The Loom screen recorder captures your screen, your camera or both, and runs as a Chrome extension, a desktop app and iOS and Android apps. As of October 2026 the free Starter plan caps recordings at 5 minutes and 25 videos, while Business, Business + AI and Enterprise remove the time and storage limits and add editing and blur.
Here's the catch. Which recorder you use decides what you can capture. The Chrome extension can only record internal audio from one browser tab, so it can't pick up sound from Zoom or Microsoft Teams. The desktop app records system audio, but it can't use the blur tool, which only works in the Chrome extension. Pick the recorder for the job before you hit record.
The four recording modes
Loom's capture modes are screen and camera, screen only, camera only, and your avatar. With the camera on, it sits in a bubble you can set to one of three sizes, give a virtual background or a frame, or flip so on-screen text reads the right way round. You can also record on a customisable canvas backdrop, keep speaker notes in view, draw on your screen, emphasise your cursor, record a custom-size section of the screen and work across multiple monitors.
Which Loom recorder captures which audio
| Loom recorder | Internal audio it can capture, as of October 2026 |
|---|---|
| Chrome extension | Audio from one tab, and only with Current tab selected; Full screen and Window don't record tab audio |
| Desktop app | System audio from any application on your device |
| iOS app | All apps except those connected to phone or video calls, such as Zoom, Google Meet and FaceTime |
| Android app | Android 10 and above only, and not from apps connected to a phone or video call |
How to record system audio
- In the Loom desktop app, select More actions, then Recording settings, and turn on Include system audio. In some versions it's under More actions, Settings, the Video and audio tab, then Use system audio.
- In the Chrome extension, switch to Current tab before you start, since Full screen and Window don't record the tab's sound.
- Turn on your microphone if you want your own voice in the video as well.
For calls, get permission from the participants first. For Zoom, use the desktop app with system audio on and set Zoom's Microphone and Speaker to Same as System. For Teams, use the desktop app and select PC Mic and Speakers. Google Meet works with either: Current tab with Include Tab Audio in the extension, or system audio in the desktop app, with Meet's microphone set to the same source as Loom. If you hear an echo, internal and speaker audio are being picked up together, so wear headphones with a microphone.
Editing: what each plan gets
Video editing, including trimming and stitching, is for paid plans only. Here's how the tools split, as of October 2026.
| Editing tool | What it does | Plans |
|---|---|---|
| Trim (waveform) | Removes sections using the audio waveform | Business, Business + AI, Enterprise |
| Stitch | Combines several Looms into one video | Business, Business + AI, Enterprise |
| Edit by Transcript | Highlight words in the transcript and trim them out | Business + AI, Enterprise |
The waveform editor allows up to 500 trims per clip and only trims videos of five hours or less. Someone with a Creator Lite role on a paid plan can stitch, but their videos are capped at five minutes, so a stitched video that runs longer has to be trimmed back down.
How to trim the middle of a Loom
- Select Edit from the video side panel, then Trim and Stitch.
- Choose the section you want to remove and select Split, which divides the video into two clips.
- Drag the handles at the end of each clip. Any light grey part of the timeline without a timestamp gets removed.
- Select Save Changes when you're happy with it.
If a trim has been processing for over 30 minutes, your video isn't lost. Adjust one of your trims slightly and publish again to reprocess it, or select Revert to Original and restart Chrome.
To stitch, open the video's share page, select Edit, then Edit and enhance video, then Insert Loom video, and choose the start, the end or the current timestamp. You can pick a recent Loom, search by keyword or paste a Loom URL, even one someone else made. The original video is never changed. Other people can only stitch your video in if Viewers can stitch this video to others is on in its settings, and you can switch Stitch off for all future videos in your defaults.
Blurring sensitive information
Blur hides things like customer details before or while you record, and Loom doesn't record what's blurred. It's only for Creators and Admins on Business, Business + AI or Enterprise, and only in the Chrome extension, version 5.3.38 or above. You can't blur anything after recording.
- Open the Chrome extension and select Blur.
- Select the elements you want hidden. Select one again to remove its blur. You can do this across several tabs.
- Select Done and start recording. Loom takes you back to the tab you started from.
Forgot something? Select the blur icon in the recording menu, which pauses the recording while you blur. The real limit is which sites it works on: blur only works on DOM-based websites, so Google Docs, Notion, Figma and FigJam aren't supported, and Microsoft OneDrive can crash the extension when you start blurring.
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My verdict on the Loom screen recorder
I'd use the Chrome extension for walkthroughs of web tools, especially when there's anything on screen a client shouldn't see, and the desktop app for anything with sound from another app, like a call. If you need to tidy recordings or go past five minutes, the free Starter plan won't do it, and Business + AI is the only plan below Enterprise with transcript editing. For the basics of recording and sharing, here's my guide to using Loom, and if you're on Starter, here's what Loom free includes.
Recording a walkthrough once instead of explaining it ten times is the kind of workflow change I help teams make. I run AI training and workshops for teams, and help businesses with AI enablement, AI automation and GEO, which is about getting your business seen and cited in AI answers. Most of that work is with SaaS marketing teams and small businesses. Here's how we can work together.
Frequently asked questions
Can the Loom Chrome extension record Zoom audio?
No. The Chrome extension can't record sound from other apps such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams. Use the Loom desktop app with system audio turned on.
Is editing free in Loom?
No. Video editing features, including trimming and stitching, are exclusive to paid plans.
Can I blur something after recording in Loom?
No. Information can only be blurred before or while recording, using the Chrome extension on a Business, Business + AI or Enterprise plan.
How long can a Loom recording be on the free plan?
The Starter plan has a 5 minute recording limit and a 25 video storage limit.
Why does my Loom recording have an echo?
Internal audio and speaker audio are being picked up at the same time. Use headphones with a microphone.
