonymous participant promoted to presenter | Attendees cannot remove participants. Anonymous participants who are promoted to presenter during the meeting are also prevented from removing participants, except, per Microsoft, when they joined from a mobile device. Otherwise, ask the organizer or a presenter. If chat is available, /ff leave asks the notetaker to leave. Otherwise, leave the meeting and see section IV. |
The company also states that participants can opt out before a meeting and that the notetaker will not join when one participant has opted out; the opt-out is offered to people who receive its notices.
Sources
- Help center: removing the notetaker from a meeting (opens in a new tab)
- Zoom, roles in a meeting (opens in a new tab)
- Zoom, changing security settings in a meeting (Remove, Lock Meeting) (opens in a new tab)
- Google Meet, removing participants (opens in a new tab)
- Microsoft Teams, meeting roles (opens in a new tab)
If the meeting still needs notes, a notetaker under the host's own account records only the meetings the host chooses, and the recap stays with the host.
Start free on fireflies.ai (opens in a new tab)I host meetings and want it kept out
The notetaker is brought in by a participant's account. Platform settings on your side decide whether such a participant can enter at all.
Zoom account settings
- Waiting Room on. Every participant waits until the host admits them; the notetaker can be left in the waiting room.
- Only authenticated meeting participants and webinar attendees can join on. Attendees must sign in to Zoom before joining.
- Block users in specific domains from joining meetings and webinars on, with fireflies.ai in the list. Vendors may use other domains, so this is a supplement, not a guarantee.
Microsoft Teams, tenant administrators
Microsoft's published answer is Teams admin center › Teams apps › Manage apps, search for the Fireflies app, then Block. Users in the same thread reported that the notetaker still joined after blocking; Fireflies support directed affected users to sign in at app.fireflies.ai and delete their own accounts. Treat the admin block as necessary but not sufficient.
Sources
- Zoom, enabling and customizing the waiting room (opens in a new tab)
- Zoom, authentication settings and profiles (opens in a new tab)
- A university IT guide to the three Zoom settings, including domain blocking (opens in a new tab)
- Microsoft Q&A on blocking the Teams app (opens in a new tab)
- Google Meet, participant controls and Host Management (opens in a new tab)
Hosts who want their own record of a meeting run the notetaker under their own account, with auto-join limited to the meetings they pick. The Free plan has no time limit.
Start free on fireflies.ai (opens in a new tab)I use Fireflies and want to stop auto-join
These are the service's own controls, from narrowest to broadest. If you invited Fireflies to your meeting by adding its address to the event, the first step is the one you need.
- One meeting, from the calendar. Remove fred@fireflies.ai from the event's guest list, then save and send the update.
- One meeting, from the dashboard. On the Upcoming tab, find the meeting and switch Fireflies off. It is on by default.
- A category of meetings. Recording Rules block meetings by keyword, email address or domain, and override the auto-join setting.
- All meetings. In Settings, under auto-join, choose Only when I invite. This is how to disable the notetaker (some people call it the Firefly notetaker) for everything you schedule.
- No participant at all. The desktop app records from system audio, so nothing joins the call; a consent notice and an "AI Taking Notes" indicator are shown by default.
The meeting was already recorded
- Who holds the recording
- The account whose notetaker joined. That person can delete the meeting at any time, or set automatic deletion after a retention period.
- Who received the recap
- By default, everyone on the calendar invitation. The account owner can restrict recaps to participants or to themselves.
- If you are not that person
- Ask the account owner to delete the meeting. For requests the company handles directly, write to support@fireflies.ai.
- Consent
- Recording-consent requirements vary by jurisdiction; the company states that the person who records is responsible for compliance.