Almost all the confusion around this question comes from two products being talked about as if they were one. They are sold together, they are often enabled together, and students experience them as a single thing called “the lockdown browser.” They do very different jobs, and only one of them involves recording.
LockDown Browser vs Respondus Monitor
This distinction is the whole answer, so it is worth being precise about it. Your instructor chooses one of these setups for each exam.
| What your exam uses | What it does | What gets recorded |
|---|---|---|
| LockDown Browser only | Locks the testing environment | No recording. No webcam, no microphone, no video. |
| LockDown Browser + Respondus Monitor | Locking plus automated proctoring | Webcam video and audio for the whole exam; flagged moments go to the instructor afterwards. |
| Monitor with screen recording (Webcam + Screen) | As above, plus your screen | Webcam and screen, played back side by side for the instructor. |
| Monitor “Screen Only” | Locking plus a screen recording | Your screen, after you are prompted to allow it. |
Respondus is explicit that Monitor “builds upon LockDown Browser,” and annual LockDown Browser licensing includes 200 free seats of Respondus Monitor. That bundling is why the two get conflated, but an institution can run LockDown Browser with no Monitor at all, and many do for exams sat in a supervised computer lab where a person is already in the room.
What LockDown Browser actually does
LockDown Browser is a custom browser that, in Respondus’s words, “locks down the testing environment within a learning management system.” Respondus says it is used at over 2,000 higher-education institutions. Rather than watching for rule-breaking, it removes the ability to break the rules in the first place. Respondus publishes the list:
- Assessments are displayed full-screen and cannot be minimized
- Browser menu and toolbar options are removed, except for Back, Forward, Refresh and Stop
- Prevents access to other applications including messaging, screen-sharing, virtual machines, and remote desktops
- Printing and screen capture functions are disabled
- Copying and pasting anything to or from an assessment is prevented
- Right-click menu options, function keys, keyboard shortcuts and task switching are disabled
- An assessment cannot be exited until the student submits it for grading
- Assessments set up for use with LockDown Browser cannot be accessed with other browsers
Read that list again with the original question in mind. Every item is a restriction. Not one of them is a recording. This is a prevention tool, and the absence of a camera from its feature list is not an oversight: it is the product boundary.
Where LockDown Browser’s job ends
LockDown Browser is software running on the computer taking the exam, so its authority is that computer: what can open, what can be copied, whether you can leave the test. It is not a camera and does not observe the room. That boundary is exactly why institutions that need more than a locked computer add something on top: Respondus Monitor’s webcam, an in-person proctored lab, or live proctoring over video.
None of that changes the rules of the exam. Notes, phones, other people and outside help are banned on a locked-down exam whether or not anything records them. Your instructor sets those rules, not the browser, and a breach discovered any other way is still a breach. If you want to know what else schools use alongside it, see what every online-exam tool actually catches.
It is also not a general monitoring agent. Respondus’s own student guide says LockDown Browser “should only be used for taking tests; it should not be used in other areas of the online course,” and its restrictions apply while an assessment is open. The exam session is the scope, which is the honest answer to students worrying that it is silently watching their computer at other times.
What Respondus Monitor records
Monitor is where recording lives. Respondus describes it as a “fully automated proctoring solution” in which “students use a webcam to record themselves during an online exam,” after which “flagged events and proctoring results are available to the instructor for further review.” Respondus says Monitor was used at 1,500 universities last year.
Three details matter. First, fully automated: no live person is watching you in real time under Monitor; the review happens afterwards, by your instructor. Second, Respondus’s student guide says your device “must have a functioning webcam and microphone,” and the Webcam Check confirms both are working, so audio is recorded along with video. If you spoke during the exam, or someone else in the room did, that sound is in the recording your instructor reviews. Third, the webcam is not the only thing Monitor can record, which the next section covers.
Monitor is not limited to one platform. Respondus lists integrations with Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle, Brightspace, Schoology, Pearson MyLab and Mastering, McGraw Hill ALEKS, Cengage WebAssign and Hawkes Learning, which is why the same webcam experience shows up in systems that otherwise behave very differently. See what Blackboard can detect, what Canvas records and what ALEKS can detect for the platform side.
Does Respondus record your screen?
It can, but only when your instructor switches it on. Screen recording is an optional Respondus Monitor setting chosen per exam, and it comes in two forms:
- Webcam + Screen. Your webcam and your screen are both recorded. In the proctoring results, the screen recording appears below the webcam video, and the instructor can switch which one is the main view.
- Screen Only. No webcam; your screen is recorded instead. Respondus says students are prompted to allow their screen to be recorded at the start of the exam, and instructors can play the recording back at up to 8x speed.
Respondus supports screen recording on Windows, Mac and Chromebook. On a Mac, the operating system itself asks you to grant screen-recording permission, which is another reason it cannot happen without you seeing a prompt.
So the answer to “does it record my face only, or my screen too?” depends entirely on the setting your instructor picked for that exam. The exam instructions, or your instructor, can tell you which one it is.
What happens before the exam starts
When an exam uses Monitor, a Startup Sequence runs before the first question appears. Respondus’s student guide lays out how it begins:
- You review and agree to the Terms of Use.
- The Webcam Check confirms your webcam and microphone are working.
- The remaining steps “depend on settings chosen by your instructor,” with your progress shown down the left side of the screen.
On Windows and Mac, instructors pick which optional steps to include. On iPad, every Startup Sequence step is required regardless of those settings. Some institutions also link student ID-card photos to Monitor through a feature Respondus calls Photo on File, which lets the instructor compare the ID photo with the person who sat the exam.
