As of 13 August 2026, AI can create an SOP from a screen recording.

What to actually do

1. Hand it to a person

   The route this page recommends

   A person who owns the outcome does this end to end, worth it when the failure is dear.

2. Use a tool built for this

   Second choice

3. Do it yourself

   The distant third

   A chat interface, chat-fluent skill, and roughly 30 minutes until you can act on the result.

   How to actually do it

   1. Open the screen recording and gather the process name, intended role, system name, successful outcome, required access and any notes about exceptions.
   2. Remove or redact passwords, customer details, employee details and other confidential information from the recording, transcript and screenshots before uploading them.
   3. Upload the recording, transcript and relevant screenshots to an AI tool, then paste the prompt and fill in the bracketed process details.
   4. Read the draft beside the recording and mark every step that does not match the visible screen, including menu names, field values, button labels and the order of actions.
   5. Ask the process owner or an experienced colleague to answer each [NEEDS CONFIRMATION] question and to add failure cases, permissions, escalation routes and records that the recording did not show.
   6. Run the SOP in a test account or other safe environment while a colleague follows it without verbal help, and record every unclear or missing step.
   7. Update the SOP with the confirmed answers and test findings, then send the final version to the process owner for approval, naming its owner and review frequency.

   Prompt

   Create a clear SOP from the attached screen recording and any accompanying transcript or screenshots.
   
   Process name: [NAME]
   Audience and role: [WHO WILL FOLLOW THIS]
   System or software: [SYSTEM NAME]
   Purpose and successful outcome: [OUTCOME]
   Owner: [ROLE]
   Review frequency: [FREQUENCY OR NOT YET SET]
   
   Requirements:
   1. Transcribe and sequence only what is shown or explicitly stated. Do not invent clicks, fields, permissions, reasons, timings or policy.
   2. Use numbered steps. Give each step a short action heading, the exact action, and the expected result.
   3. Include the screen or menu name, field names, button labels and visible values where they are clear.
   4. Add prerequisites, required access, inputs, outputs, checks, exceptions and escalation points only when supported by the recording or the supplied notes.
   5. Mark anything unclear, missing or inferred as [NEEDS CONFIRMATION] and state the exact question a process owner must answer.
   6. Include warnings before actions that could delete, submit, overwrite or send information.
   7. Add a short troubleshooting section based only on problems shown or described.
   8. Do not include passwords, personal data or confidential values from the recording. Replace them with [REDACTED].
   9. Finish with a verification checklist that a colleague can use while replaying the recording and testing the SOP in a safe environment.
   10. Format the result with these headings: Purpose, Scope, Prerequisites, Inputs, Procedure, Exceptions and Escalation, Troubleshooting, Outputs and Records, Verification Checklist, Open Questions.
   
   Separate observed facts from open questions. Do not claim that the SOP is complete until every [NEEDS CONFIRMATION] item has been answered.

   Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.