AskElephant Desktop App

Overview

The AskElephant Desktop App lives in your menu bar or system tray and makes capturing a meeting a one-click action. It reminds you before each meeting starts, records with a single click, and lets you capture spur-of-the-moment syncs the moment they happen. Your recordings upload to the same place as your notetaker recordings, with the same transcription, AI summary, and follow-ups.

Quick Start

Get up and running in about three minutes:

Download the installer from askelephant.ai/download-app: macOS .dmg or Windows .exe.
Open the app and sign in with the same Google account you use for AskElephant. Connect your calendar (optional but recommended) and grant microphone and screen-recording permissions.
Start your first recording. Either let the app auto-record your next calendar meeting, or click the tray icon and hit Join & record.

That's it. The recording uploads automatically to the same engagement view where your notetaker recordings appear, with the same transcription, AI summary, and follow-ups.

New here? Skim the next section first. It covers the three things the desktop app makes easy: one-click recording, automatic meeting reminders, and ad-hoc capture.

What the Desktop App Does

The desktop app captures meeting audio locally on your computer and uploads it to the same AskElephant engagement where your notetaker recordings appear. Three things it makes easy:

One-Click Join and Record. When a meeting is about to start, the tray shows a Join & record button. One click starts capturing audio on your computer.
Automatic Meeting Reminders. Connect your calendar and the app surfaces each upcoming meeting in your tray, so recording is never something you forget.
Easy Capture for Spur-of-the-Moment Syncs. Start an ad-hoc recording anytime for a hallway conversation, a phone call, or a Slack huddle. No calendar event or meeting link needed.

Botless recording captures an audio-only stream in a less intrusive way. We still recommend the notetaker bot for the highest-quality recordings, including video and better speaker identification.

How the Desktop App and Notetaker Bot Compare

	Desktop App	Notetaker Bot
How it captures	Locally, from your computer's mic and audio	Joins the meeting as a participant
Audio and video	Audio only	Audio and video
Needs host approval?	No, runs on your machine	Yes, host must admit the bot
Calendar required?	Optional, also works ad-hoc	Yes, needs a meeting link
Where recordings appear	Same engagement view as bot recordings	Same engagement view as desktop recordings

Many teams use both: the notetaker bot for full audio and video, the desktop app for one-click and ad-hoc capture.

Installing the App

macOS

Download the .dmg installer from askelephant.ai/download-app
Open the .dmg and drag AskElephant Desktop to your Applications folder
Open AskElephant Desktop from Applications and follow the onboarding steps

Windows

Download the signed .exe installer from askelephant.ai/download-app
Run the installer
If you see a Windows SmartScreen prompt ("Windows protected your PC"), click More info then Run anyway. The installer is signed via DigiCert KeyLocker. SmartScreen can still warn on brand-new builds until reputation is established. See the Windows: SmartScreen Prompt section below.
Follow the onboarding steps when the app opens

First-Run Setup

When you open the app for the first time, the onboarding flow walks you through four steps. The whole flow takes about a minute.

Sign in with Google. Use the same Google account connected to your AskElephant workspace.
Connect your calendar (optional but recommended). Lets the app show your upcoming meetings in the tray and auto-start recordings. You can skip and add it later from settings.
Grant microphone access. Required to capture audio. Your OS will show a permission dialog.
Grant screen recording access (macOS only). Required to capture meeting audio coming through your speakers. macOS routes system audio through the screen-recording permission.

AskElephant Desktop never records your screen. The screen-recording permission on macOS is the only way to capture system audio, and we use it for audio capture only.

Your First Recording

Automatic Recording (Calendar-Connected)

If you connected your calendar during setup, the desktop app automatically starts recording when a meeting on your calendar begins. You don't need to press anything. The recording happens quietly in the background.

Manual Recording From the Tray

If you'd rather start recordings yourself, or you skipped calendar connection during setup:

Click the AskElephant icon in your tray (macOS menu bar or Windows system tray)
Find the meeting in your upcoming list
Click Join & record

Important: "Join & record" starts a local audio recording on your machine. It does not open Google Meet, Zoom, Teams, or any other meeting app. You still need to click your calendar link to join the actual meeting.

