How to record your screen in vertical 9:16 on PC for Shorts, Reels and TikTok

Why cropping a wide recording doesn’t work

Most screens are wide, and a Short is tall. If you record a wide screen and then try to fit it into a 9:16 frame, you have two bad options.

The first is to shrink the whole screen into the tall frame. You get black bars above and below, and the text is too small to read on a phone.

The second is to crop a narrow strip out of the wide recording in an editor. Anything outside that strip leaves the frame, including the menu you clicked a moment ago.

Recording in 9:16 from the start avoids both problems. The frame is tall while you record, so there is nothing to crop later.

The same problem runs the other way. A tall recording has too little width for a wide YouTube video, so the shape you pick matters from the first second.

Step by step

1. Choose what to record. Click Choose what to record and pick a whole screen, not a single window. A whole screen is what lets the zoom follow your cursor.
2. Set Output to 9:16. Under Output, pick 9:16. The guide on screen shows what will be inside the frame, so you can check it before you start. Make sure the part you want to show is inside it.
3. Turn on the microphone. Turn on the microphone if you narrate. You can also turn on system audio, the PC’s sound, which is mixed into the same MP4.
4. Start recording. Press CtrlAltP. Director shrinks to a small monitor in the corner, so it stays out of the video.
5. Work near the cursor. On a wide monitor, the tall frame follows your cursor even when you are not zoomed in, so the short never sits on one strip of the screen. Press CtrlAltZ to zoom in on it, and CtrlAltX to zoom back out.
6. Stop. Press CtrlAltP again. The MP4 is saved in your Videos folder, under Director, with every zoom in it. You do not need an export step before you upload it.

Make your screen readable in a tall frame

A tall frame shows less width, so text that looks fine on a wide screen can get small. These changes help before you record.

• Zoom your browser to 125 to 150 percent. Larger text on the page stays readable when the frame is narrow.
• Make the font bigger in the app you show. Use a larger size in the editor, the spreadsheet or the product you are demonstrating.
• Keep the action in one narrow column. Show one form, one table or one code block in the middle of the screen, not a layout that spreads across the full width.
• Fit a window to the frame. Drag the window onto the frame, or press CtrlAltE, and it resizes to fit.
• Close the side panels. Hide the sidebars and chat panels you do not need, so the space goes to what you are showing.
• Use the zoom for anything smaller than a button. A button or a heading usually reads fine at normal size. A small menu item or a cell in a table needs CtrlAltZ. The zoom guide explains how far each zoom goes.

Before the real take, record a few seconds and play the MP4 on your phone. If the smallest text is hard to read, raise the browser zoom and record again.

What works in a short screen video

Shorts play small and fast on a phone, and some viewers watch with the sound off. A few habits help.

• Show the result in the first seconds. Start with the finished thing, then show how you got there.
• Put one idea in each short. A short that explains one step is easier to follow than one that tries to cover a whole tutorial.
• Get the screen ready before you start. Open the windows and set up the page first, so the viewer does not wait while you look for things. Decide what the first second shows before you press start.
• Move the cursor slowly. Quick movements are hard to follow in a small frame.
• Add a text note for the key word. Press CtrlAltT to add a short text note, so the key word is on screen even without sound. The note stays about six seconds, then fades. The recording pauses while you place a note.

If you also need a wide version

Choose the shape before every take. Set Output to 9:16 for a Short and to 16:9 for a YouTube video, before you press start. If you make a YouTube video and a Short about the same thing, record each one in its own shape.

Cropping one into the other loses part of the screen, as explained above. Recording each version in its own shape is cleaner than converting one into the other.

Where to go next

To see how the zoom works while you record, read how to zoom in on a screen recording on Windows. To add chapters to a long YouTube video, read how to add chapters to a YouTube video. For a sales demo or a product walkthrough, see product demo videos.