TabRec

About

Capture any Chrome tab to a local .webm file in one click. Privacy-first screen recorder — no login, no cloud upload, no tracking, no time limit.

Why TabRec

Most browser screen recorders push you to a cloud service, ask for an account, and meter your usage. TabRec doesn't.

- Records 100% on-device using Chrome's built-in MediaRecorder
- Files save straight to your Downloads folder
- Zero network requests
- No account, no email, no telemetry

Features

- One-click recording of the active Chrome tab (audio + video)
- Optional tab-audio capture
- Pause and resume mid-recording
- Optional 3-second countdown before capture starts
- Live elapsed timer that keeps running even if you close the popup
- Auto-saves on stop with a smart filename:
    <tab-title>_<YYYY-MM-DD_HH-mm-ss>.webm
- Keyboard shortcuts:
    Alt+Shift+R  Start / Stop
    Alt+Shift+P  Pause / Resume
- Lightweight (under 60 KB packaged)
- Clean, modern popup UI

Perfect for

- Reporting bugs with reproducible video evidence
- Quick product demos and async walkthroughs
- Recording online lectures, meetings, and webinars
- Capturing onboarding flows for documentation
- Saving web content for offline viewing
- Any time a screen recorder would also capture things you don't want shared

How it works

1. Open the tab you want to record.
2. Click the TabRec icon, then "Start recording".
3. Record as long as you want. There are no time limits.
4. Click "Stop recording" — the file downloads automatically.

Recording continues even if you close the popup or switch tabs.

Privacy

TabRec does not collect, transmit, or share any data. There are no analytics, no ads, no third-party services, and no remote code. Recordings are created on your device using the W3C MediaRecorder API and saved to your local Downloads folder via chrome.downloads. They never leave your computer.

Permissions used

- tabCapture: required to record the active tab's video and audio.
- downloads: required to save the finished .webm to your Downloads folder.
- tabs: read the active tab's title to name the saved file.
- activeTab: scope capture to the tab you explicitly chose.
- offscreen: host the MediaRecorder in a hidden document so recording survives popup close.
- storage: remember your audio and countdown toggles locally.
- commands: register the Alt+Shift+R and Alt+Shift+P shortcuts.

No host permissions are requested. TabRec cannot read or modify any web page.

Limitations

- Chrome restricts capturing internal pages (chrome://, the Web Store, chrome-extension://). Switch to a normal http(s) tab.
- Output is .webm. To convert to MP4 with ffmpeg:
    ffmpeg -i recording.webm recording.mp4
- Recording stops automatically if the captured tab is closed.

Source code and issues: https://github.com/ashwyn222/tab-rec