Loom records in 4K only through its Mac or Windows desktop app, on a paid plan, on a device Loom considers capable — and Loom's help center publishes two different versions of what "capable" means. One page asks for Windows 8.1 and 512 MB of RAM. Another asks for Windows 10 and 8 GB. Both are live right now.
If you are buying or checking a machine for 4K screen recording, plan against the stricter list. Below is each list quoted as Loom writes it, plus the four other things that quietly cap your resolution even on hardware that clears the bar.
The requirements, at a glance
These rows come from Loom's device compatibility page, which is the newer of the two lists and the one dedicated to compatibility:
| Windows | Mac | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum OS | "Windows 10 or above" | "macOS 12.3 (Monterey) or above" |
| CPU | "Intel 6th Gen (Skylake) or comparable AMD CPU" | "Apple M1 or later, or Intel Macs from 2018 onward" |
| RAM | "8 GB minimum (16 GB recommended)" | "8 GB minimum (16 GB recommended)" |
| Free disk space | "at least 10% of hard drive space free" | "at least 10% of hard drive space free" |
And the non-hardware gates, from Loom's recording quality page:
| Requirement | What Loom says |
|---|---|
| Recorder | Desktop app on Mac and Windows |
| Plan | "Loom Education, Business, Business + AI or Enterprise" |
| Role | Paid role — Creator Lite is excluded |
| Target resolution | "3840x 2160 pixels or larger" |
| Bitrate | Loom only publishes "Variable bitrate" — no kbps figure |
On the 4K question specifically, Loom's wording is: "If you're on the Loom Education, Business, Business + AI or Enterprise plan and you have a 4K compatible device, you will be able to record videos in 4K (3840x 2160 pixels or larger) using the Loom desktop app on Mac and Windows." The HD page adds the approximate pixel figure: recordings can go "up to 4K recording which roughly translates to 3840x 2160 pixels."
The second spec sheet, and which one to plan against
Loom's HD recording page carries a "Prerequisites" block with a much older-looking set of numbers. Quoted exactly:
- "Windows 8.1+ (64-bit)"
- "Intel Pentium 4 processor or later that's SSE2 capable"
- "512 MB of RAM (at least 4GB recommended)"
- "Mac OSX 10.10+ (64-bit only)"
Put next to the compatibility table, the gap is large: Windows 8.1 versus Windows 10, a Pentium 4 versus a Skylake-or-newer chip, 512 MB of RAM versus 8 GB. Two Loom pages, two answers.
Plan against the device compatibility page. It is the page whose entire job is compatibility, and it is the one that names modern hardware — Apple Silicon, 2018-or-later Intel Macs, Skylake. If your buying decision hinges on the difference, check the current requirements in the official documentation before you spend money.
The practical read: a machine that only satisfies the Pentium-4-era list is not a machine anyone would expect to sustain a 4K screen capture. Treat 8 GB as the floor and 16 GB as the number Loom itself recommends.
What else caps your resolution
Hardware is only one of five gates. Any one of these puts a ceiling under 4K regardless of your CPU:
- The recorder you used. The Chrome extension is capped lower. Loom's HD page: "If you're using the Chrome extension this feature will not be present, you can record up to 1080p." Asked directly whether Business or Enterprise unlocks HD in the extension, Loom answers "Unfortunately, no. This is a limitation of Chrome and one of the reasons we built the desktop app."
- Your plan and role. Starter users "can choose their recording resolution up to 720p." And inside a paid workspace: "Users on a Creator Lite role will be limited to resolutions under Loom Starter free plan."
- Capture mode, on Windows only. Loom lists the Windows desktop app as up to 4K, with a parenthetical: "it's not possible to record above 1080p on Cam only." The Mac row carries no such note.
- Your screen or camera height. Loom says it "will default to the resolution best suited to your device and connection," and that a manual pick can return a "not supported by your device" alert — "This will happen if your device's height or camera height does not support recording in those high resolutions."
- Custom-size recording. "The minimum size for a custom size video is 251 x 251 pixels," and Loom warns that "if your selected area is too small to support 4K, the system may automatically downgrade the recording resolution."
