Record in the browser

Record your screen, your camera, or both, straight from the Zidi web app. Nothing to install. Your video is ready to share as soon as you stop.

Available on: Free, Starter and Pro

Start a recording

1. In the top bar, click Record. On a narrow window the button shows only a camera icon.
2. Wait while the button reads Creating.... The full-screen Recording Studio opens.
3. At the bottom, turn on the sources you want with the screen, camera and microphone buttons. They are icons; hover over one to see its name: Screen share, Camera or Microphone.
4. In the Layout panel on the right, pick an aspect ratio and a layout preset.
5. Click Start Recording. A 3-2-1 countdown shows "Starting recording...", then recording begins.
6. Click Stop Recording when you are done.

Each recording gets a name made from the date and time, for example Recording_2026-09-24_14-30. The time in the name is in UTC. The video is saved at the top level of My Library, even if you had a folder open when you clicked Record.

The countdown always runs in the browser recorder. You cannot turn it off.

Choose your sources

The three buttons at the bottom of the studio work independently. Turn on any mix of them. At least one must be on, otherwise the preview shows "Enable a source to start recording" and Start Recording stays disabled.

• Screen share opens your browser's own share picker. Choose an entire screen, a window or a tab, as your browser offers.
• Camera turns on your webcam. Use the arrow next to it to pick a different camera.
• Microphone turns on your mic. Use the arrow next to it to pick a different microphone.

When you turn on Screen share or Camera, Zidi also asks for your microphone. The camera and microphone menus are locked while you record or pause.

Record tab or computer sound

In Chrome, Edge and other Chromium-based browsers (Brave, Opera, Arc), the share picker shows an audio checkbox, such as "Also share tab audio". Tick it to record the sound of what you share. Firefox and Safari record the screen without its sound.

Recording quality

The browser recorder has no quality setting. It asks the browser for 1920 x 1080 at 30 frames per second. If you need to choose a quality, use the Chrome extension.

Aspect ratios

Pick the shape of your video at the top of the Layout panel. Once recording starts, the aspect ratio shows a Locked badge and cannot change until you stop.

Layout presets

Under the aspect ratio, presets are grouped as Camera Only, Screen Only and Screen + Camera. The names change with the aspect ratio. If you pick a preset that needs your camera or screen, Zidi turns that source on for you.

"PiP" (picture-in-picture) presets place your camera in a small frame over your screen. Split presets show screen and camera side by side, or one above the other.

Fine-tune the layout

Open the Fine-tune section of the Layout panel. It is closed by default. It shows only the controls that fit your current preset.

Camera position, size and shape

These controls appear for picture-in-picture presets.

• Position: a 3 x 3 grid, from top-left to bottom-right. The default is bottom-right.
• Size: XS, S, M or L. The default is M.
• Shape: Circle, Square, Portrait or Landscape. The default is Circle.

Split layouts

• Orientation: Horizontal (side by side) or Vertical (one above the other).
• Split Ratio: 30 / 70, 50 / 50 or 70 / 30. The default is 70 / 30.

Backgrounds

Under Background, choose from two tabs. Gradients has 22 named gradients, such as Sunset, Ocean and Night Sky. Colors has colour swatches and a Custom Color picker.

The browser recorder has no blurred or image backgrounds. The Chrome extension offers background effects for your camera.

Style

• Padding and Corner Radius for the frame.
• Gap between the two halves of a split layout.
• Camera: a Border switch with width and colour, a Shadow switch, and an Opacity slider.

To start over, click Reset to Defaults at the bottom of the panel, then Reset.

While you record

A red REC label shows on the preview. The timer is red while recording and amber while paused. Paused time does not count toward the length of your video.

• Pause and Resume stop and restart capture within the same recording.
• Stop Recording ends the recording and saves it.

Add a source mid-recording

You can turn on Screen share or Camera during a recording. For example, start on camera, then share your screen. Once a source is on, it stays on until you stop. The Microphone button is locked while you record or pause.

