Step 1: Add Screen Recording to Control Centre

  1. 1

    Settings → Control Centre

    Open Settings and tap Control Centre.

  2. 2

    Tap + next to Screen Recording

    Scroll down to find Screen Recording in the list of available controls. Tap the green + button to add it to your Control Centre. It only needs adding once.

Step 2: Start Recording

  1. 3

    Open Control Centre

    On iPhone X and later (Face ID): swipe down from the top-right corner. On older iPhones with a Home button: swipe up from the bottom of the screen.

  2. 4

    Tap the Screen Recording button

    The button looks like a solid circle inside a circle. Tap it once. A 3-second countdown appears, then recording begins. The status bar turns red to show recording is active.

  3. 5

    Record with microphone audio (optional)

    To record your voice alongside the screen: press and hold the Screen Recording button in Control Centre → tap the microphone icon to turn it on → tap Start Recording.

  4. 6

    Stop the recording

    Tap the red status bar at the top of your screen, then tap Stop. Or open Control Centre and tap the recording button again. The recording saves automatically to your Photos app.

Where is the recording saved?Screen recordings save to the Photos app — look in the Recents album or the Screen Recordings album. They save as .mov files and can be shared, edited or uploaded directly from Photos.

Screen Recording Not Working?

  • Check Screen Time restrictions — Screen Recording can be blocked by Screen Time. Go to Settings → Screen Time → Content and Privacy Restrictions → Screen Recording → Allow.
  • Some apps block screen recording for copyright or privacy reasons (Netflix, banking apps). A black screen appears instead of the app content.

Frequently Asked Questions

Screen recording does not capture phone call audio — iOS blocks this for privacy reasons. iOS 18 introduced a built-in call recording feature in the Phone app in some regions. Third-party call recording apps exist but are legally restricted in many places — check the laws in your jurisdiction before recording calls.
There is no set time limit — it records until you stop it or run out of storage. Very long recordings (over 30 minutes) create large files. Check your available storage before recording lengthy sessions.