How to Record Video on Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android?

Let's say you are scrolling over your timeline/feed on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or any other social media, and then you saw a clip that caught your interest. Also, let's imagine that you'd love to save the clip and share it with other people. How would you do that? Some people will go with online video downloaders; however, while that would work for SM and online videos, how about when trying to record your device screen? Maybe your laptop, MacBook, iPhone, iPad, or your Android device screen? Certainly, an online video downloader can't help here; what you need is a free video recording software.

With a video recording software or application, you can capture anything this is showing on your screen. Interestingly, most of such software apps come with additional features you’ll find handy for different needs. This article will take you through how to record video on Mac, laptops, and smartphones (iOS and Android).

 

1. How to record video on Mac?

 

Method one: using QuickTime and FaceTime (webcam)

This is achievable without having to install a 3rd-party screen video recorder. Basically, Macs come with QuickTime player – it is a vast media player with extensive features. You can use the built-in QuickTime app on your Mac to record your desktop/screen. The steps below explain how to record what’s showing on your MacBook screen using the FaceTime camera.

Note: the resolution of your recorded video will vary depending on your Macbook model. Different Macbook comes with different FaceTime webcam, which, of course, support different resolutions. But, you’re never going to get 1080p or 4k using FaceTime/QuickTime.

First step:

Firstly, you should launch the QuickTime Player on your macOS computer. It is a built-in app, simply search for it and open.

Second Step:

Click on the “File” menu, and on the dropdown context menu, select “New Movie Recording” or “New Screen Recording.” This will activate Mac’s FaceTime webcam and introduce an “overlay bar” on your screen. Click on the “Red-colored” circle, which interprets – Recording, and that’s it!

Third step:

At this point, everything that is showing on your screen will be recorded. If it seems like you’re done recording, click on the “Stop” button.

 

Fourth step:

Once the recording is stopped, click on the “File” menu again and then select “Save.” Now, you can decide where you want your recorded video to be saved. Also, the “Export” option works similarly to “Save.” Nevertheless, there are some quick video edit options available.

 

What more?

If you were looking for “how to record video on mac” – apparently, this is the best free screen video recorder to do that. When you record your Mac's screen via this method, you won't get the option to choose an output format for your video. The video, by default, saves as .mov. However, .mov files can play on most media players, including the ones on Smartphones. Also, this is a perfect alternative to using video recording software apps.

To change the video format, you may need a formidable video converter software to help out. You can think of the DVDFab Video Converter at this point.

Method two:

Also, this doesn’t require a 3rd party software. However, you must be using a MacBook that runs macOS Mojave or later.

 

How to do?

• Press Shift-Command (⌘)-5 to view the various onscreen recording controls. You can either record your entire screen or record what's happening in a "marked-out" portion.
• Click this button if you're going to record the enter screen, or
• Click this button if you want to mark out where to record.

• Further, click on the "Camera" icon or “Record” to start recording your mac screen.
• Hit the “Stop” button once you’re done
• You can trim the final Video if you wish.
• Finally, save the video to any location of your choice.

These are possible ways to screen record video on Mac.

 

2. How to record video on Windows 10?

Unfortunately, there is no default or built-in feature that lets you record your Windows PC screen. Oh! You may think of Windows 10 Game Bar, right? Yes, it helps as an onscreen recorder, but it’s not so efficient; thus, it is also not recommendable above these apps shared below. All the way, you need a free video recording software, and what a bonus it’d be to get one that allows you to record streaming videos.

Obviously, there are quite a lot of onscreen recording software apps available for Windows PC users. But, we would focus on the very best ones.

 

Using Debut Video Capture

Debut Video Capture is an advanced software with quite a lot of important features for recording your PC screen. It is best for people who frequently create how-to videos, tutorials, and other stuff alike. The software is developed by NCH software, and it is one of the best free video recording software windows.

How to use this screen video record:

 

First step:

You need to download the Debut Video Capture software on your Windows 10 computer, and then launch the app.

Second step:

You have to choose from different available options, such as recording what’s happening on your screen, record with your PC webcam, or connect an external video recording device.

Third step:

Hit the “Record” button and start recording your video. There are quite a couple of settings available on Debut Video Capture’s interface; so, you will get to customize your recording.

Fourth step:

Finally, you will have to edit and save your video to any location on your storage device. Interestingly, you can choose different output formats, such as MP4, Mov, and other popular formats.

 

Using OBS Studio (free)

OBS Studio is an open-source, free video recording software for Windows users. However, it has a version for Mac users, as well as Linux users. The software is licensed under the general public license, and it is totally free to use. One of the impressive things about this software is its intricate yet intuitive interface. With the OBS Studio app, you are sure of high-performance real-time video/audio capturing and mixing. More interestingly, the app supports all the popular streaming services you know. So, for everyone looking for how to record video on PC windows 10, below are the steps.

 

First step:

Download OBS Studio from its official website and install it on your Windows 10 computer. Afterward, run the software and start doing your thing.

 

Second step:

If you’re pretty advanced in operating a Windows computer, then you can easily get along with OBS Studio’s interface. There are pretty a lot of settings to configure, and you can easily navigate the menus. Once you are done playing around the settings, hit the “Start Recording” option on the main interface.

