How to record your phone's screen, step by step (Android and iPhone)

1. Turn on the screen recorder on Android

Since Android 11, the vast majority of brands (Samsung, Xiaomi, Motorola, OPPO, Google Pixel...) include a screen recorder out of the box, without having to install anything. To get to it:

• Swipe down from the top of the screen: the first time you'll see notifications and a few quick shortcuts.
• Swipe down a second time to open the full quick settings panel, with all the available icons.
• Look for an icon shaped like a circle inside a rectangle, called "Screen Recorder" (Samsung), "Screen recorder" (Xiaomi/MIUI) or something similar, depending on the brand.

Tap that icon and, after a brief countdown, recording will start automatically.

2. Options before recording: audio, quality and screen taps

Before you start recording (or right when you tap the icon), almost all recorders show a small window with several options worth checking:

• Audio: you can record with no sound, with the device's own sound (music, videos, games) or by also adding the microphone, so your voice can be heard while you explain something.
• Video quality: resolution (HD, Full HD...) and, on some phones, frames per second. The higher the quality, the heavier the file, so if you're only going to send it via WhatsApp you don't need maximum quality.
• Show taps on screen: a very handy option if you're going to explain something step by step, since it draws a small circle every time you tap the screen, so whoever watches the video knows where you're tapping.

Some brands, like Samsung, also add the option to overlay your face, recorded with the front camera, in a small bubble over the video.

3. How to stop the recording and where the video is saved

While you're recording, you'll see a red icon or a timer in the status bar, at the top of the screen. To end the recording you have two options:

• Swipe down to open notifications and tap "Stop" on the screen recorder notification.
• Open the quick settings panel again and tap the recorder icon, which now shows the stop option.

The video is saved automatically, without you having to do anything else. You'll find it in your phone's photo gallery, usually inside an album called "Screen recordings". If you'd rather look for it with a file manager, it's usually in a folder called "Screenshots" or "Movies/Screen recordings", depending on the phone's brand.

4. Record the screen on iPhone

On iPhone, the screen recording control isn't always visible by default in Control Center, so it's worth checking first that it's added:

1. Open Settings → Control Center.
2. Look for "Screen Recording" in the list of available controls and tap the green + icon to add it (if it already shows a red minus icon, it's already turned on).

With the control added, to record:

1. Open Control Center: swipe down from the top-right corner of the screen (on iPhone with Face ID) or swipe up from the bottom edge (on iPhone with a Home button).
2. Tap the circle icon (the same record symbol as a camera). After a three-second countdown, it will start recording the whole screen.

If you want your voice to be heard while you record, press and hold the circle icon before tapping it and turn on the microphone in the menu that appears.

5. How to stop recording on iPhone

While recording, at the top of the screen you'll see a bar or a red icon next to the clock. To stop the recording you can:

• Tap that red bar (or the red clock icon, depending on the model) and confirm that you want to stop recording.
• Or open Control Center again and tap the circle icon, which now appears in red.

The video is saved automatically in the Photos app, along with the rest of your photos and videos, usually among the most recent items.

6. If your phone doesn't have a screen recorder (older models)

Android phones with versions older than Android 10-11, or with more limited customization layers, may not include a screen recorder out of the box. In that case, the alternative is to install an app from the Play Store by searching for "screen recorder" and checking for:

• That it has many downloads and high ratings, with recent reviews.
• That it doesn't ask for permissions that don't make sense for recording video, such as access to your contacts or messages.
• That it's developed by an identifiable company or team, not by a newly created anonymous account.

On iPhone, the screen recording feature has been available since iOS 11, so almost any iPhone compatible with current updates already has it. If your iPhone is very old and you can't update it, you can also record the screen by connecting it via cable to a Mac computer and using the QuickTime Player app: open QuickTime, go to File → New Movie Recording, choose your iPhone as the source and press the record button.