# Customers can't record a video

What your customer saw when your form wouldn't record their video, what each message means, and what to tell them to do next.

Your customer records in their own browser, so when recording fails, it usually fails on their device, where you can't see it. Ask them what the form said, then find that message below.

You can't try the recorder in the builder's preview: it shows "Recording is available on the live form" where the recorder would be. To see what customers see, click **Open form** in the builder's top bar.

## Check this first

Most often, the browser didn't give the form the camera and the microphone. The form asks for both together when the customer clicks **Start Camera to Record**. If the browser refuses either one, a message pops up: "Could not access camera. Please check permissions." It's the same message whatever the reason, so a customer who allowed the camera but blocked the microphone sees it too.

Tell your customer to:

1. Allow both the camera and the microphone for the page. If they blocked them earlier, they change that in their browser's settings for the site.
2. Click **Start Camera to Record** again.
3. If it still fails, click **Upload a Video**, when the question offers it, and send a video file instead, for example one made with their phone's camera app.

A multi-clip question asks for the camera and the microphone as soon as its recorder opens. If the browser refuses, the customer sees **Camera Access Required** with a **Grant Permission** button, which asks again. If the recorder then says **Camera not ready**, they click **Start Camera**.

## The customer opened the form inside an app

Browsers built into other apps, such as the one a social app opens when someone taps a link, often block recording. What the customer sees depends on the question:

- **On a multi-clip question:** **Recording isn't supported here**, with "Your browser can't record video. Please open this page in Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or Safari 14.5+ — in-app browsers (like those inside social apps) often block recording."
- **On any other video question:** the camera message above, or the browser message in the next section.

Tell your customer to open the form's link in their phone's own browser. The form starts from the beginning there: answers they've already given stay in the browser where they gave them.

## The browser can't record

When the camera turns on but the browser can't record, the message appears after the customer clicks **Start Recording**: "Recording isn't supported in this browser. Please upload a video instead." The recorder goes back to its first screen, where **Upload a Video** is. With **Allow Upload** off, the message ends "Please try another browser or device." instead.

Tell your customer to upload a video, or to open the form in another browser. The multi-clip recorder's own message names the ones to use: Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or Safari 14.5 or later.

## The form is embedded on your website

A form inside a frame on your site can use the camera only when the frame allows it. The **Inline** embed code from **Share** includes `allow="camera; microphone"`, and the **Modal** and **Popup** embeds add it for you. If you wrote the `<iframe>` yourself, or the code changed when it was pasted into your site, every customer gets the camera message.

- Copy the **Inline** code again from **Share**, and paste it unchanged.
- To find out whether your site is the cause, open the form's own link (**Form URL** on the **Link** tab) and record there.

See [Share or embed your form](/help/collect/share-your-form).

## The video is too long or too large

These messages appear after the customer clicks **Use this video** or picks a file:

- **"Video exceeds max duration of"**, followed by a length in minutes and seconds. The video is longer than the question's **Max Duration (seconds)**, or **Max Video Duration (seconds)** on a **Video and Text** question. A recording made on the form stops by itself at that length, so this message is about an uploaded file.
- **"Video exceeds max file size of"**, followed by a size. The video is larger than your plan allows.
- **"Could not read video duration"**. The customer's browser couldn't open the file they picked to measure it. They try a different video file, or record on the form.
- **"Please select a video file"**. The file they picked isn't a video.

Ask the customer for a shorter or smaller video. You can raise the question's maximum length as far as your plan's limit; beyond that, longer or larger videos need a higher plan:

- **Free**: up to 120 seconds and 50 MB.
- **Pro**: up to 120 seconds and 100 MB.
- **Premium**: up to 180 seconds and 150 MB.
- **Business**: up to 300 seconds and 250 MB.

## The upload failed

- **"Failed to upload video"**. The video didn't get through. A recording is still on the screen, so the customer clicks **Use this video** again. For a file, they click **Upload a Video** and pick it again.
- **Upload failed**, on a multi-clip question, with "Check your connection and try again". The clip is kept: the customer clicks **Retry upload**, or **Re-record** to replace it.
- **"This form can't accept new videos right now. Please let the business know."** Your plan's limit of video testimonials is reached. See [A video didn't come through](/help/troubleshooting/form-submissions-not-arriving#a-video-didnt-come-through).
- **"Failed to initialize video recording. Please try again."** A multi-clip question couldn't start its recorder. Ask the customer to reload the page.

## Give customers another way to answer

A multi-clip question, on Business plans, takes only clips recorded on the form. It has no **Upload a Video** button, so a customer whose browser can't record needs another browser or device. If that keeps happening, turn off **Multi-Clip Recording** on the question: it then uses the ordinary recorder, and the settings below apply.

For a question without multi-clip, open your form, click the **Question** page on the **Pages** tab, and check these settings:

- **Allow Upload**, on a **Video Only** question. It's on unless you turned it off. With it off, a customer who can't record has no other way to answer. A **Video and Text** question always offers the upload.
- **Question Type**. On a **Video and Text** question, a customer who can't record clicks **Choose different response type**, then **Respond with text** (or the name you gave that button), and writes their answer.
- **Required**. While it's on, a customer with no video can't get past a **Video Only** question: the form says "Please record or upload a video". Turn it off to let them carry on without one.

## Still can't record?

[Contact us](/contact) and include:

- the link to the form;
- the customer's device and browser, and whether they opened the form from inside another app;
- the message they saw, word for word;
- whether the question uses **Multi-Clip Recording**.

## Next steps

- [Collect video testimonials](/help/collect/video-testimonials)
- [Share or embed your form](/help/collect/share-your-form)
- [Video testimonial still processing](/help/troubleshooting/video-still-processing)