Recently I came across a purple user icon with a screen behind it on my Mac’s menu bar. Upon clicking on it, I was notified that “Google Chrome is capturing your screen”. This left me stumped for numerous reasons, the primary among which is the fact that I hadn’t enabled any screen recording tweaks manually from my end nor instructed the browser to carry out any such tasks.
Moreover, it could well be a sign that antivirus or malware has hijacked the browser and it is infact recording the screen and sending the data back to its server. While it might sound like a far-fetched reality, but trust us, things are like are quite common nowadays. Furthermore, if you had entered passwords or any other crucial information across any sites during this time frame, then things would become all the more concerning.
This is because if anyone has intentionally placed that malicious browser in your browser, then they will be able to get hold of all the information that you have typed in. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to address this issue at the earliest. And in this guide, we will help you with just that.
Apart from that, we will also let you know whether this issue is simply due to a bug or is instead an attack from a virus or malware. Irrespective of the reason, rectifying this issue is the need of the hour. So without further ado, let’s make you aware of various methods through which you could fix this issue once and for all.
Fix Google Chrome is capturing your screen
It is advised that you try out each of the below-mentioned tweaks and then see which one works out in your favor. So with that in mind, let’s get started.
FIX 1: Disable Chrome Screen Recording
Your first course of action should be to disable Chrome’s ability to carry out screen recording on your Mac. Here’s how it could be done:
- Launch System Settings and go to Privacy and Security.
- Then go to Screen Recording and disable Google Chrome.
- Now restart the browser and check whether it fixes the issue.
FIX 2: Disable Extensions
If the “Google Chrome is capturing your screen” prompt first came to light after installing an extension, then you should remove that extension from the browser right away. Here’s how it could be done:
- First off, click on the extension icon present next to the address bar.
- Then click on the overflow icon next to the alleged culprit extension.
- Finally, select Remove from Chrome and then check if it fixes the issue.
FIX 3: Via Google Meet Tweak
If you had recently used Google Meets and shared your screen, then that might well be the reason behind this issue. Therefore, you should create a new meeting link, share your screen, then close it, and finally close Chrome as well. Then restart the browser and check out the result.
FIX 4: Restart Mac
While this fix is mostly along the obvious lines and also the shortest and easiest of the four, however, we have listed it at the end simply because not everyone might be willing to do a restart due to all the app windows being closed and then having to relaunch them. But if that is not a cause of concern for you, then simply click on the Apple logo at the top left and select Restart. Your Mac will now boot up and the prompt should no longer be there.
That’s it. these were the various methods to fix the “Google Chrome is capturing your screen”. If you have any queries concerning the aforementioned steps, do let us know in the comments. We will get back to you with a solution as soon as possible.
Is “Google Chrome is capturing your screen” due to a Virus?
This is the first query that would come to any user’s mind- whether their browser has been hijacked by a virus or malware. If that is the case, then whatever website you visit or the details you enter, including your personal information and banking details, will also be under the radar of that virus. And it goes without saying the impact that it would end up having.
Fortunately, that isn’t the case, and your browser is still working well and good, without being under the influence of any virus, malware, or any other dangerous program. It’s just a bug in the browser that whenever you carry out a web video call and then close it, the notification tends to still remain there. Moroever, the issue for some reason is only with Google Meets, if you carry out a call via Teams, Zoom, or any other platform, then you might not get bugged by this prompt.
With that said, we will be keeping a close watch on this issue and will update this post accordingly as and when there is any further development regarding the same. In the meantime, the workarounds listed above are your best bet. Apart from that, you may also take an extreme approach of ditching Chrome and switching over to a different browser. If you are looking for a Chromium browser, then the likes of Edge and Opera might get the job done. And for non-Chromium ones, Firefox is always there to the rescue.
