Screen recording for bug reports that developers can act on

A screen recording for bug reports shows the developer exactly what you did and exactly what went wrong, so nobody has to guess from a paragraph of text. This guide shows you how to record one window or tab in Chrome with Cheap Recorder, talk through the steps as you go, note the moment the bug appears, and hand over a file that is small enough to attach to a ticket.

Why a screen recording beats a written bug report

When you write a bug report from memory, you leave out the steps that felt too obvious to mention. You clicked a tab first, you had a filter switched on, you pressed Enter instead of the button. Those small details are often the whole bug. A developer reading your report then tries to reproduce it, cannot, and marks it as "works for me".

A recording keeps every one of those details without you having to notice them. The developer sees the page you started on, the order of your clicks, how long you waited, and the exact message on the screen. If you speak while you record, they also hear what you expected to happen, which is the part a screenshot can never show.

Recordings also save time on your side. You do not need to write ten numbered steps. You do the steps once, out loud, and add two lines of text to the ticket that point to the moment that matters.

Before you press record

A few minutes of setup gives you a recording that is short, clear and safe to share.

Get the bug ready to happen. Close what you do not need and open the page where the steps begin. Know the steps before you start, so the recording is not five minutes of searching.
Share one window or one tab. Under What to capture, choose a window or a browser tab instead of the whole screen. That keeps your other tabs, your email and any private notifications out of the recording.
Name the recording. Type a name in Name this recording, such as the ticket number and a few words. The name is used for the file and its folder, so you can find it later.
Pick the folder. Cheap Recorder writes the recording to a folder you choose on your own computer. If Start recording is greyed out, read the words next to the button; they tell you what is missing, for example a folder.
Decide on the transcript. Live transcript writes down what you say while you record. While it is on, Chrome sends your microphone audio to Google to turn it into text, so untick it if what you say must not leave your computer.

How to make a screen recording for bug reports

With the setup done, the recording itself takes as long as the bug takes to show up.

Open the Cheap Recorder page in Chrome and choose the window or tab you prepared.
Press Start recording and wait a second before you act, so the first frame shows the starting state.
Say what you are about to do, then do it. For example: "I am on the settings page, I change the email and press Save."
When the bug appears, stop moving the mouse for a few seconds so the error is easy to read on screen.
Say what you expected instead, in one sentence.
Press Stop and finish in Cheap Recorder. Avoid Chrome's own Stop sharing bar at the bottom of the screen, because pressing it also finishes the recording, often before you meant to.

The recording then appears on the page with a player, and it is already saved in your folder. Watch it once before you send it. If a step is unclear, recording again is faster than explaining it in the ticket.

Mark the moment the bug happens

A developer with a three-minute recording wants to jump straight to the bug. During the recording, press M or the Add marker button at the moment the bug appears, and a short note confirms the time.

Know where those markers go. They are written to files, as a markers list and a chapters file, only when Also save every source separately is ticked under Options before you start. With the default single MP4, the marker notes show while you record but are not saved. For most bug reports the simplest habit is to read the time from the marker note and write it in the ticket, for example "the error appears at 1:42".

If you left Live transcript on, the transcript gives you a second way in. You can download it with the Transcript button and paste the lines around the bug into the ticket, so the written report and the recording say the same thing.

A worked example: a form that loses what you typed

Say a support form on your company's site clears itself when you attach a file. You have tried to describe it twice and the developer cannot make it happen. Here is how you record it.

You open the form in one Chrome tab and close the rest.
In Cheap Recorder you choose that tab under What to capture and name the recording "Ticket 418 form clears on attach".
You press Start recording and say: "I fill in the name and message, then attach a PDF."
You type the name and message, press Attach, and pick a small PDF. The moment the form goes blank, you press M. The note shows 0:38.
You say: "I expected my message to stay and the file to show below it." Then you press Stop and finish.

Your ticket now needs only three lines: what happens, what you expected, and "see the recording, the form clears at 0:38". The developer watches 40 seconds and sees that you pressed Enter in the message box before attaching, a step you never thought to mention.

Make the file easy to share

The recording is an MP4 in your folder, which most ticket systems and chat apps accept. For longer bugs, sending the MP4 as it is usually works best.

For a bug that shows up in a few seconds, a GIF can play right inside a ticket or chat message. Use Convert on the recording card and pick GIF. Keep its limits in mind: a GIF from Cheap Recorder is silent, loops, plays at 12 frames a second and is 640 pixels wide. It suits a short clip and becomes very large for anything long, so trim your steps before you record rather than converting a long video.

Convert sends the file to the Cheap Recorder server, which converts it and deletes its copy when it finishes. Your original is never changed, and the converted file is saved in the recording's folder next to it. The recording card, and so Convert, lasts only while the recorder page is open, so convert before you close the tab. If your recording came out with no sound, read how to find which sound is missing before you record again.

The guide to converting recordings lists every format, and the guide to where recordings are saved shows how the folders are named.

Frequently asked questions

Should I record the whole screen or one window?

Record one window or one tab whenever the bug lives there. It keeps other tabs, apps and private notifications out of the recording.

Are my bug recordings uploaded anywhere?

No, they are written to a folder on your own computer. Only Convert sends a file to the Cheap Recorder server, and the live transcript sends your microphone audio to Google while it is on.

Why did my marker not show up in a file?

Markers are only saved to files when Also save every source separately is ticked before you start. With the default single MP4, write the time from the marker note into your ticket.

Can I record bug reports on the free plan?

Yes. The free plan includes recording and the live transcript, with 12 hours of recording a month on one device, and needs no card.

Get started

The free plan needs no card. Try Cheap Recorder in Chrome, record your next bug instead of describing it, and your recordings stay on your own disk.