Ad-hoc Recording (No Calendar Event)

You can start a recording at any time, not just for calendar meetings. This is useful for phone calls, in-person conversations, ad-hoc Slack huddles, or any moment you realize after the fact that you want a record of.

Click the AskElephant icon in your tray
Click Start a recording (look for the manual recording option in the tray)
Stop the recording when you're done. It uploads to AskElephant as a standalone engagement.

The Tray: What You'll See and When

The AskElephant Desktop app lives in your system tray (macOS menu bar, Windows system tray). The CTA you see changes based on what's happening:

Moment	What you'll see
5 minutes before a meeting	Join & record button appears next to the meeting
During an active recording	Button collapses to Join so you don't double-record. Status reads Recording audio on this computer
When the meeting ends	Notification slides in: Stop / Keep recording / Remind me later
An update is available	Red dot appears on the settings icon
No upcoming meetings today	Tray shows the option to start an ad-hoc recording

Notetaker Status Labels

When the AskElephant notetaker bot is active, you may see these status labels in the tray or on the meeting card:

Status	What it means
Initializing notetaker	The notetaker is starting up
Notetaker waiting to join	The notetaker is in the waiting room
Notetaker recording	The notetaker has joined and is recording
Notetaker paused	The notetaker has temporarily paused
Notetaker couldn't join	The notetaker failed to be admitted (see below)
Notetaker was never admitted	The host did not admit the notetaker
Recording saved	The recording finished and uploaded successfully
No meeting link, notetaker can't join	The calendar event has no video meeting URL

What to Do When "Notetaker Waiting to Join" Appears

The notetaker is in the meeting's waiting room and needs to be admitted.

If you are the meeting host: Admit the notetaker from your meeting's participants panel to start recording.
If you are not the host: Ask the meeting host to admit the notetaker.

The desktop app is still recording audio locally, so you won't miss anything while you wait.

What to Do When "Notetaker Couldn't Join" Appears

When the notetaker fails to join, a dialog appears with two choices:

Record on this computer. Switches to a local audio recording using your computer's mic. The recording uploads to the same engagement, with the same transcription and follow-ups.
Skip this meeting. Dismisses the dialog without recording.

If you selected "Skip this meeting" and changed your mind, you can start a recording manually from the tray.

Privacy and Security

What gets captured. The desktop app captures audio only: your microphone input and the audio coming out of your computer's speakers (system audio). It does not capture video, screen content, keystrokes, or any other application data.
Where it goes. Recordings are stored locally while they're being captured, then uploaded over an encrypted connection to your AskElephant workspace. They appear in the same engagement view as your bot recordings, with the same transcription, AI summary, and follow-up actions.
Who can see it. Recordings inherit the same access controls as everything else in your AskElephant workspace. If you wouldn't see a bot recording, you won't see a desktop recording either.
For IT and security teams. The Windows installer is signed via DigiCert KeyLocker, so you can verify the publisher certificate before installation. The macOS app is notarized by Apple. The app does not require admin or root privileges to install. It does not bundle key-listener binaries or third-party telemetry.

Managing the App

Pause or Disable Auto-Recording

Don't want the app to auto-record a specific meeting? Open the tray, find the meeting, and toggle off Auto-record this meeting before it starts. To pause auto-recording globally, open settings and disable calendar auto-recording. Your manual Join & record and ad-hoc options stay available.

Check Your Current Version

macOS: Click the AskElephant icon in the menu bar, click the gear or settings icon, and the version number appears at the bottom of the settings panel.
Windows: Right-click the AskElephant icon in the system tray, open settings, and the version number appears at the bottom of the settings panel.

You'll need this for any troubleshooting question.

Update the App

When an update is ready, a red dot appears on the settings icon in your tray. Click into settings to download and install. Most updates apply on next app launch.

Uninstall

macOS: Quit the app from the menu bar, then drag AskElephant Desktop from your Applications folder to the Trash.
Windows: Open Settings then Apps then Installed apps, find AskElephant Desktop, and click Uninstall.

