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Changes to Zoom and Panopto

Updates to the Zoom/Panopto integration and Panopto retention period take effect December 21, 2026.

Zoom/Panopto Integration Becomes Opt-In

Beginning Monday, December 21, 2026, the Zoom/Panopto integration will transition from automatic enrollment to an opt-in model. Current access to the integration will be removed, and users who want to continue automatically copying Zoom cloud recordings to Panopto will need to opt in.

Opting in gives the system permission to automatically copy Zoom cloud recordings—including course-related and non-course-related recordings—to Panopto for storage, management, and sharing.

Adjustment to Panopto Retention Period

A new deletion rule will be added to our current Panopto retention schedule, only affecting content coming from the Zoom/Panopto integration.

Current retention rule (this is not changing): Any Panopto content with a last viewed date older than 16 months will get archived. 

New add-on deletion rule: 

Recordings will be deleted if ALL 4 of the following conditions apply:

  • Recording was automatically imported to Panopto from Zoom.
  • Recording is in your My Folder.
  • Recording is archived.
  • Recording has not been viewed for five or more years.

Note: Zoom cloud recordings that exist in course or department specific folders will not be affected.

Why These Updates Matter

Moving the Zoom/Panopto integration to an opt-in model gives users greater control over whether Zoom cloud recordings are automatically copied to Panopto.

The updated retention period also supports more sustainable management of university video storage by removing older, unused Zoom recordings from Panopto and reducing long-term storage costs.

Prepare for the December 21 Changes

To prepare for these updates, instructors who use the Zoom/Panopto integration should take the following steps to review their recordings and ensure their workflows continue as intended. 

  • Before Dec. 21: Review older Zoom recordings in your Panopto My Folder and begin restoring any archived recordings you want to keep 72 hours in advance of the deadline. Play at least 10 seconds of each restored recording to restart its five-year retention period.
  • After Dec. 21: Determine whether it's best for your workflow to have Panopto copies of all your Zoom cloud recordings. If yes, return to Panopto to opt in again through User Settings under your Profile. A step-by-step process will be available after the integration.

Additional instructions and resources for opting in will be available as the December 21 transition approaches.

Frequently asked questions

Any member of the campus community who records/has recorded Zoom sessions to the Zoom Cloud.

Zoom meetings recorded to the Zoom cloud will no longer be copied to Panopto. They will still be retained in the Zoom Cloud for 130 days until they are automatically deleted from Zoom.

They will be deleted from Panopto when all of the following are true:

  • It is a cloud recording of a Zoom session
  • It resides in your My Folder, not a course or departmental folder
  • It has not been viewed for 5 years

In order to prevent a Zoom recording from being deleted from Panopto, you can play it periodically to reset the five-year clock.

Remember: Panopto videos that have not been played for 16 months go into storage, and it can take 48-72 hours for them to be retrieved from storage.
 

Any content that resides within a Brightspace course Panopto folder or a user’s personal My Folder will get archived if it hasn’t been viewed in 16 months.

Anyone who has viewer or creator permission to an archived video will be able to click a restore button or link to initiate the restoration process. Read more at Restore Archived Content.

Restoring a video can take up to 72 hours, but will typically complete within 48 hours.
 

Yes, you will want to be sure that it receives a recorded view within 30 days of being restored. So at minimum, someone needs to view the video for a minimum of 5-10 seconds to register a recorded view. If a restored video does not get viewed within that 30-day window, it will get archived again after the 30-day hold.

Videos uploaded to Panopto from sources other than Zoom will continue to follow the existing retention schedule. Active recordings are archived after 16 months. After that, the recordings remain in the archive without a deletion date. These videos will not be affected by the new deletion rules for Zoom recordings, even if they have not been viewed.