You’re trying to show your mom how to fix her settings. Or maybe you just hit a ridiculous clip in Genshin Impact and need proof before your friends call "fake." Honestly, knowing how to do screen recording on iphone is one of those skills that feels basic until you actually try to find the button. It isn’t just sitting there on your home screen like the Camera app. Apple hides it.
I’ve seen so many people scramble, swiping frantically while the "moment" passes them by. It’s frustrating. But once you set it up, it’s basically a two-tap process.
Getting the button into your Control Center
First things first: the button isn't there by default for everyone. If you swipe down from the top-right of your screen and don't see a little circle icon (it looks like a bullseye), you have to go on a quick scavenger hunt in your settings.
Go to Settings. Scroll down a bit to Control Center.
On older iOS versions, you’d see a list called "Customize Controls." In the newer iOS 18 or 2026 updates, it’s a bit more fluid. You’re looking for a section called "More Controls" or a green plus icon next to Screen Recording. Tap that plus. Boom. It’s now living in your "Included Controls."
If you're on the latest iOS 18, you can actually edit the Control Center directly by swiping down, holding a blank space until the icons wiggle, and tapping "Add a Control." Search for "Screen Recording" in the gallery that pops up. It’s way faster than digging through the main Settings app.
How to do screen recording on iphone with audio
This is where people usually mess up. They record a three-minute tutorial, play it back, and—silence. Pure, digital emptiness.
By default, your iPhone captures "System Audio." That’s the music playing in your apps or the dings of your notifications. It does not automatically turn on your actual microphone to record your voice.
To fix this, don't just tap the record button. Long-press it.
A little menu will pop up. At the bottom, you’ll see a microphone icon. If it’s gray, your mic is off. Tap it until it turns red. Now, when you hit "Start Recording," the phone will grab the internal game sounds and your voice-over. This is huge for gamers or anyone making a "how-to" video for a coworker.
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A quick warning on copyright
Don't try to record Netflix or Disney+. You'll get a black screen. Apple has built-in DRM (Digital Rights Management) that blocks the screen recorder from capturing most streaming services. Even some banking apps will black out the screen for security. There’s no real "hack" for this on a stock iPhone, so don't waste your time trying to pirate a movie this way.
Why is my screen recording not saving?
There is nothing worse than finishing a perfect 10-minute recording only for a notification to pop up saying "Screen Recording failed to save."
Usually, it’s a storage issue. High-definition video eats space like crazy. If you have less than 1GB of free space, your iPhone might just give up halfway through. Go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage to see if you're redlining.
Another culprit? Low Power Mode.
When your battery is in the yellow, the iPhone tries to save energy by throttling background processes. Sometimes this causes the screen recorder to crash or fail to encode the final video file. If you're planning a long session, plug into a charger and turn off Low Power Mode in the battery settings.
Pro tips for a cleaner look
If you want your video to look professional and not like a chaotic mess, turn on Do Not Disturb or a "Focus" mode before you hit record. There is nothing more embarrassing than a "U up?" text popping up in the middle of your work presentation.
- Trim the fat: You don't need the part where you swipe down to stop the recording. Open the video in your Photos app, hit Edit, and slide the yellow bars at the ends to cut out the beginning and end.
- Show your taps: If you're doing a tutorial, go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch > AssistiveTouch and turn it on. It puts a little floating cursor on the screen so people can actually see where you're clicking.
- Check the red bar: On older iPhones, the top bar turns red. On newer ones with the Dynamic Island, you'll see a little red dot in the island. That's your "live" indicator.
Final technical check
Sometimes, the "Screen Recording" icon is grayed out and you can't even tap it. If that happens, check your Content & Privacy Restrictions under Screen Time. Sometimes parents (or accidentally, you) have restricted the ability to record the screen.
Make sure "Screen Recording" is set to "Allow" under Content Restrictions.
Once you've got the clip, it lives in your Photos library under the "Screen Recordings" media type folder. From there, you can AirDrop it to your Mac or upload it straight to YouTube. It’s a surprisingly powerful tool for something that’s built right into the OS.
Next steps to take:
- Open your Control Center right now and see if the bullseye icon is there.
- Long-press the icon to ensure your microphone is toggled on if you plan to speak.
- Perform a 5-second test recording to verify that both the video and audio are capturing correctly before you record something important.