How to Screen Record on iPhone

You do not need to install anything. Every iPhone since iOS 11 has a screen recorder built in, and it beats most of the apps that come up when you search for one: no watermark, no time limit, no account.

The only reason it feels hidden is that it is switched off by default.

Turn it on

1. Open Settings → Control Center.
2. Find Screen Recording in the list and add it to your included controls.

One-time step. From then on the control lives in Control Center.

Record

1. Open Control Center. On any iPhone with Face ID, swipe down from the top-right corner. On an iPhone with a Home button, swipe up from the bottom edge.
2. Tap the record button, the solid circle inside a ring.
3. A three second countdown runs, giving you time to close Control Center.
4. A red indicator sits at the top of the screen while recording.
5. To stop, tap the red indicator and confirm Stop, or reopen Control Center and tap the button again.

The finished video lands in Photos, in your camera roll.

Recording with sound

This is where most people go wrong, because there are two separate audio sources and only one is on by default.

App sound is captured automatically. Game audio, video playback, notification sounds: all recorded without you doing anything.

Your voice is not. The microphone is off unless you turn it on, and it has to be done before you start:

Press and hold the record button in Control Center instead of just tapping it. A panel opens with a Microphone toggle. Turn it on, then tap Start Recording.

The setting persists between recordings, which cuts both ways: turn it on once and you will narrate everything until you turn it off again.

If you recorded something and it came out silent, the troubleshooting guide covers every cause.

Every iPhone model

The feature itself is identical on every model: same recorder, same quality, same options. The only thing that changes is how you open Control Center.

If you are searching for instructions for a specific model, that row is the whole difference. Everything else on this page applies to yours.

One note on newer software: iOS 18 redesigned Control Center into multiple pages with resizable controls. Adding Screen Recording still happens in Settings → Control Center, but you can also long-press an empty area of Control Center itself and tap + to add controls directly.

Trimming before you share

Screen recordings almost always open and close on a shot of Control Center. Fix it in Photos, no other app needed:

1. Open the recording in Photos and tap Edit.
2. Drag the handles at either end of the filmstrip inwards.
3. Tap Done, then Save Video as New Clip to keep the original.

What it will not capture

Protected video. Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video and most streaming apps block capture. The recording comes out black, usually silent. That is copy protection working as designed and nothing gets around it.

Your face. The built-in recorder captures the screen and nothing else.

Anything outside the screen. It is a screen recorder, not a camera.

When you need something else

For screen plus facecam, you need a third-party recorder built for it. Apps in that category use Apple’s ReplayKit to capture the screen system-wide and draw your camera feed on top, so the overlay ends up in the file.

For you plus the world around you, not your screen, you do not need a screen recorder at all. That is a two-camera job: rear lens on the scene, front lens on your reaction, both in one frame. Every iPhone from the XR onwards can do it and Dual Camera is built for it. It records cameras, not screens, so it is not a substitute for the above. It answers a different question.

The test is simple: is the thing you want to show happening on your screen, or in front of you?

Something not working?

Missing button, silent recording, black video, or a capture that stops on its own: iPhone screen recording not working goes through every cause in order.

Related

• How to record the front and back camera at the same time
• Storage planning for long captures