Recording remote sessions: when it helps, and how to do it well
A recording of a remote session can save you an argument, a second visit or an hour of guesswork. It can also capture things nobody should keep. Here is how to get the first without the second.
Mahmoud Mohamed · 8 min read
Record this sessionREC 04:12
In this browser
- Download to this deviceA video file when you stop
- Save to My filesEnd-to-end encrypted before upload
On the PC
- Record on the PCMP4 in Videos › MoLock › Remote sessions
Recording status is shown on both sides
When a recording is genuinely useful
Most remote sessions do not need to be recorded. You open your PC from your phone, copy a file, close a program you left running, and you are done. Recording that would only add a video you will never watch.
But some sessions are different. A recording is worth it when the session itself is something you may need to look back on:
- A fix on someone else's PC. You spent forty minutes sorting out a relative's printer settings or a colleague's mail account. If the problem returns next month, the video shows exactly what you changed and in which order — no relying on memory.
- Documenting a change on a work PC. When you adjust settings on an office machine, a short recording is a clear record of what was done and when, for you and for whoever looks after that PC.
- Making a tutorial. Showing a family member how to do something once, on their own screen, and leaving them the video to replay is often better than a written list of steps.
- Evidence of what you did — and did not do. If you help on a PC that holds other people's information, a recording shows that you stayed within the task you were asked to do.
- Reviewing a long task. A long installation or a migration you supervised remotely can be checked later at double speed, instead of watching it live.
Record when the session is something you may need to look back on — not by default.
Two ways to record, and how they differ
MoLock Remote offers two independent recorders. You can use either one, or both in the same session.
Record this sessionREC 04:12
In this browser
- Download to this deviceA video file when you stop
- Save to My filesEnd-to-end encrypted before upload
On the PC
- Record on the PCMP4 in Videos › MoLock › Remote sessions
Recording status is shown on both sides
In the browser
Your phone or computer already receives the screen to show it to you. When you start a browser recording, MoLock makes a video from that same picture, right on your device, after it has been decrypted for display. Nothing extra is sent from the PC for this.
When you stop, you choose what to do with the video:
- Download it to the phone or computer you are using. It becomes an ordinary video file on that device.
- Save it to My files in your MoLock Account. The video is encrypted on your device before it is uploaded, so it is stored the same way as your other private files: readable only after you sign in, never by the service.
Because this recording lives in the browser tab, it lasts as long as the tab does. If you close the tab, or your phone puts the browser to sleep for a long time, the recording stops with it.
On the PC
The second recorder runs on the PC itself. MoLock records the screen there and saves an MP4 into Videos › MoLock › Remote sessions. It keeps recording even if your browser tab closes or your phone loses signal, which makes it the better choice for long tasks. In MoLock's settings you can also ask the PC to record every remote session automatically.
A PC recording stays on that PC. It is never uploaded anywhere by this feature; if you want it elsewhere, you move it yourself.
| Browser recording | PC recording | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it is saved | Your phone or computer, or My files (encrypted end-to-end) | The PC, in Videos › MoLock › Remote sessions (MP4) |
| Who can open it | You on that device, or you after signing in to your account | Anyone who can use that PC and its files |
| Keeps going if the browser tab closes | No | Yes |
| Can start automatically | No, you start it | Yes, if you turn that on |
| Best for | Short fixes, tutorials you want on your phone, a record you keep privately | Long tasks, unstable connections, a record kept with the PC itself |
Recording is always visible
MoLock Remote is built so that nothing about a session is hidden from the PC, and recording follows the same rule. Whichever recorder you use, the state is shown on both sides:
- On the PC, the small session indicator shows that the session is being recorded. Whoever sits at that PC can see it, and can still end the session at any time from the indicator or with the end hotkey.
- In your viewer, you see which recorders are running, so you never wonder whether a recording is still going.
- In Telegram, the official bot's end-of-session message includes it — for example: "Session ended · 12 min · recorded in browser".
- In your account, the activity log keeps every session, and notes when it was recorded.
