Free Screen Recorder

Worked example

Leave "Screen" selected and press "Start recording". The browser opens its own share window; pick a tab, a window or the whole screen. With "3-second countdown before recording starts" ticked, the page counts 3, 2, 1 under "Get ready — switch to the window you want to record", then shows "Recording" and a running clock. The "Standard" quality button reads "Up to 1080p, 30 fps, about 20 MB per minute", so a two-minute talk should come to roughly 40 MB. Press "Stop & save" and the page shows a line such as "Recording saved — 2:05, 39.2 MB (MP4)", with a preview, "Download" and "Record another". If your browser could only record WebM, a "Convert to MP4 (iPhone, WhatsApp)" button appears too. "Audio only (MP3)" appears when the recording has sound.

Which settings to use, and the limits

• Pick a quality that fits the length of your recording. Under "Quality" there are three buttons. "Small file" asks the browser for up to 720p at 15 fps with a 1 Mbps video target, "Standard" for up to 1080p at 30 fps at 2.5 Mbps, and "Sharp text" for the same 1080p and 30 fps at 5 Mbps. Sound is 128 kbps in all three. With sound on, the buttons show "about 8.5 MB per minute", "about 20 MB per minute" and "about 38 MB per minute". These are targets, so the real file can differ. Choose "Sharp text" for small type and "Small file" for a long recording.
• Switch on sound in the share window, not only on the page. "System / tab audio" is ticked by default, but the browser decides whether to honour it. In Chrome and Edge on Windows, ChromeOS and Linux, the share window has its own switch: "Also share system audio" for a whole screen or "Also share tab audio" for a tab. A single app window cannot share sound. Firefox gives no computer sound, and on macOS you need to share a browser tab rather than a whole screen. "Microphone" is separate. It is off for a screen recording and on for "Webcam only", and when both sources are on the page mixes them into one track.
• Add your face with a webcam bubble, or record the webcam alone. "What to record" offers "Screen", "Screen + webcam" and "Webcam only". With "Screen + webcam" you choose "Webcam shape" ("Circle" or "Rounded"), "Size" ("Small", "Medium" or "Large", which is 20, 28 or 38 percent of the shorter side of the frame) and "Position" in one of four corners. "Mirror webcam" is ticked by default. While recording, drag the bubble in the preview; shape, size and mirror also change live. On phones, where the browser has no screen capture, only the webcam is offered. Android has "Screen record" in Quick Settings, and iPhone has its Control Center recorder.
• Use the countdown, pause and auto-stop. The 3, 2, 1 countdown gives you time to switch windows, and "Cancel" backs out of it. The clock starts after the countdown and does not run while you "Pause". Type a number of minutes into "Auto-stop after (minutes)" to end the recording by itself; the box steps by 1 and is marked 1 to 600. Leave it empty to record until you press "Stop & save". The browser's own "Stop sharing" button also ends and saves the recording. "Take screenshot" saves one PNG frame while you record.
• Convert after recording if a player will not open the file. The browser tries H.264 MP4 first and falls back to WebM. If you get WebM, "Convert to MP4 (iPhone, WhatsApp)" appears and re-encodes it in the page to H.264 with AAC sound at 128 kbps. The first conversion shows "Getting the converter ready…" while it downloads the converter, about 31 MB, then "Converting to MP4… 40%". "Audio only (MP3)" appears whenever the recording has sound and makes a 192 kbps MP3. Both copy the whole recording into the converter's memory, so a very long one can fail on a small device.
• Download before you leave the page. The recording lives only in this page's memory and nothing is uploaded. Press "Download"; the file is named like screen-recording-2026-11-05-14-30-00.mp4, or webcam-recording for a webcam-only take. Reloading, closing the tab, pressing "Record another" or starting a new recording discards it. Under "Do more with this file" you can pass it on to tools such as "Trim", "Compress" or "Make a GIF", which open in a new tab.

Common problems and how to fix them

It says "Your browser gave no system audio for this share, so the recording will have no computer sound. To include it, stop and start again, and in the share window turn on "Also share system audio" (whole screen) or "Also share tab audio" (a tab). A single app window can't share its sound."

The share window, not this page, decides whether sound is shared, and the page only finds out after you have picked something. This is the wording for Chrome and Edge on Windows, ChromeOS and Linux. Other browsers get a shorter message that ends "Firefox doesn't support it; on macOS share a browser tab instead of a whole screen." The recording carries on with the warning left on screen. If you need computer sound, press "Stop & save", then "Record another", and share again with the audio switch on.

It says "No screen was shared. You may have closed the picker, or your browser or system blocked screen sharing."

Closing the share window makes the browser report the same error as a real block, so the page cannot tell which happened and words the message to cover both. Press "Start recording" again, choose a screen, window or tab, and confirm in the share window. If it fails again after you chose something, the browser or the computer's settings are refusing screen capture, so try another browser. Nothing was recorded.

It says "Microphone access was refused. Your browser will not ask again until you allow it in site settings."

This appears when "Microphone" is ticked and the browser refuses the microphone. The recording still starts, without your voice, and the message stays on screen. "Webcam only" ticks "Microphone" for you, so untick it if you do not want sound. To add your voice, allow the microphone for this site in the browser's site settings, then start again.

It says "Camera access was blocked. Allow the camera for this site (the camera icon in the address bar), then try again."

This is the camera version of the same refusal. The other camera messages are "No camera was found. Connect one, or record the screen only." and "Your camera is in use by another app (a video call?). Close it and try again." In "Webcam only" nothing is recorded. In "Screen + webcam" the screen share you already chose is kept, and the message ends "Recording the screen without the webcam.", so the bubble will be missing from the file.

It says "The browser ran out of memory processing this file — it is too large for this device. Try a shorter clip, a smaller file, or a desktop computer."

This can follow "Convert to MP4 (iPhone, WhatsApp)" or "Audio only (MP3)", not the recording itself. The converter first copies the whole recording into its own memory, so a long, high-bitrate take can be too much for a phone or an older computer. Your original recording is still there: press "Download" to keep it as it is. Next time pick "Small file" under "Quality", or record in shorter pieces.

How it compares

The recorder built into your operating system can capture without a browser share window. This tool runs in a browser tab: you pick a screen, window or tab in the browser's share window, so what it can capture, and whether it gets computer sound, depends on the browser and system. It asks for at most 1080p at 15 or 30 fps, and it has no editing, hotkeys or drawing on screen. The file stays in memory until you download it. In exchange nothing needs installing, and the microphone, a webcam bubble, countdown, auto-stop, MP4 and MP3 export are all on the page.