# How to record a software tutorial

> Practical habits that make a screen tutorial watchable, from someone else’s point of view.

Source: https://www.screen-recording-software.com/guides/record-a-tutorial
Category: Tasks

The difference between a tutorial that helps and one that frustrates is mostly preparation, not production quality.

## Tidy the screen first

Close unrelated tabs, silence notifications, and clear anything personal from the screen. Recording a tab rather than a whole screen removes most of this problem at a stroke.

## Zoom in

Text that is comfortable on your monitor is often unreadable in a video played in a small window. Increase the zoom level before recording, not after.

## Slow the mouse down

Move deliberately and pause on each click. Viewers cannot follow a cursor that jumps.

## Use pause instead of stop

Pause while you find the next thing, then resume. The result is one continuous file with the dead air removed, and no editing afterwards.