Knowing how to record your iPhone screen can be a game changer, whether you want to record something to show someone or make a cute TikTok about something on your phone. Have older parents who need to turn off a setting but you’re too far away to help them? Want to show someone something from different apps without having to send multiple screenshots and links to make it happen? Want to record some gameplay so you can start your own small YouTube channel? Screen recording can be helpful in all of these situations and more.
It’s an extremely easy process that doesn’t require any special apps or skills, but not everyone is familiar with the exact process and that’s okay. To save you the time and effort of figuring it out alone, we have a short and simple iPhone screen recording guide that should help you out.
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Tech Made Easy—How to Record an iPhone Screen
Screen recording on an iPhone involves just a few easy steps that start right from the swipe-down control center menu on every iPhone. Whether you’re using a fancy new iPhone 16 or an older, more outdated version of the phone, these steps will typically stay the same so you don’t have to navigate through multiple layers of your settings page to find it. All iPhones with iOS 11 or later can screen record.
The first time you explore how to screen record on your iPhone, you may have to add the setting to your control panel, but even this can be done quite easily.
Find or Add the Screen Recording Tool to your Control Center
- Swipe down from the top right corner of your screen to open the Control Center
- Look for the icon that looks like a big dot with a thin circle around it
- If you don’t see it, you’ll have to add it to your list of quick tools. Tap the plus on the top right corner of your screen
- All the icons will become highlighted and rearrangeable on your screen, which means you can now look at the bottom of your screen and tap on “Add a Control”
- Find the circle screen recording icon mentioned earlier and click on it to add it
Now you’re ready to record the contents of your screen.
iPhone Screen Recording Guide
Now that you’ve added a shortcut to your Control Center, you’re now ready to record your screen whenever you want. Open up the app you want to record or just start your recording from your home screen if you prefer.
- Swipe down on your screen to view the Control Center again
- Tap the screen recording button, the one with the dot and circle around it
- The tool will give you a three-second countdown on the button or in the dynamic island region of your screen. It will then turn red and start recording your screen
- You can now open whatever content you want recorded and everything on your phone screen—notifications included—will be included in the video
- When you’re done showing the content, tap the red recording icon on the top left of your screen to stop
The video will be saved to your Photos app automatically, so you can head there to check its contents. If you need to trim the video or make any edits, you can do it right there in the app. When you want to share the video, you can do it the same way you would any other picture or video.
iPhone Screen Recording with Sound
Additionally, if you want to record an iPhone screen recording with sound, that is possible as well.
- Swipe to open your Control Center
- Long-press the record button
- Tap on the microphone icon that appears to turn the sound on or off for your videos
Once it starts recording the video will capture the contents of your screen, the audio playing aloud with it, as well as any external sounds as well. If you want to narrate instructions or say anything specific regarding what is being recorded on your screen, the video will capture it all.
And there you have it—a short, sweet, and simple “how to screen record on an iPhone” tutorial that you can revisit whenever you need it. If you need to tell someone else how to record their own iPhone screens, you can share this article with them or create your own mini-recording tutorial that captures where the necessary icon is as you narrate what to do next.