TL;DR
- Changing the auto-join setting does not eject the assistant already in the room. The running session and the future rule are separate controls, and fixing one leaves the other.
- The assistant returns because the rule usually lives on the calendar invite or a recurring series, not on the single meeting you corrected.
- If another participant's assistant joined, nothing in your account can remove it. That is a conversation with the meeting owner, not a setting.
- Stopping capture, deleting what was captured, and restricting who can see it are three different tasks. Doing the first does none of the others.
An unexpected meeting bot is a problem you should be able to resolve without creating another account or searching through a product tour.
The immediate job is to stop the capture you do not approve. After that, fix the rule that caused the assistant to join. Finally, check what happened to any content already collected.
Otter, Fireflies and Read AI document controls for these situations. The details below reflect their published instructions checked on September 10, 2026. Product interfaces change, so the linked help pages are the reference for the current labels and supported meeting modes. 1 2 3
When the meeting is already running
Pause the sensitive part of the conversation. Identify the assistant in the participant list and ask who invited it. If you host the meeting, use the platform's participant-removal controls where available. If you do not host, ask the host to remove it or use the provider's supported stop command.
Do not assume that closing your own browser tab removes a bot that joined as a separate participant. Likewise, muting a participant is not a reliable substitute for ending its capture.
Use the provider-specific actions below, then confirm that the assistant has left or that its supported capture indicator shows it has stopped. A meeting can contain more than one assistant, including multiple assistants from the same provider.
If the tool is capturing from a participant's desktop without a separate bot, participant removal will not address it. The person running that application needs to stop capture in the application itself. Explain the boundary clearly and ask for confirmation before continuing.
Otter: stop the current session and change future joins
Stop Otter in a live meeting
Otter documents a chat command for Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams:
Stop otter
Any meeting participant can send that command in the meeting chat, including someone without an Otter account. Otter says it removes all Otter Notetakers from that meeting. To remove only one, use the conferencing platform's participant controls instead. 4
Verify that the command reached the meeting chat rather than a private message. Check the participant list afterward. If you cannot use the supported chat path, ask the host to remove the assistant directly.
Disable future automatic attendance
In your Otter account, open the Meetings area and its AI Notetaker settings. Set automatic joining to Meetings I manually select. Otter also documents the setting under Integrations, then Meetings, then the default auto-join configuration. 1
Review the upcoming meetings individually. Otter notes that meetings you previously toggled manually can retain those event-level choices after the default changes. A global preference change should therefore be followed by a check of already-selected events. 1
If the assistant returns after you have done this, identify which account invited it. Turning off your Otter account's defaults does not change a colleague's settings.
Check the saved conversation separately
Treat the stop action as a capture control. Check the conversation in the owning account to establish whether content exists, who can access it and what deletion actions are available. Do not assume that leaving the call proves earlier content was erased.
For a workplace account you do not administer, send the owner the meeting date and title and state the outcome you need: stopped capture, restricted access, deletion review, or all three. Those are clearer instructions than asking them to "remove Otter."
Fireflies: remove Fred and disable automatic joining
Stop Fireflies now
Fireflies documents removal through the conferencing platform's participant list. The host can select Fireflies and remove it from a Zoom, Google Meet or Teams meeting. The owning user can also use the stop control in the live-meeting banner on the Fireflies Home dashboard. 5
If you are a guest without removal permissions, ask the host. There is no need to change the whole organization's setup just to end one unwanted capture session.
Turn off future auto-join
In the Fireflies web application, open Settings, then Recording & Privacy, and find the recording controls. Turn off Auto-record meetings. Fireflies also provides a manual-invitation preference so it joins when you explicitly invite fred@fireflies.ai, rather than following the broad calendar rule. 3
Choose the approach that matches your intention. Turning off automatic recording is appropriate when you want a clear default of no automatic attendance. Invitation-only use can suit someone who still wants the assistant on specific approved calls.
Inspect scheduled meetings
Open the upcoming-meetings panel and check the toggle for the event in question. If fred@fireflies.ai was added as an actual calendar guest, remove that guest from the invitation and send the update. These are separate checks because an event invitation and an account default are different routes into a meeting. 5
For recurring events, inspect the series as well as the next occurrence. Make sure the person editing the event understands whether the change applies to one instance or the series.
Keep the exceptions manageable
A team that only allows capture on some call types should maintain an explicit rule for those calls. Avoid building a long list of informal exceptions that only one person understands.
When a bot joins unexpectedly, record the invitation route that caused it. Was it the calendar rule, an event guest or another account? Fixing that route is more useful than repeatedly removing the same assistant after it arrives.
Read AI: distinguish stopping from opting out
Read's controls make an important distinction between ending the assistant's attendance and opting out of the data collection.
In supported bot-based meetings
Read documents these commands:
Read Stop
This stops Read's participation while allowing a report from the portion already captured.
Opt Out
Where that chat command is supported, Read says it leaves and deletes the measured meeting data without producing a report. Some meetings provide an opt-out link instead; use that link when supplied rather than assuming the chat command works in every mode. 2
The host can also remove the Read participant using the meeting platform's controls. Be explicit about whether you need the assistant gone or the captured data addressed as well.