Time limits

Each recording has a maximum length that depends on your plan. Paused time does not count.

30 seconds before the limit, you see "Recording will stop in 30 seconds — you're reaching the plan limit." At the limit, you see "Recording limit reached (5 minutes). Stopping recording…" (or "2 hours"). Zidi then stops and saves the recording for you.

Free accounts can also keep only a limited number of videos. See recording limits by plan.

After you stop

Your recording uploads while you record. The button shows Finishing..., then Uploading.... There is no separate processing step.

When it is done, you see Recording Complete! with "Your video is ready to view and share instantly." Choose one:

• View & Share opens the video page.
• Edit in Editor opens the recording in the video editor.

The video also appears in My Library under the recording's name.

If saving fails

Zidi keeps a copy of each part of your recording in the browser while it uploads. If the connection drops, it retries on its own.

• Retry Save: if saving still fails, this button replaces Start Recording. Your recording is kept. Click it to try again.
• Leaving the page: if you close or reload the tab while recording, paused, saving, or with an unsaved recording, your browser asks you to confirm.
• Closing the studio: if you click the X during a recording, Zidi asks "Discard this recording and leave? The current take will be lost."

An unfinished recording was found

If a recording was interrupted, for example by a browser crash, the studio shows a yellow banner. It reads "An unfinished recording from <date and time> was found on this device. It can't be resumed automatically — discard it to continue."

Click Discard to clear it. You see "Previous unfinished recording discarded." The browser recorder cannot recover that recording. Leftovers older than 7 days are cleared automatically.

Browser support

• Chrome and Edge give the best results. They record MP4 video and can capture tab sound.
• Other Chromium browsers (Brave, Opera, Arc) can also capture tab sound.
• Firefox and Safari record MP4 or WebM, depending on what the browser supports. They do not capture tab or computer sound.

Recording with the Chrome extension

The Zidi Chrome extension records from any web page. It adds drawing and blur tools, camera background effects, a quality setting, keyboard shortcuts and an auto-stop timer. It needs a Starter or Pro plan. See Chrome extension.

Troubleshooting

Nothing happens when I turn on a source

If you blocked the camera, microphone or screen in your browser, Zidi shows no message. Allow access in your browser's site settings for app.zidi.ai, then click the button again. Other device problems show as a message that starts with "Camera:", "Microphone:" or "Screen share:", followed by your browser's explanation.

"Free plan limit reached (10 videos). Upgrade or invite teammates to increase your limit."

Your Free account has reached its video limit, so a new recording cannot start. The number may be higher if teammates accepted your invites. Upgrade from Billing, or invite teammates. See Plans.

"Recording duration is limited to 5 minutes on your plan."

The recording ran longer than your plan allows (or "2 hours" on Starter and Pro), so Zidi could not save it. Keep recordings under the limit, or upgrade from Billing.

"Couldn't save your recording. Your video is safe — click Retry Save."

The upload did not finish, but your recording is kept. Check your connection, then click Retry Save. Do not close the tab first.

"This recording's upload has expired and could not be saved."

The recording waited too long to be saved and can no longer be recovered. Record it again.

"No recording data was captured. Please try recording again."

Zidi received nothing from your sources. Check that your screen, camera or microphone is on and working, then record again.

"This browser can't encode this recording (unsupported codec). Try recording in Chrome or Edge."

Your browser cannot create the video file. Record in Chrome or Edge instead.

"Too many recording starts per minute. Please wait and retry."

You started more than 10 recordings in one minute. Wait a minute, then try again.

"Too many concurrent uploads … Wait for existing uploads to complete."

Other recordings are still uploading. Wait for them to finish, then start again.

"Failed to start recording", "Failed to stop recording" or "Failed to save recording"

Something went wrong between your browser and Zidi. Check your connection and try again. If you see Retry Save, use it before you do anything else.

"Account suspended"

Recording is blocked for your account. Contact support.

For more help, see Troubleshooting: recording.