Google integrated a screen recording tool into Chrome OS 89 primarily to promote virtual learning. If you take a lot of online classes on your Chromebook, or you teach students online, the tool allows you to record lessons, reports, and presentations for reference purposes.
However, screen recording isn’t just limited to academia; there are other interesting use cases. You can also record YouTube videos, sports broadcasts, games, and other entertainment or content. Move on to the next section to learn how to record the screen on a Chromebook.
Table of Contents
How to record your Chromebook screen
press and hold Control + Change + Overview mode (or Show window key) to launch the Chrome OS slicing tool.
If your Chromebook is in tablet mode, open the Status area and select Screen capture.
The crop tool will pop up at the bottom of your screen, just above the Shelf. Tap the camcorder icon to navigate to the Screen Recording menu.
The crop tool pre-selects “Record Part of Screen” mode by default. In this mode, use the plus icon to select an area of the screen that you want to record.
This is perfect for recording video playing on a website (like YouTube) without having to record the entire web page.
Note: You cannot move the selected area during recording. To record another part of the screen, cancel the recording in progress and map out a new recording area.
The “Record window” option allows you to record the contents of a specific application or window. If you are using two apps in split screen mode on your ChromebookThis option allows you to record the contents of one application without closing the other.
When you select the “Record window” option, your cursor will change to a camcorder icon. Use the trackpad to move the icon and click anywhere on the window you want to record.
Finally, there is the option to “Record Full Screen”. Click the dashed square icon and click anywhere on the screen to record the entire screen.
Once you select your preferred recording option, the crop tool displays a 3-second countdown on the screen, selected area, or window before recording. Screen Recorder will capture all visual elements on the screen, including the cursor. However, you should note that screen recorders do not record audio by default.
You’ll need to manually enable your Chromebook’s microphone to record your screen with audio. Follow the steps in the next section to learn how.
How to record Chromebook screen without sound
Before you hit the record button, click the gear icon on the crop tool and turn it on Microphone recording.
The trim tool saves the settings, so you don’t have to manually turn on the microphone on subsequent recordings. To record without sound, repeat the steps above and turn off Microphone recording right to buy.
Screen recording with the microphone on captures audio from the media playing on your Chromebook. The microphone will also pick up background sounds from the environment. So if you’re recording the screen with audio on your Chromebook, make sure to do it in a quiet room with minimal background noise.
Better yet, use an external noise-cancelling microphone, if you have one. That can help filter out background noise and ultimately enhance the sound quality of the recording.
How to stop screen recording on Chromebook
Once the screen recording starts, you’ll see a red stop icon near the Status area — the bottom right corner of the screen. Clicking the icon will immediately stop recording and save the file.
You will also receive notifications in the Status Area. Click Show in Folder to view the recording in the Files app. Chrome OS saves screenshots and screen recordings in the Downloads folder.
Troubleshoot screen recording on Chromebooks
Certain problems or difficulties may be encountered when recording the screen on a Chromebook. In this section, we cover potential solutions to some of these problems.
Chromebook Not Saving Screenshots or Screen Recordings?
As mentioned earlier, Chrome OS saves screenshots and screen recordings to the Downloads folder by default. If you can’t find your recordings in the Downloads folder, your Chromebook may be running low on memory space.
Go Setting > Device > Storage Management to check the storage status of your device.
Please free up some space, try going back to the screen and check if the video has been saved to your device.
Chromebook not recording audio?
You have enabled the option “Record Microphone” but your recording has no sound. What could be the problem?
Well, the cutter might not pick up sound if your Chromebook’s microphone is muted. Before recording, make sure you’ve checked your Chrome OS’s sound settings and confirmed that audio input is allowed.
Open the Status Area and click arrow icon next to the volume slider.
In the Input section, move Microphone (Inside) Slide to the right to increase the volume of your Chromebook’s built-in microphone.
If there’s an external audio device connected to your Chromebook, you’ll also find the device’s microphone slider in this section. If the problem persists after increasing the audio input volume, restart your Chromebook and try again.
Can’t find Screen Recorder?
We mentioned in the introduction of this article that Google has integrated a screen recording tool into Chrome OS 89. If you access the screen recording tool from the Status Area or via keyboard shortcuts, make sure to Make sure your Chromebook is running the latest version of Chrome OS.
Go Setting > About Chrome OS and click Check for updates. Restart your device if there is a pending update on the page.
Updating your Chromebook can also fix other issues that cause the screen recorder to misbehave.
Not all Chromebook apps support screen recording
You cannot record your screen when using protected content applications. For example, try recording a movie on the Netflix or Amazon Prime Video app. You will get a “Cannot capture content” error message in the message panel.
Interestingly, we were able to record Netflix through a web browser. Note that we recommend against doing this because it is completely illegal to record or copy copyrighted content — on Netflix or elsewhere — without permission. Before you record content on your device, confirm that you are authorized to do so.
