You can enjoy many movies and exclusive TV shows on HBO Max. Sometimes, you may want to record the screen or take screenshots to catch your favorite plot. However, the screen freezes or turns black suddenly, preventing you from recording it. The experience may be frustrating.
Screen recording can be a useful tool whether your goal is to simply maintain a personal library of your favorites or preserve a specific episode or movie to see later without an internet connection.
This article will introduce the principle behind the black screen, and guide you to successfully screen record HBO Max on iPhone and PC, and watch Max shows offline easily.
Does HBO Max Let You Screen Record?
Before we jump into the final answer, here comes the question: Does HBO Max really allow you to screen record? Based on my personal experience, the answer is: sometimes.
According to a comment from Reddit 3 years ago, HBO Max doesn't allow any users to screenshot or screen record the protected videos online. This is because of DRM (Digital Rights Management), a tech applied to protect digital assets from being abused, especially the piracy things.
I tried to use the built-in recorder on my phone and laptop to screen record Celtics City on Max. I surprisingly found that it can be captured and saved successfully, no freezing, no black screen.
Therefore, HBO Max lets you screen-record the shows sometimes. I guess that you're free to take a screenshot or record the video as long as the content is not protected.
Is Screen Record HBO Max Safe and Legit?
On HBO Max, a handy approach to save your preferred episodes and movies is screen recording. Screen recording material from HBO Max raises some questions regarding legality and safety, though, just like with any device.
First of all, it's important to follow the terms of service and avoid unlawful screen capturing of HBO Max material without authorization. Respect copyright laws and the rights of content creators; so, never distribute any recorded material without appropriate permission.
If done lawfully and sensibly, screen capturing HBO Max material can be overall safe. Always keep in mind to respect copyright rules, download programs from reliable sources, and take the required care to safeguard your equipment and personal data during recording.
How to Record HBO Max on PC?
To help you successfully screen record HBO Max without a black screen on a laptop, I summarized 3 methods. All of them are verified as useful.
Use Built-in Recorder
The most convenient way is to use the built-in recording tool on your laptop. It doesn't matter if you're using Mac or a Windows PC, there is always a built-in button available.
For example, I used to use the Snipping Tool on my Windows laptop. It should be installed on your computer in the beginning. If not, it's also very easy to get it from the Microsoft Store. Just click the "+ New" button and select the recording area.
Based on my usage, you can screen record HBO Max or take a screenshot without a black screen in this way. It seems that HBO Max has improved its encryption tech and reduced the black screens. However, you should remember that the video quality will be degraded in this way.
Similarly, you can do this on your Mac (macOS Mojave 10.14 or later) by clicking Shift+command+5 to wake up the built-in recorder. Just choose the area you want to record and then you can get the screenshots or Max video clips as you prefer.
Why can't I screen record HBO Max?
Although this didn't happen in my case, you may come across a black screen or freezing screen when trying to screen record HBO Max.
You can shut down some unnecessary programs on your devices to release the RAM to ensure a smooth recording. Or pick another video that is not protected to avoid a black screen.
Use OBS
If you're a game streamer or a video game fan, you may have heard of OBS (Open Broadcaster Software), a free video recorder and editor. OBS is able to record your computer screen or a window in the background. You only need to set it done and click a shortcut key to record HBO Max shows.
Compared with the built-in recorders, OBS is able to generate a video with higher video & audio quality. But it also requires better computer performance. So how to record HBO Max with OBS successfully? To ensure the best recording, it's recommended to directly record the browser.
If you find the video buffers only during the recording, you need to lower the OBS settings to avoid the memory problem (many tutorials related to this can be found on YTB).
Based on my usage, OBS can successfully record videos from HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, and other streaming services by recording the official site of HBO Max on the Firefox browser (may catch a black screen when recording the Chrome browser).
If you're confident about your computer skills, try this method!