How to tell which one your exam used
You do not have to guess, and you do not have to trust a blog. There are three reliable tells, all of which happen before the exam starts.
The Startup Sequence. If you agreed to Terms of Use and did a Webcam Check, with a preview of your own face and a prompt to adjust lighting or position, Monitor was on. If none of that happened, it was not.
The permission prompts. Camera, microphone and screen-recording access cannot be taken silently; your operating system or browser has to ask. No prompt means no recording of that kind.
The exam instructions. The assignment page, syllabus or exam-information document is the authoritative source for your specific exam, and your instructor can confirm it. Some courses even offer a choice: Respondus lets an exam be set up so students either use a webcam or sit it in a proctored location, where the proctor enters a password to start the test.
Who watches the recording, and how long is it kept?
Under Monitor, nobody watches live. The recording is analyzed automatically, and afterwards “flagged events and proctoring results are available to the instructor for further review.” How much of each video your instructor watches is their call; the flags exist to point them at the moments worth checking.
A live human watching you is a different setup. Respondus offers Instructor Live Proctoring, which it says can be used with Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet and other video systems, and some courses use a live proctoring service instead. If you were in a video call with a proctor, that is what was happening. See what a live proctor sees for how that differs.
On retention, Respondus is specific: videos of exam sessions “are stored for a total of 5 years,” and the course must be active, or restored, for the instructor to reach them. An institution that wants a shorter period can ask Respondus for one. In practice, that means a recording can be reviewed well after the grade is posted.
A flagged event is not a verdict
If you have been told your Monitor session was flagged, note what Respondus actually says: flagged events and proctoring results are made “available to the instructor for further review.” The software surfaces moments; a person decides what they mean.
Respondus does not publish a public list of the precise behaviors that trigger a flag, which is worth knowing because a great deal of confident internet writing claims to know exactly what it catches. Treat those lists as unverified. What is documented is the review step, and ordinary things routinely produce flags: leaving the frame, someone entering the room, poor lighting, reading a question aloud, a connection dropping.
This matches what other vendors say about their own signals. Instructure states that Canvas quiz logs “are not intended to validate academic integrity,” and Proctorio says its technology “informs human judgment rather than replacing it.” Across the category, the companies are more careful about their data than the internet is. See what Canvas can detect and how Proctorio works for those breakdowns.
Frequently asked questions
Does LockDown Browser record you?
LockDown Browser on its own does not record. It is a locked-down browser: it restricts what your computer can do during the exam. Recording only happens when your instructor also turns on Respondus Monitor, which Respondus describes as adding “webcam technology to LockDown Browser.”
Does LockDown Browser record audio?
Not by itself. Respondus Monitor requires a working webcam and microphone, and its Webcam Check confirms both before the exam starts, so a Monitor recording includes sound as well as video. If Monitor is not enabled for your exam, there is no recording of any kind.
Does Respondus record your screen?
Only if your instructor turns it on. Screen recording is an optional, per-exam setting in Respondus Monitor, supported on Windows, Mac and Chromebook. There is also a “Screen Only” setting, and students are prompted to allow their screen to be recorded when an exam uses it.
Does LockDown Browser need a webcam?
No. LockDown Browser alone works without a camera. A webcam and microphone are only required when the exam also uses Respondus Monitor, and some courses let students choose between a webcam and sitting the exam in a proctored location.
How do I know if Respondus Monitor is being used?
You will go through a Startup Sequence before the exam: agreeing to the Terms of Use, then a Webcam Check that confirms your webcam and microphone. If no camera step appeared and nothing asked for camera or screen-recording permission, you sat a LockDown-Browser-only exam.
Does someone watch the Respondus Monitor videos?
Not live. Monitor is fully automated, so nobody watches while you test. Afterwards, flagged events and proctoring results are available to your instructor for review, and how much of each recording they watch is up to them. The whole session is recorded, so any part of it can be reviewed later. Live watching only happens if your course uses a separate live-proctoring setup, such as a Zoom or Teams session.
How long does Respondus keep exam recordings?
Respondus says videos of exam sessions are stored for a total of five years, and an institution can ask for a shorter period. Instructors can reach a recording while the course is active or restored.
Can LockDown Browser see my other tabs or applications?
It does not need to watch them, because it blocks them. Respondus states that it prevents access to other applications including messaging, screen-sharing, virtual machines and remote desktops, and disables task switching, so those actions cannot happen during the exam rather than being observed.
Does Respondus Monitor flag eye movement or talking to yourself?
Respondus publishes that flagged events and proctoring results are made available to the instructor for review, but it does not publish a public list of the exact behaviors that trigger a flag. Treat any site that gives you a precise trigger list as unverified. What is documented is that flags are reviewed by a person afterwards.
Is LockDown Browser spyware? Does it watch my computer after the exam?
The exam session is the scope. Respondus says LockDown Browser should only be used for taking tests, and its restrictions apply while an assessment is open. Respondus’s stated privacy principle is to “collect as little Personal Information as possible.”
Can I take a LockDown Browser exam in a normal browser?
No. Respondus states that assessments set up for use with LockDown Browser cannot be accessed with other browsers.
What devices does it work on?
Respondus says Monitor offers a native experience for Windows, Mac, Chromebook and iPad. Screen recording, where your instructor enables it, is supported on Windows, Mac and Chromebook.
Josh Hutcheson — Editor, PriorityLearn
Josh researches, writes, and updates the answers on PriorityLearn, checking each one against current tools, official sources, and real school policies — and flagging what varies by state or district. About PriorityLearn →
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