To record your screen while using Chrome, use the recorder built into your device, or add a screen recorder extension if you want to record one tab, add your webcam or share a link. The fastest built-in route on each device:
- Windows: press Windows logo key + Shift + R, select an area, then Start.
- Mac: press Shift + Command + 5, pick a record tool, then Record.
- Chromebook: press Shift + Ctrl + Show windows, then Screen record.
- Android: swipe down twice from the top and tap Screen record.
- iPhone: open Control Center and tap the Screen Recording control.
Windows
Windows records video with the Snipping Tool. From Microsoft’s Snipping Tool help:
- Press Windows logo key + Shift + R (or open Snipping Tool, select Record, then New).
- Select the area of the screen to record, for example your Chrome window, then select Start.
- When you are done, select Stop.
- Save the recording as it is, or select Edit in Clipchamp to add captions or audio.
Mac
From Apple’s guide Take screenshots or screen recordings on Mac:
- Press Shift + Command + 5 to open Screenshot.
- Choose Record the entire screen, Record a window or Record a portion of the screen.
- To record your voice, open Options and pick a microphone under Microphone. You can also choose where to save the file.
- Click Record.
- To stop, click the stop button in the menu bar.
Recordings are saved as .mov files whose names begin with “Screen Recording”.
Chromebook
Press Shift + Ctrl + Show windows, select Screen record, choose full screen, part of the screen or a window, and start. Stop with Stop recording at the bottom right, or Search + Shift + X. You can add your camera, microphone or device audio, or save a GIF. All the options are in How to screenshot and record on a Chromebook.
Android
From Google’s Android help, Take a screenshot or record your screen on your Android device:
- Swipe down twice from the top of the screen.
- Tap Screen record. You may need to swipe right to find it. If it is missing, tap Edit and drag Screen record into your Quick Settings.
- Choose what to record, and whether to record audio and show touches, then tap Start. Recording begins after a countdown.
- To stop, swipe down from the top and tap the Screen recorder notification.
Recordings are in the Photos app under Collections > On this device > Movies.
iPhone
From Apple’s guide Take a screen recording on iPhone:
- Swipe down from the top-right corner to open Control Center. If you do not see the Screen Recording control, add it to Control Center first.
- Tap the Screen Recording control and wait for the 3-second countdown. To include sound from the microphone, touch and hold the control, turn on Microphone, then tap Start Recording.
- Swipe up to close Control Center and switch to Chrome.
- To stop, tap the red timer at the top left (or the red circle in the Dynamic Island), then tap Stop.
Recordings are saved to the Photos app. Apple notes that some apps do not allow their content to be recorded.
Screen recorder extensions for Chrome
An extension adds a record button to Chrome’s toolbar. It is the easier choice when you want to record a single tab, put your webcam in the corner, draw on the screen while you talk, or send someone a link instead of a file. These were all live in the Chrome Web Store when we checked, and the features listed are what each listing says:
- Screenity: records a tab, an area, the desktop, an app or the camera, with microphone or internal audio and drawing on the screen. The listing says no sign-in is needed and recordings stay with you; it exports MP4, GIF and WebM or saves to Google Drive. Open source.
- Loom (by Atlassian): records your screen, camera, microphone and internal audio, saves the video to Loom’s cloud and gives you a link to share.
- Screencastify: records a browser tab, the desktop and the webcam, with a simple editor and sharing to Google Drive and Google Classroom. The listing describes limits on the number and length of videos without an upgrade.
- Awesome Screen Recorder & Screenshot: records the desktop, the current tab or the camera, saves to your computer or an online account, and also takes screenshots.
To install one, open its listing and click Add to Chrome. Install only the one you will use. On a phone, use the built-in recorder above.
A note on DevTools
Some guides say Chrome DevTools can record your screen. DevTools is not a video recorder: its Recorder panel records the steps of a user flow so developers can replay and measure it. For a still picture of a page instead, see How to take a screenshot in Chrome.