In Read's Google Meet native integration
Read's native Google Meet integration uses a different control path. Its documentation describes stopping sharing from the Read control in Meet. To opt out, use the Read application controls within Meet's activities area. The bot chat commands do not apply to that native integration. 2
This is why a copied command from an old troubleshooting post may appear to do nothing. First establish which mode is active, then follow the instructions for that mode.
Disable future joins
In Read's account settings, open the meeting-recording preferences and turn off the relevant automatic-join options. Review ad hoc joining and the calendar's individual meeting selections too. Recurring meetings may offer a choice between one occurrence and the series. 6
Read specifically explains that another participant can invite the assistant independently. Deleting your own account or disabling your preferences does not prevent someone else from bringing their assistant to a shared meeting. 6
Why the assistant keeps coming back
Before concluding that a setting failed, check ownership and invitation paths.
The wrong account was changed. A work calendar and a personal calendar may be connected to different accounts. Confirm which identity owns the meeting integration.
An event-level choice remains. Review upcoming meetings rather than relying only on the default. Otter explicitly documents this exception. 1
The bot is a calendar guest. Fireflies documents direct invitations as a separate thing to remove. 5
A teammate invited it. Read explicitly documents this possibility. Ask the group instead of repeatedly changing your own settings. 6
The capture method changed. An assistant can use a native integration or desktop capture rather than a visible participant. Identify the active mode before choosing a stop procedure.
For a team, maintain a simple ownership rule: the person who enables the assistant is responsible for knowing its stop control, explaining its use and responding to a participant's objection. An unfamiliar bot should not become the customer's troubleshooting project.
Stopping the meeting does not finish the data review
After an unintended capture, answer four questions:
- What content was created before the assistant stopped?
- Who currently has access to it?
- Was a recap, link or export sent anywhere else?
- What deletion or retention process applies?
These are investigation questions, not a claim that every provider retains or distributes the same data. Fireflies, for example, documents distinct settings for capture, sharing, notifications and retention. A single on/off control should not be assumed to govern all of them. 7
If an email or exported copy has already been delivered, handle that copy through the relevant recipient or system. Revoking access to a source link should not be treated as proof that every downstream copy has disappeared.
For a confidential customer conversation, involve the appropriate privacy or security owner rather than improvising a promise of deletion you cannot verify. Record what was requested and what was confirmed.
A message you can send to the meeting owner
Use a clear operational request:
Please stop the meeting assistant for this call and confirm when capture has ended. Please also disable its attendance for this recurring meeting. For the portion already captured, please confirm what was saved, who has access and whether anything was distributed. We will confirm the approved process before the next call.
That message avoids arguing about whether a product is generally good or bad. It states what needs to happen for this meeting.
For future invitations, a team can add a plain-language note about whether automated recording or transcription is permitted, how approval is obtained and who to contact. Follow your organization's policy and applicable legal requirements; an invitation note is not automatically sufficient consent for every situation.
When a bot-free workflow is useful
A native desktop assistant can remove the separate-participant admission step. Magic Screen uses a Mac application for meeting capture and live assistance rather than requiring a separate meeting bot. Its installation and capture controls still need to be configured, and its documentation describes recording and transcription behavior. 8 9
That architecture can suit a seller who wants to manage the workflow from their own desktop. It does not give them permission to ignore a customer's capture restrictions.
Resolve the unwanted attendance first. Then compare bot-free meeting assistants on the actual capture, processing, storage and sharing controls you need. The useful outcome is predictable behavior that everyone involved understands.
Frequently asked questions
How do I remove an AI notetaker from a meeting in progress?
Remove it from the participant list as host, then change the setting separately. Turning off auto-join does not eject a session already running.
Why does the notetaker keep rejoining my meetings?
The rule usually lives on the calendar invite or the recurring series rather than the single meeting you corrected. Check the series and the calendar integration, not just the last call.
Can I stop someone else's AI notetaker joining my call?
Not from your own settings. If another participant's assistant joined, only they can disable it, so it has to be raised with them or with the meeting owner.
Does removing the bot delete what it already captured?
No. Stopping capture, deleting stored recordings and restricting access are three separate actions, and doing the first does none of the others.
Sources
- Otter. Stop Otter Notetaker from automatically joining. Checked September 10, 2026.
- Read AI. How to Turn Off Read AI. Checked September 10, 2026.
- Fireflies. Disable Auto-join Settings. Checked September 10, 2026.
- Otter. Remove Otter Notetaker from your meeting. Checked September 10, 2026.
- Fireflies. Remove Fireflies from a meeting. Checked September 10, 2026.
- Read AI. Auto-join meeting preferences. Checked September 10, 2026.
- Fireflies. Settings overview and configuration. Checked September 10, 2026.
- Magic Screen. Installing the Desktop App. Checked September 10, 2026.
- Magic Screen. Meeting Detection and Recording. Checked September 10, 2026.