There are many desktop tools that allow you to record your screen – but the problem with most of them is that you need to cough up some money up-front, and then work out whether the tool is actually going to work for you. Many have in-built editors that you’ll need to get your head around too.
If you make a lot of desktop videos, or often find yourself needing to record your screen then learning another whole new program is probably worthwhile. However, if you just need to record your desktop or Chrome tab activity from time to time, then Screencastify is a simple, semi-free way to do that for
And yes, it has been around for ages – but it was recently updated with some new features and is an incredibly useful tool.
Push and go
Screencastify is ridiculously easy to use.
Once you’ve installed the Chrome extension and granted it access, its icon will appear alongside your address bar in Chrome.
The 💜 of EU tech
The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!
Tapping it brings up your initial options: record the desktop, a tab or your webcam feed. For the purposes of this test, I tried out the desktop and and tab options, which are mostly the same but have a few small differences.
Once you hit ‘Start Recording,’ it starts capturing a feed of whichever option you selected. Regardless of whether you select desktop or tab, you can choose which audio you want to record alongside your video.
So, if it’s useful to have the system audio, that’s fine. It’s really handy for when you want to narrate over your videos intermittently and still capture system audio.
If you record from your mic input, you also get a slider control for the volume level so you can balance it correctly.
For non-paying users, videos are limited to 10 minutes in length and come with a large watermark in the upper-right corner. You also miss out on the option to automatically export your videos to Google Drive.
If you want to remove these limitations, there’s a one-off €20 fee for individuals. Larger organizations interested in the tool will need to inquire about volume licensing.
Get the TNW newsletter
Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.