Remote session · ownerRECEnd
Whoever is at the PC can end the session at any momentCtrl+Alt+Shift+X
This matters most when you are helping on someone else's PC. They are not left to guess; the screen in front of them says so.
What a recording contains — and what it doesn't
A recording shows the PC's screen as you saw it during the session: the windows, the pointer, what you typed when it appeared on screen, and the pages you opened. That has two useful consequences.
First, the things MoLock draws on the PC for the people around it are not part of the picture. The curtain — the cover that hides the screen from anyone in the room while you work — is excluded from capture, so it never appears in your stream and never appears in a recording. The same goes for the session indicator. Your video shows the real desktop, not a cover.
At the PC
This PC is being used remotely by its owner
Curtain onIn your session
The cover never appears in your stream — or in any recording
Second, a recording only contains what was on the screen. It does not include files you transferred (unless their contents were open on screen), the text you sent through clipboard sync, or anything on other monitors you did not view. If you switch monitors during a session, the recording follows what you were watching.
Privacy and consent
Recording your own PC, alone, is simple. As soon as another person is involved — their PC, a shared family PC, a work machine — a few habits keep a recording from becoming a problem.
- Tell people before you record. The indicator shows it, but a sentence in advance is better: "I'll record this so we can see what I changed."
- Follow your workplace policy. Many organisations have rules about recording screens that show colleagues' or customers' information. If you are not sure, ask before you record.
- Respect local law. Rules about recording other people differ between countries. This is general advice, not legal advice; if the recording matters, check what applies to you.
- Pause or stop around secrets. Passwords, online banking, medical pages and private chats should not end up in a video. Stop the recording before you open them, and start a new one afterwards.
- Use the curtain when others are nearby. It hides what you are doing from the room. It does not hide anything from the recording, so it is about the people present, not about the video.
Keeping recordings tidy and safe
A recording is only as private as the place it is kept. A few minutes of housekeeping go a long way:
- Know where each file lives. Browser downloads land in your phone's or computer's downloads; PC recordings are in Videos › MoLock › Remote sessions; saved recordings appear in My files.
- Prefer My files over a plain download on a phone. A downloaded video sits in your gallery or downloads like any other file, and may be swept into photo backups. A recording saved to My files is encrypted end-to-end and opens only after you sign in.
- Share with an expiring link, not as an attachment. If someone needs to see the video, share it from My files with a link that expires, a password and a download limit, rather than sending a copy that lives forever in a chat.
- Delete what you no longer need. A recording of a printer fix is useful for a few weeks. After that, it is just a file that could show more than you remember.
- Remember the PC's copy. A PC recording can be opened by anyone who can use that PC. On a shared machine, move it somewhere private or delete it when you are done.
A good-practice checklist
- Decide if it needs recording Record a session you may need to look back on — a fix, a change, a tutorial — not every session.
- Pick the right recorder Browser for short sessions you want to keep privately; PC for long tasks or a shaky connection.
- Tell the people involved Especially on someone else's PC or a work machine, and check any workplace rules first.
- Prepare the screen Close private chats and windows you don't need before you start; switch on the curtain if others are in the room.
- Pause around secrets Stop before passwords, banking or personal pages; start again afterwards.
- Store it properly Save to My files rather than leaving a loose download, and share with an expiring link if needed.
- Clean up Delete recordings you no longer need — including the copy on the PC.
Not the same as the screen recorder
MoLock has a second, separate way to record: the screenshot and recording tool on the PC, opened with the PrintScreen key. That one is for recording your own screen while you sit at it — a bug report, a short how-to, a GIF for a chat — with a countdown, pause, sound and click highlights. Session recording is for remote sessions only. If you want the desk-side recorder, see the capture tools and Screen recording and GIFs without extra apps.
Where to go next
The full picture of recording and transparency is on the MoLock Remote page, including what the PC shows during a session. To understand why your recordings — and the stream they come from — stay private on the way, read How MoLock Remote keeps your screen private.