If something significant happens on your Galaxy phone or tablet, then you can always take a screenshot. However, what if it’s something that a simple picture can’t capture? This is where screen recording comes in. Ever since Android 5.0 Lollipop, Android users have been able to use screen recorders to capture videos of what’s happening on their screens. Now, the screen record functionality is built into Galaxy phones and tablets. If you want to know how to record the screen on your Galaxy phone or tablet, here’s a handy how-to guide for you.

Make sure you have the right software version to record the screen

Before you start trying to record your screen, you’ll need to make sure that your phone or tablet can even do it. If you have an older device, you might not be able to. Samsung introduced the screen recording feature with its One UI version 2 running on Android 10. This came out in December 2019, and it brought the native screen recording feature.

You can use the native screen recorder if you have a Galaxy S10 or later, Galaxy Note10 or later, Galaxy Tab S6 or later, Galaxy A53 5G, Galaxy A52, Galaxy A32 5G, or any of the Galaxy Z Fold/Flip phones. While One UI 2 did come out to the Galaxy S9 and Note9, you can’t use the feature on those phones.

If you don’t have any of the devices listed above, don’t fret! At the end of the article, we’ll explain an alternative using a 3rd-party app.

Access your screen recorder

If you have an eligible phone, then this is where the fun begins. Accessing your screen recorder is as easy as accessing the notification shade. Just swipe down from the top of the screen to summon your notification shade, then swipe down again to get all of your options. You should see a video camera icon among your quick settings. If not, then you’ll need to place it.

Swipe to the left to get to the next page of quick settings. There’s a chance that you’ll see it there. If you still don’t see it, then press the “+” icon in the circle at the end of the quick settings. There, you’ll see all of the rest of the quick settings that you can place. Search for the camcorder icon. When you find it, hold your finger down on it and drag it to the place you want to drop it.

Adjust the settings

If you’re eager to get recording, you can just tap on the button, but there are some settings you can use to customize the recording experience. Hold down on the screen recorder icon, and you’ll be taken to the settings page. There are two sections of the settings page; go to the bottom section.

Audio source

Here, you’ll be able to select the audio source. The first option is no sound, but the second option says Media sounds. This means that the phone will record the sound of whatever’s happening on your phone. If you’re playing a game, you’ll hear everything that’s going on in the game and nothing else.

Under that, you have an option called Media and mic. This will use the device’s external microphones to record audio along with the media sounds. This means that you’ll be able to hear yourself and your surroundings when playing your video.

Video resolution & selfie camera

Next, you’ll be able to adjust the video resolution. The higher the resolution you record, the larger the file will be, so you might want to make sure you have the storage before you pick the high-resolution option.

You’ll then see the option to adjust the selfie video size. While you’re recording, you have the option to activate the selfie camera and show your face along with the video. In the settings, you’ll be able to pick how big you want the selfie video to be compared to the rest of the video.

Last, but not least, you can toggle the ability to show the taps on the screen. When you have this enabled, every time you tap on the screen while recording, you’ll see a little dot appear where you tapped during the playback.

How to Record record the screen on your Galaxy device

Now that you’ve found the icon and adjusted the settings, you can start recording. When you press the screen record button, you’ll see a popup screen telling you about screen recording. When you record, EVERYTHING on your screen will be recorded, so be careful about what you have on your screen while recording. Also, you’ll be able to pick the audio source and whether or not you want to show the taps.

If you’re good to go, press the Start recording button on the bottom right. You’ll see the popup disappear and a “3…2…1” countdown appear. Under the numbers, there’s a Skip countdown button that will let you start recording immediately.

The toolbar

When you start recording, you’ll see a toolbar appear up top. This provides some extra options while recording. For starters, there’s a pencil icon on the left. This will let you draw on the screen, and those markings will be recorded in real-time. You can use this to emphasize anything particular on the screen.

Next, you’ll see a little person icon. This will activate the selfie camera, and you’ll see your face appear on the video. If you don’t want to see your face, simply tap it again and it’ll disappear.

Last, but not least, you’ll see the pause recording button and the stop recording button on the right side. Pausing the recording will stop it temporarily and let you continue by pressing it again.

After the recording

Now that you’ve finished recording your video, it’s time to figure out what to do with it. Immediately after stopping the recording, you’ll see a notification telling you that the recording has finished. Tapping on the notification will automatically play the video using the default video player.

What if you want to do some work on the video? Well, tap on the downward-facing arrow on the notification, and you’ll see some additional options. Tap on the Edit button on the bottom, and it will take you to a rudimentary video editor. There, you’ll be able to trim and crop the video, add filters, and adjust the exposure and color settings. Also, you’ll be able to add stickers, marks, and text to the video. After that, tap on the Save as copy button to save your work.

If you want to find your finished masterpiece, open up the gallery. Your screen recordings will be in the screen recordings folder.

[Updated February 2024] Sharing your video recording

You’re likely going to want to send your screen recordings to other people or different apps. If that’s the case, it’s easy to do so. After you take a screen recording, you’ll see a notification pop up with some options. If you don’t see the options, swipe down on the notification to reveal them.

Tap on the Share option to see your share sheet. The share sheet will show you several options for sharing your screen recording; there are two rows of options. The top row will show you the sharing methods you most recently used. This will include devices you shared to, text message conversations, people you messaged on social media, ETC.

The second row will show you the apps that you can share to. Swipe left on this row to reveal more apps. At the very end of the row, you’ll see a More button. Tapping this will open a full shelf of apps that you share the screen recording to. If you want to edit it, tap on the video editing software you want to use.

What if your phone doesn’t have native screen recording?

Your Galaxy phone most likely has the ability to screen record, but if you’re rocking an older phone, then you might not have the functionality. Phones older than the Galaxy S10 don’t have native screen recording capabilities, so if you have one, you’re going to need to look to the Google Play Store for an alternative.

One great option you should consider is called XRecorder. This is an app that gives you the same features as your native screen recorder with some added features. You can record up to your phone’s max resolution with the ability to adjust the image quality and frame rate. However, frame rates higher than 60FPS require the premium subscription.

You can also choose options such as recording while the screen is off and shaking your phone to stop recording. These are just a few of the features that you can use.

Getting the subscription will give you more features and functionality. It costs $5.99/month, $16.99/year, and $28.99 for life.

Download XRecord