How to Record Your Screen with Loom

Updated

You can record your screen with Loom in a few clicks using one of three methods: the Chrome extension, the desktop app, or the mobile app. All three let you capture your screen and camera together. Which one you choose depends on what you're recording and where — the desktop app (especially the rebuilt Mac version) is best for polished, high-resolution recordings, the Chrome extension is the fastest option for browser-based work, and the mobile app covers recording away from your computer.

Choose Your Recording Method

Method Best for Notable capabilities
Chrome extension Quick browser-based recordings Record screen and camera in a few clicks
Desktop app Polished recordings, higher resolution 4K HD capture, custom recording areas, camera bubble shapes, filters, backgrounds (Mac app)
Mobile app Recording when away from your computer Screen and camera recording on mobile devices

Loom describes the all-new Mac app as rebuilt to be lighter, faster, and smoother, with an 80% lighter footprint and controls that automatically hide the toolbar for cleaner recordings. If you record on a Mac and want the sharpest output, that's the version to start with.

Record Your Screen and Camera

The general flow is the same across methods:

  1. Open your chosen tool — launch the desktop app, click the Chrome extension, or open the mobile app.
  2. Start a recording — Loom's page emphasizes recording "in a few clicks," with screen and camera captured together.
  3. Capture what you need — on the Mac app, you can select custom areas and record in 4K HD.
  4. Stop the recording — the capture is saved to your Loom library.

The expected result is a video file ready to edit and share, rather than a raw file you have to export and upload elsewhere.

Edit Before You Share

Loom's built-in editor lets you trim and stitch clips, add backgrounds, and overlay text, arrows, and boxes. This is where you turn a rough capture into something presentable — for example, trimming dead air at the start of a walkthrough or adding an arrow pointing to the button you're describing.

Share with a Link

Once edited, Loom generates a shareable link (the page shows example links in the loom.com/share/... format). You can also embed videos in tools you already use — Loom states its videos integrate with hundreds of tools, including Google Workspace and Slack.

Viewers can engage directly on the video with emojis, comments, tasks, and CTAs, and Loom provides transcripts and captions in 50+ languages for teams working across time zones.

Common Use Cases

Loom positions video messaging for several scenarios:

  • Sales — personalize outreach with video pitches.
  • Engineering — add visual context to code.
  • Customer support — troubleshoot over video to reach resolutions faster.
  • Design — share ideas and give feedback over video.

Practical Notes

  • Pick the lightest tool that fits the job. A quick Slack update doesn't need the desktop app; a polished customer walkthrough benefits from 4K capture and editing.
  • Check your plan before relying on sharing features. Loom's page links to a pricing page ("See all features"), so confirm which capabilities your plan includes rather than assuming everything above is available at no cost.
  • Security matters for customer-facing videos. Loom states it offers SSO, SCIM, custom data retention policies, and privacy settings for enterprise use — relevant if you're recording anything containing customer data.