How-To

How to Screen Record on a Chromebook

By Brian Burgess

Published September 22, 2022

Want to record actions on your Chromebook? You’ll need to use the screen recording functionality. This guide will explain what to do.

Need to record an action on your Chromebook? If you’re running Chrome OS 89 or above, you can use a built-in screen recording tool to record your Chromebook’s screen. It’s simple, easy, and free to use.

Whether you need to record the screen for tech support, record an app’s behavior, or just want to document something, here’s how to screen record on a Chromebook.

How to Screen Record on a Chromebook

When you want to screen record on a Chromebook, you’ll need to pull up the same toolbar as when you take a screenshot on Chromebook. While pulling up the same toolbar you use for screenshots, that’s where the similarities end.

To screen record on a Chromebook:

1. Click the shelf with the Clock, Battery, and Wi-Fi icons and select the Screen Capture button.
2. If you don’t see it the first time you launch the menu, click the Up arrow to expand the menu entirely.
3. Once the menu is fully expanded, you can click the Screen Capture button.
4. The Screen Capture utility will appear at the bottom of the screen. Ensure you select the Video Icon (video icon) to screen record. Otherwise, you’ll get screenshots if you choose the camera icon.
5. The toolbar provides a few different recording options. For example, you can choose to record the entire screen, a specific window, or a partial screen.
6. Choose how you want to record the screen, and it will automatically start. However, if you choose partial or a specific window, it will wait while you select the screen area to record.
7. After that, click the Record button in your desired screen section.
8. A red recording button will appear on the taskbar, and you can click it when you want the recording session to stop.
9. It’s also important to note that you can change screen recorder settings before taking a shot. Click the Settings (gear icon) button to choose a different save location, enable or disable the front camera, and turn the microphone on or off.

How to Find and Manage Screen Record Files on Chromebook

Like screenshots on Chromebook, you’ll find the recordings in your Downloads folder. A notification will come up after you finish recording the screen, and you can show it in the folder. However, you might want to share or play your screen recording first. If so, double-click the file (saved in the WEBM format).

Unsure where to find your saved Chromebook screen recordings? We’ll explain below.

To find and manage your screen recording files on a Chromebook:

1. Click the Files icon.
2. Navigate to your Downloads folder and locate your recording(s). To make things easy, Chrome OS labels shots as Screenshot and recordings as Screen recording.
3. To play a video, double-click on it, and it will open and begin to play. The player includes basic playback controls so you can maneuver through the video. For example, here we took a recording on the Notification Center.

Once you’ve located your screen recording files, you can save, share, watch, or store them in Google Drive.

Using Chromebook Features

Using the screen recording tool on Chromebook is straightforward. However, since it saves recordings as WEBM, you can share them with other Chromebook users—they’ll have no problem viewing them. Otherwise, you can convert the videos to MP4 or ask the other user to install VLC, which will play WEBM format files. VLC also plays virtually any file you throw at it and is an open-source and free download.

In addition to recording your screen, there are several things you can do with Chromebook. For example, you can easily add other users and learn how to restart a Chromebook correctly if you’re just starting.

If you’re a more advanced user, learn how to run Linux apps on a Chromebook. However, if you’re new to Chromebook or a long-time user, check out these six essential Chromebook tips.