This guide takes you from a freshly activated plugin to your first safe recording. We'll follow Maya at Harbor Lane Coffee, who wants to record a walkthrough of her Customers screen for a new team member.
Step 1. Check what is already on:
A fresh install starts with Privacy Recording Mode off, so nothing changes until you say so. Two filters are already switched on because they appear on almost every screen: Email Addresses and Names (any format). The mask style is Partial reveal, the mask character is the asterisk, and all four Smart Detection switches are on.
You can see this at a glance on the Dashboard: the panel shows ⚪ OFF, the line under the button reads 2 of 11 filters configured, and the Active Filters card shows 2/11.
Step 2. Switch on the filters your screens need:
Open ⚙️ Settings and scroll to the 🔒 Privacy Filters cards. Each card has a switch, a short description, a before and after preview, and a Custom mask box. Think about the screens you'll show:
- Users, comments or subscribers: also switch on Usernames, plus First Names and Last Names so registered users' names are swapped wherever they appear. Your own name in the top admin bar is hidden as soon as any name filter is on.
- Orders, payments or customer lists: switch on Prices / Revenue, Street Addresses and Phone Numbers.
- Security logs or comment details: switch on IP Addresses.
- A client list or CRM: switch on Company Names.
Maya's Customers screen has phone, company, city and total spent columns, so she switches on First Names, Last Names, Usernames, IP Addresses, Phone Numbers, Street Addresses, Prices / Revenue and Company Names. That makes 10 of 11. She leaves Visible URLs off, because her screen shows no web addresses.
Step 3. Pick a mask style:
Scroll back up to 🎭 Mask Style and click the card you like. Each card shows two live examples made by the plugin itself. Partial reveal is the recommended style: it keeps the first letter of each word so rows stay easy to tell apart while the data stays unreadable. Fake data is the most natural-looking choice for polished demos. The previews on every filter card change as soon as you click a style, before you save.
Step 4. Save:
Scroll to the bottom and click Save Settings. You'll see Settings saved. at the top of the screen.
Step 5. Turn on Privacy Recording Mode:
Open 📊 Dashboard and click ▶ Turn On Privacy Mode. The page reloads and three things tell you masking is live:
- The Dashboard shows 🔒 ON, and the Recording Mode card shows 🔒 LIVE.
- A purple 🔒 Privacy Recording ON badge sits in the top admin bar, with the number of filters in use.
- A purple banner starting Privacy Recording Mode is ON appears at the top of every admin screen.
Step 6. Do a test run:
Open every screen you plan to show, in the order you'll record them. Look at every row, every detail panel, every tab and the second page of long lists. Give each screen a second or two, because content that loads late is masked as it arrives.
Maya opens her Customers screen. Names, emails, phones, companies, cities and totals are all masked. Further down, her Top referrer this month box still shows a real name, because nothing on the page says it is a person. She fixes it with Point & Mask in two clicks (see Point & Mask, Custom Selectors And Developer Hooks).
If something still shows real data, switch on the matching filter, or use Point & Mask to click it and hide it.
Step 7. Record:
Record your video, take your screenshots or start your screen-share. Stay on screens that show information rather than editing it.
Step 8. Turn it off:
Go back to 📊 Dashboard (the admin bar badge and the banner's Turn off when done link both take you there) and click ⏸ Turn Off Privacy Mode. Every screen shows real data again straight away.
Good to know:
The plugin's own screens under 🔒 Record Privacy are never masked, so you can always see your real settings. The banner and badge still show there, so you know the switch is on. Your Settings screen shows the email you activated with, so leave it out of your recordings.
What to read next:
The 11 Privacy Filters, One By One explains every card in detail, and Recording Workflow: Before, During And After is a checklist you can follow every time.