Recording your iPhone screen is a very helpful tool, whether you want to save a clip of the game, record part of a live stream on Instagram, or want to make a how-to video for your friends. You can send the video clip you record to a friend or family, upload it to social media, or post it to your Instagram story. Here are the steps on how to record your screen, whether you have the latest or an old iPhone.
Screen recording comes default into iPhones, but if you want to use it, you first need to check to see if the screen record button is in your Control Center, that is the most easy way to access it. To open the Control Center, swipe down from the top-right corner if you’re using an iPhone X or later, or swipe up if you have an iPhone 8 or older.
- Open up Settings
- Tap “Control Center”
- Tap “Customize Controls”
- This is where you add and remove items from your Control Center menu. Scroll down and press the green button with a + next to “Screen Recording.” That will move it from the “More Controls” section at the bottom to the “Include” section at the top.
Now You Can Record Your Screen
Now, you’re all set to record your screen. To Start:
- Open up the app or whatever you want to record
- Swipe up to pull up the Control Center menu (iPhone 8 or older) or pull down the menu from the top-right corner (iPhone X or newer)
- Tap the crescent moon button to switch on Do Not Disturb, which will briefly pause calls and notifications. This is helpful because when you record your screen, you’ll record everything that shows up on the screen, including notifications. If you press and hold the Do Not Disturb button, you’ll see some more options, like changing the notifications off for just an hour or set when you want to pause them.
- While you’re in the Control Center, tap the screen record button to start the recording. Once you hit the screen record button, a timer will start, which will give you three seconds before it starts recording.
Now you will be recording both video and the audio of whatever you’re watching on your phone — however, you won’t record any audio that isn’t made from your phone. If you want to record yourself talking in addition to recording the audio of a game, you’ll have to turn on your mic:
- Before you start recording, press and hold the screen record button. Tap the mic button on the pop-up screen to turn the microphone on. Then tap “Start Recording.” The countdown will start. Tap anywhere on the screen to exit the screen, and then click the next screen to close the Control Center.
- Once you turn the microphone on, it will stay on the next time you record your screen until you go back in and turn it off.
- To stop recording, swipe up or down to gain access the Control Center again and tap the record button again
- Unless you have media open (you’re watching a YouTube video or something else), you’ll see a red bar at the top of your screen (or top left if you have a new iPhone) showing that you’re now recording. If you tap on that bar, you’ll get a pop-up window asking you if you want to stop recording. click “Stop.”
- The video will be saved with the rest of your photos and videos in your iPhone Photos app.
