How to record screen with PC and ADB (Android 4.4+) NO root, no apps

September 30, 2020, by Santiago Comment

Modern versions of Android already allow you to easily record the screen with one of the many APPS available in the Play Store. Some phone brands even incorporate an option to record the screen from the factory, as in the case of my Huawei Y5 2019 (Android 9). However, this is not the case in older versions of Android, such as 4.4, where root permissions are normally required. But there is a way to record the screen in this version of Android (and newer versions) WITHOUT root. In this case the help of a PC and the ADB program are required.

With the method explained below, the recording is saved in the phone memory, in high quality (HD video, 720p) and in mp4 format, which can be directly uploaded to YouTube or edited with any program on the PC.

As I said, the advantage is that it is not necessary to be root and can be done without installing applications. The downside is that the phone must have at least Android 4.4 or a newer version (see alternatives for other versions below). Audio is not recorded either.

Step 1. Prepare the Android phone

• Hate Settings > About of the phone.
• Touch seven times on Build number.
• A message will appear stating that the Developer / Developer Options.
• Return to the Settings screen, touch on Developer / Developer Options and put in ON the switch.
• On the same screen, check the box that corresponds to USB debugging Y Show ringtones.

Step 2. Prepare the PC (Windows)

Step 3. Connect the phone to the PC

Use the micro USB cable to connect both devices. If it is the first time that they are connected, the phone will display a message requesting that the USB debugging and also the «Fingerprint». Click on To accept.

Step 4. Start recording

• First, to confirm that the phone is correctly connected, in the ADB tool write the following:

adb devices

Hit Enter. This should return a “code” from the device (as shown in the image above), which indicates that it is properly connected.

• Once the above is confirmed, write the following command, which will be in charge of ordering the start of the recording:

adb shell screenrecord --verbose ./sdcard/grabacion.mp4

Hit Enter. The recording has started. Now you can go to the phone and do whatever you want to be recorded, without disconnecting it from the computer.

To end the video, go back to the ADB tool on the PC and press Ctrl + C. This stops the recording and saves the video in the device memory (sdcard) with the name recording.mp4, which can be located in the Gallery, «Videos» or through a file explorer.

Video quality

Advanced users can review the help page on this topic (English), where you will find other parameters to add to the previous command to vary the quality of the video. By default and if the mobile supports it, the above command records at the same resolution as the phone screen. When the screen is not HD (1280 × 720) the parameter --size allows you to change the resolution of the video, although this may not provide the best result.

In other versions of Android

For Android 4.3 and earlier systems, the recording of what is done on the device is possible through programs such as Recordable (without root) or the APP Z Screen Recorder (root).

If you have Android 5, you can record the screen without root very easily through an application like AZ Screen Recorder and many others available on Google Play, without having to connect the phone to the PC as has been done here.

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