 

Third step:

Immediately you click on "Stop Recording," OBS Studio will save the recorded video to the predefined folder. You can always change this folder from the settings page.

 

3. How to Record Video on iPhone?

Just like Apple’s MacBooks, there's a built-in screen recording tool on iPhones. This inbuilt tool helps a lot and virtually eliminates the need to install a mobile app for this purpose. However, this free screen recording feature is available on iPhones/iPads running iOS 11 or later versions.

 

First step:

On your iOS device (iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad), go to the Settings pages. Then navigate to Control Center >>> Customize Controls and tap the “Plus” sign next to Screen Recording. This will add a “Recording” shortcut to your quick settings/navigation page.

 

Second step:

If you’re using iPhone X or a latter model that runs iOS 12 or a newer version, simply swipe up on any screen and hit the “Record” button to start recording what’s on your screen. You may need to tap on the Mic to record sound. Also, you’ll wait for the 3 secs countdown before your screen starts getting recorded.

 

Third step:

The recorded clips will be saved in your photos app.

 

What more?

You cannot record all screens with this default tool. Also, you cannot record your screen when it is being mirrored. In fact, there are a lot of limitations when you use this default iPhone video recording app. You may want to try a mobile app to explore more features.

 

How to record YouTube Videos on iPhone?

It's pretty simple; all you need do is to open YouTube and start playing the video you want to record. Then swipe up to launch the quick settings page and click on the “Record” icon.

You can literally follow this method to record videos from different streaming platform, which includes, Vimeo, DailyMotion, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

If there is a need to edit the video after recording, you can consider using a free video converter to edit and convert it to any format of your choice.

 

What if you’re using an old iPhone?

Well, the steps explained above won’t work on your device if your iOS device runs on iOS v10 or older versions. However, there is a way to get things done. But, this requires a MacBook.

 

First step:

Connect your iOS device to a Macbook and add as a “Trusted Device.” Afterward, launch QuickTime on the MacBook.

 

Second step:

Select “New Movie Recording” or “New Screen Recording;” you will notice a “Small Arrow” beside the record button – click on the arrow.

 

Third step:

Choose your iOS device from the OnScreen prompt and start recording.

That’s it! How to record video on iOS 10 or older iPhones.

 

4. How to Record Video on Android?

Android is a bit more complex than iOS in the sense that there are lots of companies that have access to the core Android source code. Thus, there are different types/kinds of Android smartphones out there. Nevertheless, some brands are leading the market, such as Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo, Huawei, LG, Sony, Motorola, and others. These top brands design their Android smartphone to appear better and more functional than the others. 

You will find a built-in screen recording app/tool on most high-end mobile devices, typically those running on Marshmallow or newer versions on the OS. Samsung Android phones have built-in screen recorder; LG smartphones also do, as well as Xiaomi, Huawei, etc.

Interestingly, Google included a screen recording feature into Android 10’s core (source code). So, all Android devices running Android 10 will come with a screen recorder feature on default. The screen recorder can help to record anything happening on your screen, including YouTube videos.

Nevertheless, if you can’t find the onscreen recording tool on your Android smartphone by default, try using these free video recording apps.

 

AZ Recorder

AZ Recorder remains one of the best free onscreen video recording apps for Android devices. It comes with extensive features and records high-quality videos. The app does not place a limit to length of videos you can record. Plus, it doesn't require your device to be rooted.

How to use AZ Recorder

• Download the app from Google Playstore
• Launch the app and go through the one-time initial setup wizard
• Configure and customize the recording features
• Start recording

 

Mobizen Screen Recorder

Here’s another popular and impressive video recorder app for Android users. Mobizen Screen Recorder comes with all the features you would expect from a screen recording application. Also, it supports extensive settings to edit the recorded clips.

 

How to use Mobizen Screen Recorder

• Install the app from Playstore
• Launch on your Android device and configure the initial settings
• Start recording your screen

 

5. How to Edit and Convert the Recorded Video?

It is obvious that irrespective of the method you follow in recording your device’s screen, you can’t actually edit the recorded video professionally. Hence, you need a comprehensive software solution that can help you edit and convert the video(s) into a widely accepted format that could play on various players.

The DVDFab Video Converter software is a piece of intuitive utility software that comes with a built-in video editor, virtually the best free video converter you will get. Using this software, you can easily crop, add text, subtitles, manage audio, and do a lot of edits to your video, as well as get to convert the video to any media format, losslessly. Doubling as a video editing software, the DVDFab Video Converter is best described as a multipurpose software for handling any kind of video.

How to use DVDFab video converter:

• Download and install DVDFab 11 software on your computer or MacBook
• Run the software and click on the “Converter” module
• Load the recorded video(s) and click on the “Edit” icon to launch the video editing window
• You can trim, cut, crop, and apply other edits to your video
• Choose an output format for the video – DVDFab video converter supports over a hundred media formats
• Select an output folder
• Hit the convert button

 

6. Final words

This article has detailed how to record video on mac, as well as lists the best video recording software apps for PC users. Hopefully, you’ll find this article handy for your query.