# How to Remove Fathom: Calls, Auto-Record, Apps and Your Account

> Remove Fathom from a live call, stop it joining with Auto-record, uninstall the Zoom app, cancel a plan and delete your account, smallest step first.

_Source: https://professionalstoolkit.com/articles/how-to-remove-fathom — The Professional's Toolkit · updated November 2026_

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To remove Fathom from a meeting that is already running, cancel or stop the recording, or remove the Fathom Notetaker from the participant list. Any attendee can remove the bot, not only the person who invited it.[1] To keep it out of future calls, set Auto-record to No Meetings or, in the bot-free desktop app, turn auto-capture off; Capture Off skips a single meeting only. Uninstalling the desktop app or the Zoom app deletes nothing, and cancelling a paid plan does not stop the bot either: an individual account drops to Free, which still records. **Deleting the account is the only step that removes your data along with the bot**, and Fathom aims to finish that within 30 days. Pick the smallest step that solves your problem.


**30 days** — Fathom's target, on commercially reasonable efforts, for deleting recordings and personal data after an account deletion request.



- **4 settings** — Auto-record: All, External, Internal or No Meetings
- **Free** — Where a cancelled individual paid account lands; Free still records
- **Admin only** — Account deletion for members of Team, Business and Enterprise accounts


## Which step fits which goal

| Goal | Smallest step | Stops future recording? |
|---|---|---|
| Get it out of one live call | Cancel, stop or end the recording, or remove the bot from the participants | No |
| No recording by default | Auto-record set to No Meetings, or auto-capture off in the desktop app | Yes, until you change it |
| Take it off Zoom | Uninstall from the Zoom App Marketplace and turn off auto-record and consent requests | Only with the settings change |
| Stop paying | Cancel Premium yourself; Team goes through Fathom's success team | No for individual accounts |
| Remove your data | Delete recordings, or delete the account | Yes, once the account is deleted |

Read the last column first. Most of these routes change one thing and leave the rest running, so people often uninstall an app, see the bot again the next morning and assume removal failed. The steps below go from the lightest touch to the permanent one, and each section says what that step leaves behind. If you only need a single meeting cleared, the first section is enough. If you want Fathom gone for good, work through all of them in order before deleting the account.

## Getting the notetaker out of a call already in progress

If you invited Fathom, you have several exits. As the meeting starts you can cancel the recording; later you can stop it, pause it or end it. On Zoom, the bot owner also receives a chat message from Fathom and can reply with the single word leave to send it away, which is the fastest route when you are sharing your screen and cannot reach the app. Fathom also needs you present. It records a Zoom, Teams or Meet call only while its user is on the call, so it cannot be left behind to keep recording after you drop off.

If someone else brought it, you still have a say. Attendees can remove the bot at any time on Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams, the same way they would remove any other participant. On Teams, think before you click: a removed bot may not be able to rejoin, and the stretch of the meeting it missed cannot be recovered later. The bot is never hidden. Turning off the in-meeting banner, a Premium option, does not take it off the participant list, so you can always tell when the bot is in the room.

Some guests get a warning before the call. Fathom can email a recording-consent request, but only under conditions: with the bot, for an external meeting hosted by the Fathom user with exactly one guest, sent 24 hours ahead; with bot-free capture, for external scheduled meetings when the host has Auto Request Recording Consent on and holds host privileges. Declining turns auto-record off for that one call. **Ignoring the email does not.** With no answer, Fathom still joins and captures the meeting.


> 💡 **Type leave in Zoom chat:** On Zoom, the bot owner can reply leave to Fathom's chat message to remove the Notetaker without opening the Fathom app.


## Stopping it from joining your next meetings

Auto-record decides whether Fathom shows up. It has four positions: All Meetings, External Meetings, Internal Meetings and No Meetings.[2] With No Meetings, nothing records unless you start it by hand. External Meetings suits people who want Fathom on client calls but not in team stand-ups. Fathom joins a calendar event only when it has at least one attendee and a Zoom, Teams or Meet link, and it reads only your primary connected calendar, so events without a link or on secondary calendars are already outside its reach.

On the new bot-free desktop app (Fathom 3.0, a Mac beta), every meeting gets a capture mode from the tray: Capture Off, Transcript Only, Audio Only, or Audio and Video, which sends the bot. Capture Off skips one meeting, while switching auto-capture off covers all of them. Slack Huddles have their own switch. They are captured automatically only when auto-capture of unscheduled Huddles is turned on under Settings, Video Conferencing; otherwise someone has to start them from the tray icon.

Company accounts add an admin layer above personal settings. Account Admins set Auto-capture to On, Off or Optional separately for External, Internal and Unscheduled meetings across the organization, and Team Admins can override those defaults for their own teams. Changes apply to future meetings only. Even with Auto-capture set to Off, members can still start a capture manually, so a policy of *no recording at all* needs a conversation with the team, not just a toggle.

The bluntest switch is the calendar itself. Revoking Fathom's access in your Google or Outlook account settings disables the whole Fathom account until a calendar is reconnected. That is heavy. Use it when you are finished with Fathom, not when you just want a quieter week of meetings.

