macOS - Capture Error when trying to share full screen or application window

If you saw a "Capture Error" error page, this article will provide you with the workarounds you need to get back up and running with CrankWheel.

This error can happen in various ways on macOS, and is unfortunately outside of your control. It may happen when you upgrade macOS or get a new Mac, and recently (March 2022) we have heard reports of users receiving this error when everything was previously working for them - which we believe is due to a recent Google Chrome update.

The following steps work for more or less all macOS users

First thing to try: Follow the steps in in this video as closely as you possibly can (or the written steps right below): https://www.loom.com/share/4485a511329743e2871807c5364d8d26

1. Hit ⌘-Space to bring up the Spotlight search bar, and type in System Preferences, then hit Enter
2. Double-click on Security & Privacy
3. Select 'Privacy' at the top
4. In the scrollable box on the left, scroll down a bit and select Screen Recording
5. Make sure Google Chrome is in the list, and that it has a checkmark next to it.
6. If you add a checkmark, you will be prompted to quit Google Chrome so that it gets the new setting. Confirm that it should quit. If you don't see this happen, we recommend that you reboot your computer after adding the checkmark.
7. Relaunch Google Chrome and try using CrankWheel again.

Second thing to try: Some users have reported needing to restart their machine after following the steps in the video.

Third thing to try: Several users have needed to take the following steps in addition to the above:

1. Hit ⌘-Space to bring up the Spotlight search bar, and type in System Preferences, then hit Enter
2. Double-click on Security & Privacy
3. Select 'Privacy' at the top
4. Find and select 'Screen Recording' in the left-hand-side list
5. Uncheck Google Chrome if it now shows up in the right-hand-side list
6. Choose Quit & Reopen, wait for Chrome to open
7. Click on the text “Google Chrome” in the same dialog
8. Click the minus sign below the box, this removes Google Chrome from the list
9. Try to screen share with Chrome, and when prompted, choose “Open System Preferences”
10. Put a checkmark next to Google Chrome
11. Choose Quit & Reopen
12. Screenshare again and you should be good

If the above steps do not resolve your issue, please email us at [e-mail], let us know that you tried everything from the Capture Error support page, with a screenshot of the error page, and you can also check the remaining possible troubleshooting steps below.

Other things you can try

Make sure you have a recent version of Chrome.

Steps:

1. Open your Google Chrome browser
2. In the "Chrome" menu in your menu bar, next to the Apple menu, choose "About Google Chrome"
3. Ideally this page should say "Google Chrome is up to date" and show a version number below this line.

If you have a version lower than 78 as the first number, or you have 78.0.3904.70 or lower, then you need to update Chrome. Sometimes it happens that the automatic update mechanism for Chrome fails to work correctly. Check this support article from the Google Chrome team for how to get Chrome to update: https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/111996?hl=en

If you have version 78.0.3904.87 or newer, or a first version number of 79, 80 or even higher, then you do not need to update Chrome and should move on to Step 2, below.

Temporarily use another browser

If you're stuck and really need to use CrankWheel, then a possible workaround is to use another supported browser on your computer, such as Safari, Firefox, or Microsoft Edge. Open your selected browser, visit www.crankwheel.com and click Sign In near the top-right corner to get started.

If you don't see Google Chrome in the list

If you're on macOS Catalina, it can happen that Google Chrome does not show up in the list of apps for Screen Recording in the Security & Privacy system dialog. In that case, follow these steps:

1. Quit Chrome (Chrome menu next to Apple menu, top left corner of screen, select "Quit Google Chrome"
2. Hit Command+Space to bring up Spotlight, type in terminal and hit enter to launch the Terminal application
3. In the terminal, enter the following:
   tccutil reset ScreenCapture com.google.Chrome
4. Exit the terminal
5. Launch Chrome again
6. Try to perform a screen share with CrankWheel
7. At this point you should see a dialog asking whether to Open System Preferences, hit that button
8. Put a checkmark next to Google Chrome in the Screen Recording section (make sure Screen Recording is highlighted in the left-hand scrollable box; you may also need to click to open the lock at the bottom left of the dialog box and enter your password)
9. Choose "Quit & Reopen" when prompted