# Iframe and canvas support

Instant Replay does not record **cross-origin iframes** or **canvas** content.

This keeps recording lightweight and avoids browser slowdowns.

### What you’ll see in the replay

You’ll see a placeholder (often blank or black) where the iframe or canvas was.

The rest of the page still replays normally, including UI interactions and DOM changes.

{% hint style="info" %}
If you need pixel-perfect capture of those elements, use screen recording instead.
{% endhint %}

### Why Instant Replay skips them

#### Canvas

Canvas often drives charts, editors, games, and animations.

Recording it reliably means capturing lots of pixel data at high frequency.

That adds significant CPU and memory overhead.

#### Cross-origin iframes

Iframes commonly embed content from another domain (video players, payments, widgets).

Browsers restrict access to cross-origin iframe content.

Even when access is possible, recording each iframe is expensive.

It can also increase privacy risk for third-party content.

{% hint style="info" %}
Same-origin iframes may be partially captured, but cross-origin iframes are always skipped.
{% endhint %}

### Workarounds

{% stepper %}
{% step %}

### Use video screen recording

Video recording captures exactly what you see, including iframes and canvas.

See [Video Screen Recording](/bug-reports/capturing-a-bug-report/video-screen-recording.md).
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Take a screenshot

Screenshots capture the full visible viewport as an image.

See [Screenshot](/bug-reports/capturing-a-bug-report/screenshot.md).
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Add a note in your report

Describe what happened inside the iframe/canvas at the time of the bug.
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}

### Technical details (optional)

<details>

<summary>Why the replay can’t “just render it”</summary>

Instant Replay disables recording for canvas and cross-origin iframes to avoid heavy CPU/memory usage.

During playback, the replayer may be able to render canvas *if* canvas frames were recorded.

But when recording is disabled, there’s no canvas data to replay.

</details>

{% hint style="info" %}
Feedback helps. If this limitation blocks your use case, email **<support@screendesk.io>**.
{% endhint %}


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