For years, users have been asking Google for a native tool to record the screen on Chromebook. There are a handful of Chrome extensions that do the job pretty well, but they ask for top dollars to dole out access for even basic features. So it was heartening to see Google finally add a native screen recorder on Chromebook back in 2020. The feature has been available on the stable channel for nearly two years now. Not to mention, Google has since released a new Screencast app on Chrome OS, which brings advanced screen recording with support for annotation, webcam view, transcription, and more, to Chromebooks. So if you want to record the screen on your Chromebook, follow our step-by-step guide below.
In this article, we have included three easy methods to record the screen on a Chromebook. While two of the features are native to Chrome OS and work like a charm, the third method is important if you wish to record device audio along with the screen. That said, let’s dive in.
- Record Screen on Your Chromebook with Screen CaptureRecord Screen on Your Chromebook with ScreencastRecord Screen on Chromebook with Device Audio
Record Screen on Your Chromebook with Screen Capture
To record the screen on your Chromebook, open the Quick Settings menu in the bottom-right corner. You will find a “Screen capture” tile here, and you can click to open it. You can also use the Chromebook keyboard shortcut “Ctrl + Shift + Overview key (above 6 key)” to access the Screen Capture feature.
The Screen Capture feature will open in a bottom-bar menu. Here, click the video icon to switch to the screen recording feature. On the right side, choose how you want to record — full-screen, partial, or active window.
Finally, hit the “Record” button, and your Chromebook will start recording the screen. In my testing, I didn’t notice any stutters while recording in any of the three modes. And the video quality of the screen recording was also good.
You can also click the “Settings” icon and turn on “Microphone” under “Audio input” to record your audio as well. And now, after the latest update, you can add your webcam view to screen recordings as well. That’s awesome, right?
To stop the screen recording, click the stop icon in the taskbar. The screen recording will then be stored in WEBM format inside the “Downloads” folder.
Along with screen recording, the new tool also brings a new and intuitive way to take screenshots on a Chromebook. You can press the “Ctrl + Shift + Overview button (above 6 key)” shortcut to bring up the new screen capture mode. What I like about this tool is that it remembers the position of the last screenshot in partial mode, making the workflow much faster.
Record Screen on Your Chromebook with Screencast
Google has launched a new screen recording app on Chromebook called Screencast. If you have updated your device to Chrome OS 103, you will find this app in the app drawer. Screencast is an advanced screen recording tool, which is targeted at students and teachers, but anyone can take advantage of this awesome new tool. You can make engaging lessons and demos by recording your screen with Screencast on your Chromebook.
Next, click on “New Screencast” at the top-left corner to start screen recording on your Chromebook.
After that, you can choose the full-screen area, window, or partial area to record the screen. The microphone and webcam are enabled by default, which can be disabled from the “settings” icon at the bottom.
Now, click the red icon on the shelf to start the recording. You can click the “pen” icon for annotations, and you can drag the webcam view to whichever corner you want. Once you are done, click on the red “stop” button on the Chrome OS Shelf.
You will find the recording in the Screencast app. Here, you can review the transcript and edit it.
Finally, click on “Share” to share the screen recording with a shareable link. Note that, Screencast doesn’t save the video locally, which is a bummer.
Record Screen on Chromebook with Device Audio
If you wish to record the device audio on your Chromebook while recording the screen, I will highly recommend the Nimbus Screenshot & Screen Video Recorder extension. It’s one of the best Chrome extensions that lets you record the internal audio on Chromebooks. You also get advanced features like webcam view, audio recording from the mic, and more. Here is how it works:
Next, open the extension from the extension toolbar and click on “Record Video“.
Here, choose “Tab” at the bottom and enable “Record Tab Sound“. You can disable the mic sound toggle if you wish. Note that, the internal audio recording option is only available in Chrome tabs and not the desktop.
After that, click on “Start Record“, and that’s it. You will now be able to record the screen on your Chromebook with device audio using this Chrome extension.
