How to Screen Record on iPhone

Your iPhone has a built-in screen recorder that captures everything on your display as a video — no app to install, no computer needed. It is perfect for saving a gameplay clip, recording a video call with family, capturing a bug to show a developer, or making a quick tutorial for a friend. The recording is saved straight to your Photos app, ready to trim, share, or upload.

This guide walks through the whole process: adding the Screen Recording button to Control Center (on both newer and older iOS versions), starting and stopping a recording, recording with microphone audio for voiceovers, where to find your recordings, how to trim and share them, and what to do when the record button is greyed out or a recording has no sound.

Part 1: Add Screen Recording to Control Center

The screen recorder lives in Control Center — the panel of quick toggles you open by swiping. On many iPhones the Screen Recording button is already there, but if you do not see it, add it first.

First, check if it’s already there

• iPhones with Face ID (iPhone X and newer): swipe down from the top-right corner of the screen.
• iPhones with Touch ID (iPhone 8 and older, iPhone SE): swipe up from the bottom edge of the screen.

Look for a button that looks like a solid dot inside a circle (a record symbol). If you see it, skip ahead to Part 2. If not, add it:

On iOS 18 and newer

Apple redesigned Control Center in iOS 18, and controls are now added from inside Control Center itself:

1. Open Control Center (swipe down from the top-right corner, or up from the bottom on Touch ID models).
2. Tap the + button at the top-left of the Control Center screen (or long-press any empty area) to enter edit mode.
3. Tap Add a Control at the bottom.
4. Scroll or search for Screen Recording and tap it to add the button.
5. Tap any empty area or swipe to exit edit mode. The record button now appears in your Control Center.

On iOS 17 and older

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Control Center.
3. Under More Controls, find Screen Recording and tap the green + button next to it. It moves up into the Included Controls list.
4. Optionally, use the three-line handles to drag it higher in the list so it sits near the top of Control Center.

Tip: while you are in there, this is also where you add other useful toggles like Low Power Mode, Dark Mode, and the QR code scanner — worth a quick look.

Part 2: Start a Screen Recording

1. Open Control Center (swipe down from the top-right on Face ID iPhones; swipe up from the bottom on Touch ID iPhones).
2. Tap the Screen Recording button (the dot-in-a-circle icon). It turns red and a 3-second countdown begins.
3. Swipe Control Center away (or just wait — it dismisses itself) and do whatever you want to record. Everything on screen is captured: app navigation, games, video playback, typing.
4. A red indicator shows that recording is active: a red pill around the time in the status bar on newer iPhones, a red bar across the top on older ones, or a red dot on the Dynamic Island (iPhone 14 Pro and newer).

While recording:

• Open and use apps normally. The recorder captures the full screen including the status bar.
• Pulling down Notification Center or opening Control Center mid-recording is captured too, so avoid it unless you want it in the video.
• Incoming calls and alarms will appear in the recording. Turn on Do Not Disturb before recording anything you plan to share (swipe into Control Center and tap the Focus / crescent-moon button).

Stop the recording

You have two ways:

1. Tap the red status indicator (the red time pill, red bar, or Dynamic Island) and tap Stop in the confirmation pop-up.
2. Or reopen Control Center and tap the Screen Recording button again — it stops immediately.

Either way, a banner appears: “Screen Recording video saved to Photos.” Tap it to jump straight to the video.

Part 3: Record With Microphone Audio (Voiceovers and Narration)

By default, screen recordings capture system audio (the sounds apps make) but not your voice. To narrate over what you are doing — for tutorials, game commentary, or explaining a bug — turn the microphone on before you start:

1. Open Control Center.
2. Touch and hold (long-press) the Screen Recording button instead of just tapping it. A setup card appears.
3. Tap the Microphone button at the bottom to switch it On (it turns red when enabled).
4. Tap Start Recording. The 3-second countdown begins, and now your voice is captured along with the screen.

Practical notes on microphone recording:

• The microphone picks up everything in the room, not just your voice — background TV, traffic, other people talking. Record in a quiet room for tutorials.
• Speak clearly and a little slower than feels natural; phone microphones compress dynamics and fast speech gets muddy.
• If you only need system audio (recording a song from an app, a game clip), leave the microphone off for cleaner sound.
• iOS remembers your microphone choice: if you turned it on last time, it stays on until you turn it off. Glance at the setup card before each important recording.

Part 4: Find, Trim, and Manage Your Recordings

Where recordings are saved

Every screen recording lands in the Photos app:

1. Open Photos.
2. Go to Albums and scroll to Media Types > Screen Recordings — every screen recording you have ever made is collected here.
3. They also appear in your main Library in chronological order.

