YouTube has added a new feature that allows the users to capture desktop screen directly from YouTube. Of course, this needs internet, but the screen recorder works just fine. So, in this post, I will show you how to capture desktop screen using YouTube. This is one of the best online screen recording tool as of now. To capture desktop screen using YouTube, we will be using Google’s latest Go Live feature. This feature allows you to stream lives videos to your subscribers from anywhere in real time. If you want to learn more about YouTube’s live streaming feature, then do check the linked article. Record Desktop Screen using YouTube Live Stream: To capture desktop screen using YouTube, follow these steps: Sing in to YouTube using your Gmail account. If you don’t have an account already, go to Youtube and create one. Once you are logged in to YouTube, click on the Upload button. You can find it at the top right corner beside notificaiton icon. In the upload screen, click on the Get Started button in the Live Steaming section. From the left side, click on Events under Live Streaming section. (Click on the image to zoom) Next, click on the New Live Event button to begin the live streaming. A “Create a new event” page will appear. In the Basic Info tab, enter a name/title for your event. Enter anything such as Test Stream 1 etc. Next, click on Public drop-down menu and select Unlisted. (Click the image to enlarge) Next, click on the Go Live Now button. A ready to go dialogue box will appear, so click OK to proceed. A new Google Hangout pop-up will appear. In the Google Hangouts window, hover your cursor to the left and click on ScreenShare icon. When asked to select the screen that you want to record, select Entire screen and click on Share. Next, minimize all the open windows and when you are ready to record, click Start Broadcast. Click OK to start recording. It will take few seconds before Google Hangouts start recording your screen. When you see Stop Broadcast button, it means the recording is started. Now record whatever you want to record on your screen. Once you are done capturing desktop screen, open Google Hangouts window and click Stop Broadcast. Finally, close the Google Hangouts window. The recorded video will be saved in MP4 format. In YouTube, Go to Video Manager >> Videos. Here you can see your saved video. The video will take few minutes to process. You can see the processing message beside the video. If you want to download the recorded video to your computer you can do it as well. Once the processing is done, click on the small down arrow icon beside the edit button of the video. From the list of options, click on Download to start downloading the video. The video will be downloaded to your hard disk. The downloading option helps you when you want to add audio externally to the video through editing. Disadvantages of using YouTube Google Hangout Screen Share feature: There are two reasons why you may not want to use Google Hangout Screen feature to capture desktop screen for your professional work. 1. Google watermark: If you play the video recorded using YouTube you will see a Google watermark on the Video. Look at the top left side of the video player and you will see a Google marking. Another Watermark appears when the video ends. The Google Hangout logo will be shown at the end of the video. Though, you can remove it after downloading and editing the video. However, the first Google watermark at the top cannot be removed. 2. It is Internet Dependent: Compared to the third-party apps such as Camtasia studio, the YouTube desktop screen capturing is internet dependent. So, you need to have internet connectivity to begin and end the recording. Over all, the YouTube desktop screen capture feature works pretty well and should be enough for anyone who doesn’t have access to a third-party sophesticated screen recording tool.