Uninstalling removes the local app and any locally cached recordings. Your already-uploaded recordings remain in your AskElephant workspace.

Windows: SmartScreen Prompt

Even though v1.2.5. is signed with a DigiCert code-signing certificate, Windows SmartScreen may show a warning the first time you install it. This is normal for new software builds that haven't yet built up Microsoft's reputation score.

What to do:

When you see "Windows protected your PC," click More info
Click Run anyway

SmartScreen reputation builds with use and will stop appearing for future updates.

For IT teams: The installer is signed via DigiCert KeyLocker. You can verify the publisher certificate before installation.

Troubleshooting

"I lost part of a recording or it didn't upload"

Confirm you're running v1.2.5. or later (see Check Your Current Version above). v1.2.5 fixes the upload and silence issues some earlier versions had. Update via the red-dot settings icon in the tray.

"My recording stalled and won't upload"

Check your internet connection, then close and reopen the app. The upload will resume automatically from where it left off.

"The app is recording but I don't see audio in the engagement"

Give the upload a few minutes. Large recordings finish uploading in the background. If the engagement still has no audio after 10 minutes:

Confirm the recording shows as Recording saved in the tray

Check that you're signed into the same AskElephant workspace in the desktop app and the web app
Check Recent recordings in the desktop app's settings. If it shows Upload failed, click retry.

Still stuck? Contact support with your version number and the meeting timestamp.

"I don't see the app in my tray"

macOS: Check if the menu bar is full. The icon may be hidden. Hold Cmd and drag menu bar items to reveal it.
Windows: Check the system tray overflow (the ^ arrow). Right-click the AskElephant icon and choose "Show icon and notifications" to pin it.

"I don't want the app to record this specific meeting"

Open the tray before the meeting starts, find the meeting, and toggle off Auto-record this meeting. The app will skip that one and resume normal behavior afterward.

"The tray shows old status labels"

If you see labels like "Capturing," "In waiting room," "Failed to join," or "Captured," you're on an older version. v1.1.9 ships a full copy overhaul: "Capturing" becomes "Recording," "In waiting room" becomes "Notetaker waiting to join," "Failed to join" becomes "Notetaker couldn't join," and "Captured" becomes "Recording saved." Update via the red-dot settings icon in your tray, or reinstall from askelephant.ai/download-app.

"The app recorded both the bot and my desktop for the same meeting"

This is expected behavior. AskElephant automatically selects one primary recording when both bot and desktop captures land on the same meeting. Check your engagement and you should see a single clean entry, not duplicates.

"How do I find my version number?"

See Check Your Current Version above. You'll need this for any troubleshooting question or support request.

FAQ

Does the Desktop App Replace the Notetaker Bot

No. They work together. The notetaker bot joins meetings and captures audio and video. The desktop app gives you one-click and ad-hoc capture from your computer, with audio only. Many teams use both.

Does Botless Recording Capture Video?

No. The desktop app is audio-only in v1.2.5.

What Meetings Can I Record With the Desktop App?

Any meeting where your computer's microphone and audio can hear the call: Google Meet, Zoom, Teams, phone calls, Slack huddles, in-person conversations, and more. The desktop app doesn't need the meeting platform to grant it access.

Can I Use This for In-Person Meetings?

Yes. Start an ad-hoc recording from the tray and the desktop app captures audio from your computer's microphone. Place your laptop where it can hear the room and you're set.

What Happens to the Recording if I Lose Internet Mid-Meeting?

The recording continues locally on your machine and the upload pauses. When your connection returns, the upload resumes automatically from where it left off. You won't lose audio.

What Happens if I Close My Laptop Mid-Recording?

The recording auto-ends when your laptop closes. When you reopen it, the app resumes the upload automatically.

Can I Turn Off Recording for One Specific Meeting?

Yes. See "I don't want the app to record this specific meeting" in Troubleshooting above.

Where Do I Download the App?

askelephant.ai/download-app

Need Additional Help?

If you have questions or need further assistance, the AskElephant support team is here to help:

Click the Support tab on the right side of your screen
Email us at [email protected]
Use @askelephant support in your dedicated Slack channel