Trim the start and end

The countdown and the Control Center dismissal usually leave a few junk seconds at the start, and the “stop” tap adds junk at the end. Trim them:

1. Open the recording in Photos and tap Edit.
2. Drag the arrow handles on the filmstrip timeline inward to cut the start and end.
3. Tap Done, then Save Video (overwrites) or Save Video as New Clip (keeps the original).

Useful edits

• Crop: in Edit mode, tap the crop icon to remove the status bar or side margins if you want a cleaner frame.
• Mute: tap the speaker icon on the video to mute playback — useful before sharing a clip whose audio you do not want.
• Adjust exposure: the Edit adjustments (exposure, brilliance) work on screen recordings just like photos’ video frames, handy if a recording came out dark.

Storage awareness

Screen recordings are large — roughly 150–250 MB per 5 minutes at default settings, more on ProMotion displays. If you record long sessions, check Settings > General > iPhone Storage occasionally and delete or offload old recordings. Backing up to iCloud Photos keeps them without eating local space.

Part 5: Share Your Screen Recordings

From the Photos app, tap the Share button on any recording:

• Messages / AirDrop: send the full-quality video directly to another Apple device. AirDrop is fastest for Mac or iPad transfers.
• Mail: iOS may offer Mail Drop for large videos instead of attaching them directly.
• Save to Files: useful if you want the video as a file to upload somewhere specific.
• YouTube / social apps: share straight into the app’s upload flow. Note that very long recordings may need trimming to fit platform limits.

For tutorials: consider recording in landscape orientation if the content will be watched on a computer or TV — lock the orientation first with the rotation-lock button in Control Center so it does not flip mid-recording.

Part 6: Limitations Worth Knowing

• DRM-protected content records as black. Streaming apps like Netflix, Disney+, and Apple TV+ block screen capture of their video — the recording will show a black rectangle where the video was. This is intentional copy protection, not a bug, and there is no setting to bypass it.
• Some banking and security apps block recording. Certain apps detect screen capture and either black out or warn you. Respect these — they protect your financial data.
• No internal-audio-only toggle per app. The microphone setting is global; you cannot record system audio in one app and microphone in another simultaneously.
• FaceTime and phone calls: you can record the screen during a video call, but be aware of consent — recording someone without their knowledge may violate local laws. Always tell the other person.
• Maximum length: there is no hard time limit, but extremely long recordings (30+ minutes) can become unstable and produce very large files. For long captures, record in segments.

Troubleshooting

• “The Screen Recording button is greyed out.” This is almost always a Screen Time restriction. Go to Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > Content Restrictions (on older iOS: Settings > General > Restrictions) and make sure Screen Recording is set to Allow. If Content & Privacy Restrictions is on with Screen Recording disallowed, the button greys out everywhere.
• “I don’t see Screen Recording in Control Center settings.” On iOS 18+, it is added from inside Control Center’s edit mode (Part 1), not from Settings. On iOS 17 and older, it is under Settings > Control Center > More Controls.
• “My recording has no sound.” Two separate causes: (a) the video’s own audio — check the video is not muted in Photos (speaker icon) and your iPhone is not on silent with volume down; (b) your voice missing — you need to long-press the record button and turn the Microphone on before starting (Part 3). Microphone audio cannot be added after the fact.
• “The recording stopped by itself.” Usually storage ran out mid-recording — check Settings > General > iPhone Storage. Less commonly, a phone call or a device restart interrupts it. Free up at least 1–2 GB before long recordings.
• “The video looks choppy.” Screen recording captures at the display’s refresh rate; choppiness usually means the phone was under heavy load (a demanding game plus recording). Close background apps and try again. On older iPhones, lowering in-game graphics settings helps.
• “Countdown starts but nothing is saved.” Check the Screen Time restriction above, then restart the iPhone. If it persists after a restart, check storage space.
• “I can’t find my recording.” Look in Photos > Albums > Media Types > Screen Recordings, not just the main Library. If Photos is syncing to iCloud, a very recent recording may take a moment to appear on other devices — it is always on the iPhone first.

Quick Checklist

• Add the Screen Recording button to Control Center (Part 1 — method depends on your iOS version).
• Turn on Do Not Disturb before recordings you plan to share.
• Long-press the button and enable the Microphone if you need narration (Part 3).
• Stop via the red status indicator; find the video in Photos > Screen Recordings.
• Trim the countdown seconds off the start and the stop-tap off the end.
• Remember the limits: DRM video records black, some apps block capture, and long recordings eat storage.

Once the button is in your Control Center, screen recording becomes a two-tap habit — one of the most useful built-in features hiding in plain sight on the iPhone.