Files
How long can a browser screen recording be?
Nothing in this recorder imposes a time limit. The real constraint is your computer’s memory, because the file is held there until you download it.
What actually limits it
Recorded data accumulates in the browser tab. A 1080p recording produces very roughly 500 MB per hour; a 4K one, several times that. When the tab runs out of memory, recording stops.
A practical guide
Up to about thirty minutes is comfortable on most machines. Beyond an hour, record in segments — not because it will definitely fail, but because losing a two-hour recording is a bad afternoon.
What to do for very long recordings
Use a desktop recorder that writes to disk as it goes, or record without installing anything in shorter takes. That is the one thing a web page fundamentally cannot do.
OBS Studio is the usual choice and is free on every platform. Your operating system’s built-in recorder also writes straight to disk, which is why it can record for hours without trouble.
Read next
- The recording file is too large
Why screen recordings get big, and the levers that actually reduce the size.
- How to record a webinar or online class
Recording a long presentation reliably, including how to avoid losing an hour of work to one mistake.
- WebM or MP4: which you get and why
The difference between the two formats browsers produce, and which one you want.