It seems like it should require a dedicated app — but modern browsers can capture your screen, a window, or a tab entirely on their own, using capabilities that have quietly become standard over the past several years.
The Built-In Screen Capture API
Browsers expose a Screen Capture API that any webpage can call to request a live video stream of your screen. When called, the browser shows its own native picker — letting you choose your entire screen, a specific application window, or a single browser tab — and once you confirm, that video feed is handed to the page as a standard media stream. From there, a second built-in feature (a media recorder) can encode that stream directly into a downloadable video file, all without any third-party recording software.
Why It Always Asks Permission First
The permission prompt and screen picker aren't something a website can bypass, pre-fill, or trigger silently — they're enforced by the browser itself as a core security boundary. This exists specifically to prevent any page from secretly capturing your screen in the background. Every single recording session requires you to explicitly pick what's being shared, with a visible browser indicator confirming that sharing is active for as long as it continues.
Where the Recorded Video Actually Goes
When a screen recorder tool runs entirely client-side, the captured video stream is processed and encoded directly inside your browser, and the finished file is generated locally on your own device. Nothing about that process requires uploading the footage anywhere — the video only leaves your computer if and when you choose to download or share it, which is a meaningfully different privacy model than a cloud-based recording service.
Record Your Screen
Start a recording of your screen, a window, or a tab with the free Screen Recorder — play it back and download it instantly, with nothing ever uploaded.
FAQ
How does a browser record the screen without installed software? Modern browsers include a built-in Screen Capture API that lets a webpage request a live video stream of your screen, a specific window, or a browser tab. Once you grant permission and pick what to share, the browser hands that video stream to the page, which can then record it directly using another built-in browser feature, without any separate recording software involved.
Why does it always ask which screen, window, or tab to share? This permission prompt is a browser security feature, not something a website can skip or pre-select. It exists specifically so a page can never silently start recording your screen in the background — you always have to explicitly choose what's being shared, every single time, before any capture can begin.
Is the recorded video ever sent to a server? No, not with a tool built to run entirely client-side. The video stream is captured and encoded directly in your browser, and the resulting file is generated locally on your own device — it never needs to leave your computer unless you choose to download or share it yourself.