Handover video before leave: how to record one in Chrome

You are about to be away for a few weeks, and the people covering for you have a long list of small questions. A handover video answers most of them before they are asked: a few minutes of your screen and your voice that shows what is open, what is due and who to ask. You can record one in Google Chrome with Cheap Recorder, and the finished MP4 is saved in a folder on your own computer.

This post is about the video, not the written handover. Keep your checklist if your team likes one. The video is the part that shows which dashboard, which row and which button, and says in your own voice what matters.

What a handover video is for

A page of notes says "check the supplier tracker on Fridays". A video opens the tracker, points at the late order and says what you already tried. Your cover person sees exactly what you mean, and hears how much weight you give it: "this one is urgent" or "this always looks broken, ignore it".

It is also quick to make. You talk through work you already know, so there is no formatting. Aim for 8 to 15 minutes. Past that, people skim, so make one video per project if you carry several.

Sort it by what could go wrong first

Do not try to explain your whole job. Cover only what could need a decision, or go wrong, while you are away. Put the most urgent part first, so someone who stops after three minutes still knows what matters.

• Due while I am away: each date, who owns it and the next step.
• Open tasks: where each one stands and who takes it.
• Repeating jobs: the weekly report, the Friday check, the monthly invoice run, and where each one lives.
• Who to ask: which person knows what, and who is waiting on you.
• When to reach me: the few cases worth a message on leave, or a plain "please do not contact me".

If something will not matter until you are back, leave it out. Here is a made-up example of the order for a purchasing assistant going on leave:

1. "I am away from 3 to 21 November. Dana covers orders, Priya covers invoices."
2. "Due while I am away: the quarterly stock count on 12 November. The sheet is in the shared Stock folder. Priya has the access."
3. "Open: the late supplier order, row 14 of the tracker. I chased them on Monday. If nothing arrives by Thursday, email the account manager."
4. "Repeating: the Friday stock check, then the monthly invoice run on the last working day."
5. "Who to ask: delivery questions go to the warehouse lead. Anything about prices goes to Dana."

Four parts, the most urgent first, one marker for each.

Write that outline on paper or on a second screen. You only need a glance at it, not a script to read out.

Set up before you press record

This takes a few minutes and saves a second take.

• Open the files and tabs you will show, in the order you will show them. It cuts the "hold on, where is that file" pauses.
• Share one browser tab or one window, not the whole screen. Anything on the shared screen ends up in the file, so this keeps your other tabs and apps out of it.
• Close what you do not need and silence notifications. A chat pop-up stays in the video for good.
• Look at what is on screen. A handover shows real systems, so check that no passwords, private messages or customer details are visible, and share the video only with the people who cover for you.
• Tick the microphone you speak into. In the Microphone tile, open Change or add microphones and watch its level bar move when you talk.

If anyone else will be heard in the video, tell them they are being recorded.

Record the handover video in Chrome

1. Open Cheap Recorder in Google Chrome and sign in. The Free plan needs no card.
2. Under Where to save, press Choose folder... and pick a folder. Chrome asks whether the page may edit files there; allow it. Until you do, Start recording is greyed out and the words beside it say to choose a folder first. The recorder does not remember the folder, so you choose it again each visit.
3. In Name this recording, type something like Handover November leave. The name becomes the file and folder name, with the date and time.
4. Under What to capture, choose A browser tab or A window, then pick it in Chrome's sharing box and press Share.
5. Leave Record my webcam on if you want your face in a corner, or switch it off for screen and voice only. Many people leave it off for a handover.
6. Check the language menu next to the live transcript. It goes back to its default each time the page opens.
7. Record a 30-second test, play it back, and fix the microphone if it is wrong.
8. Press Start recording and work down your outline.
9. Press Stop and finish. Do not end the take with Chrome's own Stop sharing bar.

The recording is written to your folder about once a second while you record, so a long take is not held in memory. When you stop, it appears on the page with a player, already saved. The where recordings are saved guide shows what each folder holds.

Show it, say it, then mark it

Do the work on screen while you talk, rather than describing it. A good pattern for each task is status, history, next step, person. For example:

"This is the supplier tracker. Row 14 is the late order. I chased them on Monday and they promised a date by Thursday. If nothing comes, the next step is to email the account manager, whose address is on the contact tab."

That one answer saves four messages. Say real names: the actual file, the actual dashboard, the actual person. If you stumble, say the sentence again and carry on. A clean take is not the goal.

Press M or Add marker at the start of each part. A short note confirms the time. Markers are not added while you are typing in a text box.

There is one catch. Markers are saved to files only when Also save every source separately is ticked under Options, and you have to tick it before you start. With the default single MP4, the notes show on screen while you record but are not saved. If you want chapters, tick it first. If you do not, write the times of each part in your handover email.

Send it and check it was watched

The MP4

The MP4 has H.264 video and AAC sound and plays almost anywhere. Find it in the recording's folder, or press Download MP4 on the card, and put it in the shared drive or team folder your colleagues already use. Cheap Recorder does not upload it for you, so the sharing is yours. A clear name like Handover November leave keeps it easy to find.

The transcript

If the live transcript was on and heard speech, the folder holds a plain text transcript with the time of each line. Put it beside the video so your cover can search for a supplier or a file name. Captions .srt and Transcript on the card give you the caption file and the formatted transcript, but caption files are not kept in the folder, so download them while the recorder page is still open.

While the live transcript is on, Chrome sends your microphone audio to Google to turn it into text. If a recording must not leave your computer in any form, untick Live transcript before you start.

A page with chapters

On Creator and up, ticking Also save every source separately gives the recording a publish.html page. It has a player, one chapter for each marker, the transcript with times and a list of files. Your cover clicks a chapter's time, such as "Repeating jobs", and the player jumps to it. Send the whole recording folder as a zip, not just the page, and note that this mode has no Download MP4 or Convert on the card. You cannot add the page afterwards, so decide before you record. The client demo guide explains it, and zipping the folder so the page opens covers the sending.

Close the loop

1. In your handover email, give the video's length and list the parts it covers.
2. Ask each person covering for you to reply with "watched" and one question.
3. Book a short call before you leave for what the video did not answer.

If you also send a regular update, it can live beside the weekly team update video. Someone new who inherits your work may need a product walkthrough for a new teammate as well.

Frequently asked questions

How long should a handover video be?

Eight to fifteen minutes suits most roles. If you carry several projects, record one short video for each so people find their part quickly.

Do I need a paid plan to record one?

No. The Free plan includes recording, the live transcript and captions, 12 hours of recording a month and 1 device, with no card needed. The publish page with chapters needs Creator, which is $12 a month, or $4.99 a month billed yearly.

Can I record just my voice and one browser tab?

Yes. Choose A browser tab under What to capture and switch Record my webcam off. You get an MP4 with your screen and voice.

Is the recording uploaded anywhere?

It goes to the folder you choose on your own computer. The exceptions are Convert and Download MP3, which send the file to the Cheap Recorder server and delete it as soon as the conversion finishes.

Get started

Write your five-line outline, open the files you will show, and record a 30-second test. Then record the real thing in one take. Try Cheap Recorder free in Chrome, and the file stays on your own disk.