The quick answer: record with sound in five steps
You talked through ten minutes of a demo, played it back and heard nothing. Sound is the part of screen recording that fails silently, because it depends on a choice you make in your browser's sharing window, not just in the recorder. The screen recorder can capture your microphone, your computer's sound, or both, and saves the file on your own device.
- Choose what to record: your entire screen, one window or one browser tab. Switch on Microphone, Computer audio or both.
- Press Start recording. Your browser asks what to share. Pick it and, in the same window, tick the audio option (worded something like Also share tab audio or Also share system audio; the wording differs by browser, and a window often has no audio box) if you want computer sound.
- Record. After the short countdown, switch to what you want to show. Pause when you need to, and stop in the recorder or with the browser's Stop sharing button.
- Play it back and listen for your voice and the computer sound before you do anything else.
- Download the MP4 or WebM before you close the tab.
What your browser can and cannot capture
This is the browser's rule, not a setting we can override, and browsers change their rules. At the time of writing:
| Sound source | Chrome and Edge | Firefox and Safari |
|---|---|---|
| Your microphone | Yes | Yes |
| Sound from one browser tab | Yes, tick Share tab audio | No |
| Sound from the whole computer | Windows and ChromeOS, and possibly newer versions on a Mac; tick Share system audio when the picker offers it | No |
| Webcam bubble inside the recording | Yes | Not available, record the camera separately |
On a Mac, older versions of Chrome and Edge cannot capture system sound, and recent versions of Chrome may offer it, so check whether the sharing picker shows the option. Browser versions change, so the sharing picker has the final word. To record a video call or a clip that plays in the browser, share that tab instead of the screen and tick Share tab audio. Mac may also ask you to allow screen recording: open System Settings, then Privacy & Security, then Screen & System Audio Recording (called Screen Recording on older macOS), switch your browser on, and quit and reopen it.
Phones are different. Mobile browsers do not let websites record the screen, so use your phone's built-in recorder and bring the file here to trim or compress it.
Microphone, computer sound, or both?
- Narrating a demo: microphone, plus the tab's sound if the app makes any.
- Saving a call, webinar or video: computer audio, using tab audio in Chrome or Edge, or system sound on Windows.
- A silent demo for a GIF or a slide: no audio at all.
With both on, the two are mixed into a single track, so you cannot turn your voice up or down against the computer sound afterwards. Wear headphones, otherwise your speakers leak into the microphone and you hear an echo. To check your microphone level before a long take, the level meter in the voice recorder tells you if you are too quiet or clipping, and recording audio on your computer covers that side in more depth.
Add your face: camera bubble or a separate recording
Tutorials feel more personal with a person in the corner. Switch on Camera bubble and your webcam appears in a circle in the corner you choose, in small, medium or large. It is drawn into the video itself, so it shows in every app you open the file in. It needs Chrome, Edge or another Chromium-based browser.
Elsewhere, or for a talking-head video with no screen, use the webcam recorder. It works on computers, phones and tablets, records at 720p or 1080p and saves MP4 where the browser allows. The preview is mirrored so it feels natural, but the recording is not, so text behind you reads correctly. If you read from a script, the teleprompter keeps your eyes near the lens, and reading to camera with a teleprompter covers the setup.
Where your recording lives while you record
This is the part that costs people a recording. The video is assembled in memory inside the browser tab and stays there until you press Download. Closing the tab first discards it, and the recorder warns you before that happens. The privacy page says the same: recordings are kept in memory until you save them and are discarded when you close the page.
Three habits follow. Download straight after you stop. Record a ten second test and play it back before the real take. And for a long session, close other heavy tabs, because there is no time limit and no watermark, only your computer's free memory. To check that your video is not uploaded, open the browser's developer tools and watch the Network tab while you record. Once you stop, you will see one tiny request that only adds to the site's finished-files counter, but none that carries your recording.
Quality settings
1080p at 30 fps suits most tutorials. Choose 60 fps for gameplay or smooth scrolling, Full resolution for detailed design work on a high-resolution display, or 720p when file size matters most. File size depends on how much changes on screen: a quiet slide deck stays small and fast motion adds up. MP4 is the default because it plays everywhere. WebM is there for browsers that record only in that format.
After you stop: trim, shrink and check
The buttons under your recording open it directly in the video trimmer, the video compressor or the subtitle tool. For the others below, download the file and open it there.
- Trim the dead start and end in the video trimmer. Keep selection drops the fumbling, and Cut out selection removes a mistake in the middle. Fast saves in seconds but may start slightly early, while Precise starts on the exact frame.
- Shrink it with the video compressor. The compressor shows an estimate of the new size before you start, and you can switch to Exact file size for an upload limit. See compressing large video files.
- Check the sound by opening the recording in the audio editor, where the soundtrack appears as a waveform. A flat line means a track exists but is silent, and a message that the file has no audio track means no sound was recorded at all. Note that it exports audio files, not video.
- Cut dead air with the silence remover, or turn a short stretch into a GIF.
More small edits are in editing videos for free in your browser. A long tutorial bound for YouTube also benefits from chapters. To use one moment of the recording as a picture, see saving a still frame from a video.
What goes wrong
- No computer sound. The audio box was not ticked in the browser's sharing window, or the browser cannot capture it (see the table). Record the tab instead.
- An echo. Speakers are feeding the microphone. Use headphones.
- Your Mac will not let the browser record. Allow it under Screen & System Audio Recording (Screen Recording on older macOS), then restart the browser.
- The recording vanished. The tab was closed before downloading. Record again and download first.
- The file is huge. Compress it, or record at 720p next time.