How to Use Steps Recorder

Steps recorder is a handy feature that makes it easier to get help with your system. With a steps recorder, you can take a screenshot of every action you perform to record what’s going on when a problem occurs. You can then email the images to someone else, so they can see exactly what’s happening, and provide more effective help. 

To use the steps recording, just type the word ‘steps’ in the search box on the lower-left of the desktop. Then select ‘Steps recorder’ from the top results. This loads a toolbar from which you can record your actions. 

To begin, click Start Record. Windows will now capture every mouse click you make with a screenshot. So if you cannot get on the internet, for example, you can record what’s happening when you try and do it, including any troubleshooting steps you’ve taken to resolve it. You can also add a comment from the toolbar at any point, by clicking and dragging the mouse to select an area on the screen, then add a comment in the text box below. 

Once you have gone as far as you can, click ‘Stop Record’ on the toolbar. This displays the recorded steps, so you can view all the screenshots before sending them to someone else. To help you track the mouse pointer, its location is highlighted with a green border in each picture, and any comments you’ve added at any stage are also displayed, like the ones here. At the very bottom, you’ll find additional details to help with the troubleshooting, including a description of every step and every app that was used. Once you have reviewed the information, you can then save the recording to your PC, by clicking the save button at the top. This stores all the images in a single zip file which you can then email to a friend as an attachment. 

When you are done, close the steps recorder and any other windows to finish up. Once your friends received the recording and saved it to their PC, they can double-click the zip file to view its contents, and then double-click the recording to open it up. They can then view the screenshots of each recorded step, so they can see exactly what happened. They can even view the steps as a slide show by clicking the link towards the top, which will cycle through each image automatically every few seconds, although they can also use the links at the top of the page to navigate the slideshow manually. To exit the slideshow, click the link on the top-left corner, then just close the browser to finish up.