Use KeepStreams for Max
The 2 methods I introduced above are both traditional recorders actually. They're nice choices when you only want to get clips or a simple screenshot on HBO Max. If you want to screen record HBO Max titles for later offline viewing, the built-in tool and OBS may be not suitable for you.
Such long-length recording task requires a professional tool. Here I recommend KeepStreams for Max. A powerful tool that can record various titles from HBO Max at the same time, and process them in the background.
Compared with popular screen recorders, such as PlayOn, KeepStreams ensures a higher quality HBO MAX download offline experience. In essence, KeepStreams does not use recording tech but directly downloads videos from Max on laptops, which brings you better quality.
| KeepStreams Max Downloader | Traditional Recorders | |
| Method | Download high-quality videos | Record HBO Max videos in degraded quality |
| Safety Level | High | Average |
| Download Speed | 10X faster | 1X |
| DRM Removal | ✓ | × |
| Save 1080p/4K Videos | ✓ | × |
| No Ads | ✓ | × |
| Batch Download | ✓ | × |
| Auto-Download | ✓ | × |
| Download Subtitles | ✓ | × |
| Free Trial | ✓ | × |
The steps to use KeepStreams are also very simple. Check the following guide to see how to screen record HBO Max without black screen:
The software will automatically detect the video playing in your browser and will show you the download window. You can choose the output settings here. Then choose the Download Now button.
After downloading is done. You can easily manage your downloads on your Library. The best thing is that KeepStreams will convert HBO Max shows into MP4 automatically so that they will never expire!
If you want to learn more about other similar tools like KeepStreams, continue to read Best HBO Max Video Downloaders Ranking.
Note: If you prefer to use a third-party screen recorder to ensure the high success rate of your recording on HBO Max, you should notice the computer safety problem.
From a safety standpoint, some screen recording programs or online tools may have viruses that would compromise your device. Downloading the installation package from reliable sources is therefore absolutely vital.
How to Screen Record HBO Max on iPhone?
If you want to screen record HBO Max on iPhone or Android mobile devices, it may be more tricky compared with the PCs. It's probably to encounter a black screen when you try to record on the official Max app.
You can still use the built-in record button on the iPhone, but it may not work as smoothly as you expect. Most videos provided on the HBO Max app are protected by DRM. It means that you can only capture a black screen on your phone.
The only method to solve this is to find another unprotected video, such as the Freevee content. If it still fails, you could also use another device to take a photo of the screen or record the clips you want to record. But it looks a little bit dumb.
Therefore, we strongly recommend you use a laptop to screen record HBO Max. At least, there are 3 methods available, and there will be fewer safety problems.
FAQs
Q1. How to screenshot on HBO Max?
A1. It's much easier to screenshot HBO Max content on laptops than on mobile phones because the official HBO Max app definitely applies DRM protection, but you can avoid it on laptop browsers such as Firefox.
You can use the built-in recorder on a Windows PC or Mac for the best convenience. OBS is recommended for better quality. If you pursue speed and quality at the same time, KeepStreams for Max is a better choice.
Q2. Why can't I screen record HBO Max?
A2. It's probably because of DRM protection, which is applied by the official HBO Max app for mobile devices. It can cause a black screen. To avoid this, it's strongly recommended you to screen record HBO Max on laptops.
Q3. Is KeepStreams legit to use?
A3. Of course. It's acceptable to record videos from the Internet for personal entertainment. However, you should keep in mind that you're responsible for the downloaded videos. Therefore, please make sure that you won't share the downloads to others or use them for any commercial purpose.
Final Thought
It's not surprising that many audiences are curious to learn how to record Max movies for offline viewing as more and more people use internet streaming for their entertainment needs.
This article has discussed different methods to help you solve the question of How to screen record HBO Max, on both laptops and mobile devices. Hope the guide on HBO Max screen recording techniques can help you get clips or screenshots successfully.
All things considered, KeepStreams for Max is a great tool for cataloging your preferred HBO Max films and TV episodes. Its simple use and excellent video output let you quickly save your chosen material for subsequent viewing.