Meeting recordings are a separate case entirely: "The quality is set at 1080p to preserve memory and CPU resources, and can't be adjusted."
What to do when 4K is available but the file is unusable
4K recordings get large fast, and Loom's own numbers tell you where the walls are. Downloads stop at 20GB — Loom's own conversion is "Approx. 3 hours recorded in 4K." And if you ever push a 4K file back into Loom, the upload path is stricter than the recording path: "Loom limits uploads to 4 GB or 12 hours, whichever is less," and a "Failed to process" message "most often occurs because the file is over 4 GB, its frames per second are over 60, or its resolution is over 4096 x 2160."
So a 4K recording downloaded from one workspace can easily be too big to upload into another. Re-encoding it first is the fix, and it is the same fix Loom points at for unsupported uploads — Loom recommends exporting "H.264/AAC to . MP4 file" before retrying.
Try it right here
Runs in your browser. Your file is not uploaded anywhere.
This runs inside your browser tab, so a 4K screen recording never leaves your machine on the way to getting smaller. Keep the resolution and trim the bitrate first — that is usually enough to clear the 4 GB line without touching detail. More tools for the rest of the workflow are on the Clapr tools page, and compress video is the direct link for this one.
Platform-specific gotchas
- Windows records mono; Mac records stereo. Loom's encoding table lists the Windows desktop app audio as "1 Channel (Mono)" and the Mac desktop app as "up to 2 Channel (Stereo)." Same 4K video ceiling, different audio.
- There is no Linux or ChromeOS desktop app. Loom: "at the moment we only have Windows and Mac desktop apps."
- Windows tops out at two monitors. "Loom recordings on Windows devices do not support more than two monitors," and "It is not possible to record two monitors at once or switch between monitors while recording."
- Disk space is a recording-stability issue, not just storage. Below 10% free, Loom warns you "might run into issues such as recordings unexpectedly stopping partway through."
- The desktop apps encode H.264 at a target of 30fps. Loom notes that "operating system settings, hardware specifications, and system load might affect the actual frame rate Loom can capture."
If your recorder is the extension rather than the app, the whole encoding chain differs too — see Loom Chrome extension vs desktop app quality. More specification breakdowns live in the limits hub.
FAQ
Can I record 4K with the Loom Chrome extension? No. Loom's HD page says that with the Chrome extension "you can record up to 1080p," and when asked whether a Business or Enterprise plan changes that, Loom answers "Unfortunately, no. This is a limitation of Chrome and one of the reasons we built the desktop app."
What are Loom's minimum system requirements? Loom's device compatibility page lists "Windows 10 or above" or "macOS 12.3 (Monterey) or above," an "Intel 6th Gen (Skylake) or comparable AMD CPU" or "Apple M1 or later, or Intel Macs from 2018 onward," and "8 GB minimum (16 GB recommended)" RAM. Loom's HD page lists an older and much lower set, so verify against the current official documentation.
Why is 4K greyed out in my Loom desktop app? Work through the gates in order: plan (Starter caps at 720p), role (Creator Lite falls back to Starter limits), capture mode (Windows caps Cam-only at 1080p), and screen height — Loom shows a "not supported by your device" alert when "your device's height or camera height does not support recording in those high resolutions." The 5-minute limit article covers the account-side checks in more detail.
How large is a 4K Loom recording? Loom's encoding table gives no kbps figure — the bitrate row reads only "Variable bitrate." The one official anchor is the download cap: videos over 20GB cannot be downloaded, which Loom describes as "Approx. 3 hours recorded in 4K."
Do I get the full 4K file when I download it? Downloads are always MP4, and Loom describes the encoding as "similar to the RAW media recorded" — not identical. Downloads are also limited by plan and role, and anything over 20GB cannot be downloaded at all.
Figures cited from Loom's device compatibility, recording quality, HD recording, encoding settings, upload, and download help pages, checked 17 September 2026. Where two Loom pages disagree, both are quoted above — confirm the current numbers in Loom's official documentation before relying on them.