## Uninstalling the Zoom app, desktop app and Chrome extension

Uninstalling is not the same as switching off. Fathom's terms say removing the app deletes no content; only deleting the account does. Each piece has its own catch. The Fathom Zoom app comes out in two moves. Uninstall Fathom from the Zoom App Marketplace, then open Fathom's Customize settings and turn off auto-record and auto-request recording consent as well.[3] Skip the second move and Fathom can keep reaching for your Zoom calls. If it still intercepts them after both, Fathom's help says to update Zoom to the latest version or reinstall it. Remember that one Zoom account links to only one Fathom account. Our [guide to Fathom on Zoom](/articles/fathom-zoom) explains both Zoom routes, the desktop app and the Marketplace app, in detail.

On Windows, the desktop app uninstalls through Start, Settings, Apps and features, like any other program; Fathom's help does not walk through the Mac steps. Removing the app is not a substitute for the settings above. Bot joins follow Auto-record and your connected calendar, so change those before you uninstall anything, or the Notetaker can keep arriving at scheduled calls.

The Chrome extension is easy to overlook. Its job is bot-free video capture of Google Meet on a Mac. If you join with bot-free video and Auto-capture on while the extension is not connected, Fathom records with your fallback instead, which is either a bot or audio capture. Removing the extension alone can simply swap one kind of capture for another. Our [Fathom desktop app guide](/articles/fathom-desktop-app) covers the bot-free side.


> 💡 **Change settings before uninstalling:** Set Auto-record to No Meetings first. Uninstalling the Fathom Zoom app also needs auto-record and auto-request recording consent turned off in Fathom's Customize settings.


## Cancelling a plan without expecting silence

Cancelling stops billing. It does not stop recording. Under Fathom's terms, an individual account reverts to the free edition after cancellation unless you ask for the account itself to be cancelled, and Free still records, transcribes and stores calls. Paid features last until the end of the term you already paid for, subscriptions renew automatically until cancelled, and you can cancel any time before renewal without a penalty.

The route depends on the plan. Premium cancels at the end of the billing date with no further charges; ending it immediately takes an email to Fathom support. Team cancellation is not self-serve: it goes through success@fathom.video, and billing changes need Account Admin access. A cancelled Team account becomes inactive and Team Calls are disabled for every user, though choosing a plan and checking out brings the team features straight back.

Money back is murky. Fathom advertises a 90-day money-back guarantee on paid plans but does not publish its conditions; its Terms of Service say fees are non-refundable. Get any answer from support in writing, and keep it with your billing records. Our [Fathom buyer's checklist](/articles/fathom-buyers-checklist) lists the other contract terms worth reading before you sign up again.


> ⚠ **Cancelling does not stop the bot:** A cancelled individual paid plan reverts to Fathom Free, which still records, transcribes and stores calls. Turn off Auto-record or delete the account to stop recording.


## Deleting recordings and the account itself

Start with single recordings. Deleting a call removes its notes too, and it cannot be undone, so save what you need beforehand: recordings download as MP4 files, while transcripts can be copied to the clipboard but not downloaded as a file. Sharing has its own limits. A recording you already shared cannot be unsent, though you can revoke one person's access in its sharing settings, and highlight clips sent to Slack cannot be deleted. On Enterprise, admins can switch off recording deletion altogether.

Deleting the whole account happens in account settings. Fathom's privacy policy says it uses commercially reasonable efforts to delete recordings and personal information within 30 days of the request, without promising it, and its terms add that backup copies may persist for up to 30 days.[4] This is the step that removes the data and the bot together.

Team members hit a hard stop here. On Team, Business and Enterprise accounts, members do not see the Delete button and must ask their admin; Fathom deletes their data only at the customer administrator's request. The reason is ownership. After you join a Team Account, your account and its content belong to that Team Account and are managed by its administrators. When you leave a company, deactivation keeps your recordings available to the team, while removal from the team pulls your shared recordings from colleagues' view. Connected tools keep their copies too: after you disconnect HubSpot, data already synced stays in HubSpot.


## FAQ

**How do I stop Fathom sending recordings to every attendee?**

That is auto-share, a separate setting from Auto-record. When it is on, Fathom sends the summary and recording, or the summary only, to everyone on the invite right after the meeting, including people who did not attend; set it to send nothing. On Free and individual plans the link it sends defaults to Anyone with the link can view, so restrict it per recording if you keep auto-share on.

**Can I move my recordings to a personal account before leaving a team?**

No. Fathom ties content to one email address and does not move, transfer or merge recordings between accounts, and content in a Team Account belongs to the company.

**Does my Fathom API key stop working when I leave a team?**

Not by leaving or downgrading alone. A key stops working only when the user is deactivated, and admins cannot revoke another user's key, so check the keys you created under User Settings, API Access before you go.


## The bottom line

Removing Fathom is a ladder, not a single switch. For one awkward call, stop the recording or remove the bot; for every future call, set Auto-record to No Meetings or turn auto-capture off in the desktop app; for Zoom, uninstall the Marketplace app and clear the Customize settings. Cancelling saves money but leaves a Free account that still records. When you want the data gone as well, delete the account, or ask your admin to if you joined a team, and expect Fathom to aim for 30 days, with backup copies kept up to 30 days more.



## Sources

[1] How do I remove Fathom from a call? — https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/296064 (2026-11)
[2] Navigating the Settings Page — https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/3239617 (2026-11)
[3] Uninstalling Fathom (Mac) — https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/295168 (2026-11)
[4] Privacy Policy - Fathom AI — https://www.fathom.ai/privacy (2026-11)
[5] Fathom pricing page — https://www.fathom.ai/pricing
[6] Fathom help center — https://help.fathom.video/en/articles/6220097
[7] Fathom Terms of Service — https://www.fathom.ai/terms

