Screen recording on your Samsung Galaxy S26+ is a powerful tool built right into One UI 8.5. You can capture tutorials, save memorable video calls, or record your gaming highlights without needing any extra apps. The process is straightforward once you know where to find the controls.
Start a Recording from Quick Settings
Swipe down from the top of your screen twice to pull down the full Quick Settings panel. Look for the Screen recorder tile, which has an icon of a phone with a circle on it. If you don't see it immediately, tap the pencil icon or the plus sign to edit your Quick Settings tiles and add it from the list.
Tap the Screen recorder tile once. A menu will pop up from the bottom of the screen asking you to configure your audio before you begin. This is where you choose what sound gets recorded.
Configure Your Audio Source
You have three clear audio options to pick from before hitting record. Selecting No sound will capture a silent video of your screen. The Media sounds option records all audio played by your phone, like game soundtracks or video audio.
Choose Media sounds and mic if you want to record both the phone's audio and your own voice commentary through the microphone. After making your selection, tap Start recording. A three-second countdown gives you time to navigate to the app or screen you want to capture.
Use the Floating Recording Controls
As soon as the recording starts, a small, semi-transparent toolbar will appear on your screen. It has buttons to pause or stop the recording, and a timer so you can track the length. You can tap the pencil icon to draw on the screen live, which is perfect for circling important details in a tutorial.
If the toolbar is in your way, you can drag it to any edge of the screen to minimize it slightly. It will stay accessible but out of the main viewing area.
Stop and Save Your Video
To finish, simply tap the square stop button on the floating toolbar. Alternatively, you can swipe down to see your notifications and tap the "Tap to stop" notification there. The recording will process for a moment and then save automatically to your Gallery app.
You can find it in the "Screen recordings" album within Gallery. From there, you can play it back, share it, or edit it further.
Trim and Edit Your Recording
Open the Gallery app and navigate to your recording. Tap on the video to open it, then tap the Edit button (it looks like a pencil). Samsung's video editor lets you trim the clip from the beginning or end, which is useful for cutting out the countdown.
You can also adjust the playback speed, add background music from your library, or overlay text. Once you're happy with the edits, tap save to export a new version of the video.
Customize the Recorder Settings
For more control, dive into the settings menu. Go to Settings > Advanced features > Screenshots and screen recorder. Here, you can change the video quality; the S26+ can record up to 1080p resolution by default.
You can also toggle on "Show touches on screen," which displays a white circle wherever you tap. This is incredibly helpful if you're creating a step-by-step guide. You can also adjust the picture-in-picture size for the front camera if you choose to include your face.
Understand the Recording Limitations
Due to copyright protection, most premium streaming apps like Netflix, Disney+, and Max will block screen recording. When you try, you'll typically just get a black screen in the video. Banking and secure payment apps also disable recording for security reasons.
For nearly everything else, your own photos, web browsing, gameplay, or video calls on most platforms, the screen recorder will work perfectly. I've found it to be a reliable tool for capturing anything that isn't DRM-protected.
If the screen recorder tile seems missing or unresponsive, a quick restart can help. Press and hold the Volume Down button and the Side/Power button together for about 10 seconds until the Samsung logo appears to force restart your S26+. This can clear up minor software glitches in One UI 8.5.