How to screen record on Android phones

If you need to record what you’re doing on your phone then follow our guide.

There are times when you might need to record what’s happening on your smartphone. Whether it’s to create a tutorial to show to friends, record a bug to share with colleagues or for another reason.

Fortunately recording your screen on Android phones is really easy. So we’re here to show you how.

Screen recording with Android Screen Recorder

If you’re using a newer Android phone then chances are you’re also running a newer version of Android.

Google added the ability to screen record with Android 11 back in 2020, so this gives you the ability to record your screen without having to download any additional apps.

It’s also really easy to use though the process might vary from phone to phone, being slightly different on other brands.

Taking a Google Pixel phone as an example, you can just follow these steps to start screen recording immediately:

Ready your phone to record what you want to capture
Swipe down from the top of the screen to open the notification shade
Swipe down again to expand it so you can see all the options
Look for the option to “screen record”
If you don’t see it, swipe across from right to left to show more options
Find the button and tap it
Select whether to record screen touches and audio
Press start
You’ll then have a countdown before the recording starts
When you’re finished swipe down again to stop the recording

Once the recording is complete you’ll see a notification at the top of your phone that it’s been saved. Tap that and you can then choose how to share it. We’d recommend uploading it to Google Drive and sharing it from there if you need other people to see. Just keep in mind to avoid sharing any recordings that might show sensitive personal data.

Tweak notification settings for recording

If you’ve followed the above steps and can’t see the button for starting the recording in the notification shade then that might be down to the options.

On Android, you have the power to edit the tiles in the notification shade and customise what’s available, so it might be that the record button simply isn’t being shown by default.

To edit the titles follow these steps:

Swipe down from the notification shade
Look for the edit button (looks like a pencil)
Tap that and you’ll then see the options for what can appear in the notification area
Look for the screen record button
Select it and place it where you want it by holding and dragging
When you’re done swipe to go back
Tap on the screen record button and start recording

How to record your gameplay on your Android phone

If you’re an avid gamer then you might also be looking to record footage of your gameplay while using your phone. That’s possible to do too.

Google Play Games offers the ability to record what you’re doing in some games. It doesn’t work with everything, but if you’ve downloaded a game from the Google Play store then you should be able to screen record while using it.

To do this:

Launch the downloaded game and get ready to record
Swipe down from the top of the screen and you should see a controller icon
Tap that icon and you’ll get some other settings from Google Play Games
From there press the record icon (the circle surrounded by broken circle) to start capturing
You also have the option to stream straight to YouTube Live if you wish

Once you’re done you can then save and share the recording or edit it and upload it to your favourite social media platform.

How to easily capture gameplay footage for your YouTube channel

Screen record with a third-party app instead

If these tips on recording your screen haven’t worked then don’t worry as there are other options. You can download various apps from the Google Play store that also allow screen recording. These include apps like AZ Recorder, Mobizen Screen Recorder and Super Screen Recorder.

These apps allow you to record your screen while also doing things like choosing the capture quality, bit rate and frame rate too. So they offer a bit more in the way of flexibility, but with the trade-off of things like ads that you’ll have to put up with while using them.