Three Methods for How to Blur Screen Recordings (And Why They're Not All Equal)

If you're recording a demo of your SaaS product that you're looking to share with prospects, chances are you're going to capture some unwanted sensitive information or personal data that you want to redact.

Blurring is the most obvious way of doing this and there are 3 main ways to do this using a range of different software:

1. Blur your UI before you start recording a video.
2. Blur each frame of your video after you've recorded it.
3. Use a purpose-built HTML demo platform like HowdyGo to edit your captured UI after recording it.

Each approach involves different tradeoffs between speed & flexibility.

1. Pre-recording blur (fast but fragile)

Blurring before you record seems like the quickest path to protecting sensitive data. Tools like the Bandicam screen recorder let you draw blur regions directly on your screen, then capture everything with those areas already obscured.

The fundamental limitation here is that you're drawing a blur over fixed screen coordinates, not tracking the actual content you need to hide. As you navigate through your product during recording (scrolling pages, switching between tabs, opening modal windows) the position of sensitive data shifts while your blur regions stay locked in place. Customer names that were safely hidden at the top of a list become exposed as you scroll down. Dashboard metrics obscured on one screen appear clearly when you navigate to a different view.

This approach only works for simple, single-screen recordings where nothing moves. For complex product demos showing real workflows across multiple interfaces, pre-recording blur creates more exposure risk than protection.

2. Post-recording frame-by-frame blur

Blurring after you've already captured your screen recording gives you complete control over what gets protected. But doing this frame-by-frame on a video is a process that can take hours.

Standard post-production workflow means importing your recorded video into editing software like Filmora, Camtasia, or iMovie, then manually placing blur effects over sensitive information. You scrub through the timeline, identify every moment where protected data appears, and position blur boxes to cover it.

The time investment scales with video complexity. A typical 5-minute sales demo at 30 frames per second contains 9,000 individual frames. Every blur region must be positioned precisely across every single frame where that sensitive information appears - if you miss even one frame, you've exposed the data you're trying to protect.

For a single demo, this manual process is tedious but manageable. For GTM teams creating dozens of demo variations (different industries, company sizes, use cases), frame-by-frame editing across multiple videos quickly becomes unsustainable.

3. Blur screen recordings with a HTML demo platform

Purpose-built demo software like HowdyGo takes a fundamentally different approach by capturing your product interface as actual HTML and CSS rather than video pixels. Instead of editing thousands of frames, you edit the underlying UI elements themselves using a point-and-click editor.

HowdyGo offers blur, edit and hide features that let you modify the captured UI anytime after recording through a simple point and click interface.

When you blur a customer name in your captured dashboard, that blur applies to every instance where that dashboard appears throughout your entire demo. Navigate to the dashboard at the beginning? Blurred. Return to it three minutes later? Still blurred. No need to track the element across frames - you've edited the source UI once.

Beyond the blur tool: Data replacement for personalized demos

HTML demo platforms also enable something video editing can't match: replacing sensitive content instead of just obscuring it. If you have a table full of customer names and email addresses, you don't need to blur the entire table and make your interface look censored. You can change that data to realistic dummy information - your UI still looks clean and professional, but you're not revealing actual customer details.

This replacement capability opens personalization opportunities. Replace generic placeholder data with each viewer's own company name, logo, and contact information. Suddenly your anonymized demo feels custom-built for that specific prospect. All from a single master recording where you protected sensitive information once.

Why HTML capture wins for scalable demo creation

The fundamental difference comes down to how many times you need to do the work:

• Video editing: Blur the same content repeatedly across every frame of every demo variant
• HTML editing: Protect sensitive information once in your source capture, then reuse infinitely

Demo platforms like HowdyGo that capture HTML offer additional advantages that video workflows can't match:

• Blur once, deploy everywhere: Applied blur persists automatically across all demo variants and personalizations without additional editing
• Edit without re-recording: Adjust blur areas anytime in the no-code editor if requirements change or you missed something
• Actual text, image and chart replacement: Change blurred content to realistic placeholder data that looks intentional rather than censored
• Build your story after capture: Don't stress your ummmm's and ahhhhhhh's while you're recording your video demo. Just click through your app once with our Chrome extension then add your story later through interactive elements and a powerful point & click editor.
• Multi-format output: A single recording with blur automatically becomes interactive demos, videos, and GIFs without separate editing workflows

For GTM teams building reusable demo content at scale, the choice is clear: HTML capture turns blur from a repetitive post-production task into a one-time edit that protects your content across every channel and variation.

FAQs

How do I blur part of a screen recording?

You have three options: blur before recording using screen overlay tools, blur after recording using video editing software, or capture your screen as HTML and blur elements directly in an editor using demo software like HowdyGo.

Can I blur during recording or only after?

Both are possible, but they come with different tradeoffs. Pre-recording blur tools let you draw fixed regions on your screen before capture, but those regions don't move with your content as you scroll or navigate. Post-recording blur gives you more control but requires manual frame-by-frame editing. HTML demo platforms like HowdyGo sidestep this entirely by letting you edit your captured interface after recording without dealing with video frames.

How do I blur moving content in a video?

Traditional video editing requires motion tracking or manually repositioning your blur box across every frame where the content appears. At 30 frames per second, even a short clip means dozens of adjustments. Some advanced editors offer automatic tracking, but results vary depending on how the content moves. HTML demo platforms avoid this problem because you're blurring the element itself, not a region of pixels - the blur stays with the element wherever it appears.

What's the best software to blur screen recordings for demos?

For one-off videos, standard editors like Camtasia, Filmora, or iMovie work fine, though you'll be manually positioning blur effects across potentially thousands of frames. For B2B teams creating demo content at scale, HTML-based platforms like HowdyGo are more efficient. You blur once and the protection carries across all demo variants and formats automatically. You can also edit blur areas anytime without re-recording, and replace sensitive data with realistic placeholders instead of just obscuring it, so your UI looks polished rather than censored.

How do I protect sensitive customer data in demo videos?

Blurring is the most common approach, but it can make your demo look censored and unprofessional. HTML demo platforms offer a better alternative: replacing sensitive data with realistic placeholders. Swap real customer names for fictional ones, change email addresses, update metrics - your UI looks polished and intentional rather than redacted.

Is blurred content truly secure/irreversible?

In exported videos, a properly applied blur is effectively irreversible - the original pixel data is destroyed during rendering. However, if you're sharing editable project files or using weak blur effects, recovery may be possible. HTML demo platforms add another layer of protection since you can delete or replace the underlying data entirely rather than just obscuring it visually.