How to make a tutorial or screen recording video

Plan the lesson

• One task per video. "How to add a signature in Gmail", not "Everything about Gmail".
• Show the result first. Viewers stay when they can see what they'll achieve.
• Write the steps as a numbered list and do a dry run to catch anything you'd forget.
• Know your audience. Beginners need every click; experienced users want the shortcut. Say at the start who the video is for.

Prepare your screen

• Close everything you don't need, and hide personal information: emails, bookmarks, notifications and open tabs.
• Turn on do-not-disturb so no pop-ups appear mid-recording.
• Make text bigger. Zoom your browser or app to 125–150%. Remember many viewers watch on phones.
• Use a clean, neutral desktop background.
• Consider the shape. Screen recordings are usually 16:9. For vertical platforms, record a smaller window or plan to zoom in during editing.

Record your screen with free tools

You don't need extra software. Most devices include a screen recorder (names and shortcuts vary by version):

Move your mouse deliberately and slowly, pause briefly after each click, and don't worry about mistakes — just pause and redo the step. You'll cut the mistakes out later.

Adding a face cam

Seeing a person makes tutorials friendlier and more trustworthy. Record yourself separately with a phone or webcam while you record the screen, and clap once at the start so you can line the two up. In editing, the face cam goes in a corner as a picture-in-picture overlay — see our picture-in-picture guide for layouts.

Editing a tutorial

• Cut the waiting. Loading bars, typing long text, slow menus — trim them, or speed them up. See our speed-up guide.
• Zoom in on details. A zoom towards the button being clicked is the single biggest improvement for small screens.
• Label each step with on-screen text: "Step 3: Paste your link".
• Point with stickers — an arrow or circle on the exact spot to click.
• Narrate in your own words. If you didn't talk while recording, add a voiceover afterwards.
• End with the result and a quick recap of the steps.

Step by step: edit a tutorial in VDOAPP

1. Add your screen recording to the free online editor. Choose 16:9 in the Canvas tab, or 9:16 with Fill for a vertical version.
2. Remove mistakes and waiting with Split and delete, or split out slow sections and set their speed to 2× or 3×.
3. Zoom in on details. Select a clip, open the Clip tab's Keyframes, and set a keyframe at normal size, then a later one zoomed in and moved towards the button. Drag the picture on the preview and scroll to zoom.
4. Add your face cam in the PiP tab as a Circle overlay in a corner, then line it up with Starts at and Play from.
5. Label steps in the Text tab, and add arrows from the Sticker tab.
6. Narrate with 🎙 Record if you need to explain more.
7. Export and watch it through as a beginner would.

Teaching a class? Read how teachers can make great lesson videos.

Tutorial checklist

• Result shown in the first few seconds
• No personal information visible
• Text large enough to read on a phone
• Waiting and mistakes removed
• Key clicks zoomed or highlighted
• Each step labelled
• Clear audio, without long silences