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How to Screen Record on iPhone

Open Control Center, tap the Screen Recording button, and tap the red indicator at the top of the screen when you want to stop. A website can’t record your iPhone screen, but recorder.video can still record your camera and microphone on the phone.

Jump to the step-by-step guide

Online Screen Recorder

ReadyTurn on your camera, mic or screen below

Choose a recording source

Start a new scene from one source or combine screen and camera.

New scene

Turn on your camera or mic above

Screen recording on an iPhone

Every iPhone has a screen recorder built into iOS. You start it from Control Center, it captures everything on the display, and it can add your voice through the microphone. There’s nothing to install, and each finished recording goes into the Photos app.

Websites are a different matter. Safari and the other iPhone browsers don’t let a web page capture the screen, so no online screen recorder can do it, recorder.video included. This guide covers the built-in method, what the browser recorder can still do on your phone, and how to record a screen on a computer instead.

How to screen record on iPhone from Control Center

  1. Add the Screen Recording control

    If it isn’t in Control Center yet, add it. On recent iOS, open Control Center, tap the plus at the top left, tap Add a Control and choose Screen Recording. On older versions, add it from Control Center in the Settings app.

  2. Open Control Center

    On an iPhone with Face ID, swipe down from the top-right corner of the screen. On an iPhone with a Home button, swipe up from the bottom edge.

  3. Choose whether to record your voice

    Touch and hold the Screen Recording button, a solid circle inside a ring, and tap Microphone to switch it on or off.

  4. Start recording

    Tap Start Recording, or just tap the button in Control Center. After a three-second countdown, everything on the screen is recorded.

  5. Stop and find the video

    Tap the red indicator at the top of the screen and choose Stop, or tap the Screen Recording button in Control Center again. The video is saved to Photos.

How to screen record on iPhone with sound

Your voice is only recorded when the microphone is turned on. Open the long-press menu on the Screen Recording button, set Microphone to on, and start from there. Talking over a recording like this is the simplest way to make a quick how-to on your phone.

Sound from apps, such as a game or a video, is recorded unless the app prevents it. Video and music streaming apps often protect their content, so expect a black picture or silence when you record them.

Where iPhone screen recordings are saved

Each recording lands in your photo library in the Photos app, alongside your other videos and sorted by date. If you use iCloud Photos, it syncs to your other Apple devices like any video you film.

To shorten a recording, open it in Photos, tap Edit and drag the ends of the timeline inwards. To send it to someone, tap the share button and choose an app, AirDrop or Mail.

What recorder.video can do on an iPhone

Open recorder.video in Safari, or any other browser on your iPhone, and it works as a camera and voice recorder. The Screen button is hidden, because the phone’s browser has no way to share the screen. Recording yourself, trimming the take and downloading it all happen on the phone, and nothing is uploaded.

  1. Open recorder.video and allow camera and microphone access when your browser asks.
  2. Pick a shape under Size, such as Tall Portrait 9:16 for a video that fills a phone screen.
  3. Tap the big record button at the bottom of the screen, with pause right beside it, and tap again to stop. Trim the scene, then download it from its menu.

Recent versions of Safari record MP4, which Photos and most editing apps open. Safari puts downloads in the Downloads folder of the Files app; to move a video into Photos, open it there, tap the share button and choose Save Video.

While a take is running, the recorder asks the browser to keep the screen awake. Stay in the browser until you stop, because switching apps or locking the phone can cut off the camera.

Only need audio? The voice recorder works on an iPhone too.

Record a screen on a computer instead

For a screen and webcam in one video, a tutorial with a pointer, or a browser tab with its sound, a laptop or desktop is the better tool. The online screen recorder runs in desktop browsers, and there are step-by-step guides for Mac, Windows and Chromebook as well.

Record your iPhone screen with a Mac

A Mac can record an iPhone’s screen over a cable. Connect the iPhone, unlock it, and trust the computer if asked. Then open QuickTime Player, choose File > New Movie Recording, click the arrow next to the record button, and select your iPhone as the camera and the microphone. Click record, and the video is saved on the Mac.

Troubleshooting iPhone screen recordings

The Screen Recording button is missing

Add it to Control Center with the first step above. Screen Time restrictions and school or work device management can also block screen recording, so check those if the button won’t start.

My voice isn’t in the recording

The microphone setting was probably off. Touch and hold the Screen Recording button, turn Microphone on, and record again.

Parts of the video are black

Apps that play protected video blank out their picture in screen recordings. Everything else on the screen still records normally.

I can’t find the recording

Screen recordings go to Photos, not the Files app, so look among your most recent items there. Downloads from recorder.video are the exception: those start out in Files.

Recording questions

How do I screen record on my iPhone?

Open Control Center and tap the Screen Recording button. After a three-second countdown, the screen is recorded until you tap the red indicator at the top and choose Stop.

How do I screen record on iPhone with my voice?

Touch and hold the Screen Recording button in Control Center, turn on Microphone, then tap Start Recording. Whatever you say is recorded along with the screen.

Where do screen recordings go on an iPhone?

Into the Photos app. You can trim them there with Edit, share them, or let iCloud Photos copy them to your other devices.

Can a website record my iPhone screen?

No. iPhone browsers don’t give web pages access to the screen. Use the Screen Recording control in Control Center instead, or record the phone from a Mac over a cable.

Can I use recorder.video on my iPhone?

Yes, as a camera and microphone recorder. You can film yourself or record your voice, trim the take and download it, with no app to install.

Can I record my iPhone screen and my face at the same time?

The built-in recorder has no camera overlay. To get both in one video, record on a computer, where recorder.video puts your webcam in a bubble over the screen.

Why is my iPhone screen recording black?

Streaming and other protected video apps hide their picture from screen capture. Record a different app, or check whether the service offers its own sharing or clip feature.

Other ways to record