How to Screen Record on iPhone
How to record your iPhone screen with or without audio. Setup, recording controls, and where to find your files.
iPhone has a built-in screen recorder, but most people do not know it exists because Apple does not add it to Control Center by default. You have to enable it first. Once enabled, recording your screen takes two taps.
Screen recording is useful for creating tutorials, saving a video playing in an app that does not allow downloads, demonstrating a bug to tech support, or recording a video call when the app does not offer recording. The built-in recorder captures everything on your screen including notifications, so you will want to turn on Do Not Disturb first.
This guide covers setup, recording with and without audio, and managing your recordings.
Add Screen Recording to Control Center
Open the Settings app. Tap Control Center. Scroll down to the "More Controls" section and find "Screen Recording." Tap the green plus icon to add it to your included controls. You can drag it to reorder its position in Control Center. You only need to do this once. After adding it, the Screen Recording button appears in Control Center every time you open it.
Start a recording
Open Control Center by swiping down from the top-right corner of the screen (on iPhones with Face ID) or swiping up from the bottom of the screen (on iPhones with a Home button). Tap the Screen Recording button, which looks like a solid circle inside a ring. A 3-second countdown begins, giving you time to close Control Center and navigate to whatever you want to record. After the countdown, a red status bar or red clock appears at the top of your screen, indicating that recording is active. Everything on your screen from this point forward is being captured.
Good to know: Turn on Do Not Disturb before recording. Incoming notifications, calls, and messages will appear on screen during recording and will be visible in the final video. Enabling Do Not Disturb prevents interruptions from appearing in your recording.
Record with microphone audio
By default, screen recording captures internal audio (app sounds, media playback, system sounds) but not external audio from your microphone. If you want to narrate or capture your voice during the recording, long-press the Screen Recording button in Control Center instead of tapping it. A menu appears with a Microphone toggle at the bottom. Tap it to turn the microphone on (it turns red). Then tap Start Recording. Your voice will be recorded along with the screen content. Toggle the microphone off when you only want app audio.
Stop the recording
There are two ways to stop. The easiest is to tap the red status bar or red clock at the top of the screen and confirm by tapping Stop. Alternatively, open Control Center and tap the Screen Recording button again (it will be red while recording). The recording stops immediately and a notification confirms that the video has been saved to your Photos app.
Find and edit your recording
Open the Photos app. Your screen recording is saved as a video in your Recents album and also appears in a Screen Recordings album (under Albums > Media Types). Tap the video to play it. To trim the beginning or end (to remove the Control Center opening and closing), tap Edit in the top right corner. Drag the yellow handles at the start and end of the timeline to trim. Tap Done and choose Save as New Clip (keeps the original) or Save Video (replaces the original with the trimmed version).
Share or export the recording
From the Photos app, open the recording and tap the Share button (the square with an arrow). You can send it via AirDrop, Messages, Mail, or any installed app. For sharing to a computer, AirDrop to a Mac is the fastest method. For Windows, upload to iCloud, Google Drive, or email it to yourself. Screen recordings are saved as MP4 files at your screen's native resolution. File sizes depend on duration and content complexity. A typical 1-minute recording is 30 to 80 MB.
Once Screen Recording is in your Control Center, starting a recording is two taps and stopping is one tap. The files save directly to your Photos app where you can trim, share, or export them. For longer recordings, keep your phone plugged in. Screen recording uses noticeable battery and generates heat during extended sessions. A 10-minute recording is fine on battery. Anything over 30 minutes benefits from being plugged in.
Questions we get asked about this
Answers from experience, not a textbook.
There is no built-in time limit. Recordings can run as long as you have available storage space on your device. Practically, very long recordings (over an hour) can produce large files (several GB) and cause the phone to heat up. For extended recordings, ensure you have sufficient storage and keep the phone plugged in to avoid battery drain.
Screen recording does not capture audio from phone calls or FaceTime audio calls. This is a deliberate restriction by Apple for privacy and legal reasons (recording calls without consent is illegal in many jurisdictions). The screen recording will capture the visual interface but the audio track will be silent during the call portion. Some third-party apps may offer call recording where legally permitted.
Some apps (particularly streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, and Spotify) block audio capture during screen recording to prevent content piracy. You will see the video playing but the audio track will be silent. This is a DRM restriction enforced by the app, not a bug in your phone. For non-DRM content, check that your phone is not in Silent mode and that the media volume is turned up during recording.
Screen recording captures exactly what is displayed on your screen. If you switch apps, the recording captures the new app. If you lock the screen, the recording stops. You cannot record one app in the background while using another. The recorder captures the live display as you interact with it.
Use the built-in trim feature in Photos to cut unnecessary portions. For compression, share the video to yourself via Messages or WhatsApp, which automatically compress video files. For more control, use the free iMovie app to export at a lower resolution. You can also use the Shortcuts app to create an automation that compresses videos to a specific quality level.
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