Exam guide
Everything you need before exam day
Events run in one of two environments and they are configured per event. Pick the one your event uses — the badge on the event page links straight here.
What Safe Exam Browser is, and why
Safe Exam Browser is a free, open-source application that turns your computer into a temporary exam terminal. It opens on a fresh desktop, closes the shell, blocks application switching, refuses to run alongside virtual machines, remote-desktop tools and screen recorders, and caps you to a single display.
What it buys is operating-system level lockdown. What it costs is an install — and all of the browser-level telemetry, which simply does not exist inside it. That is why an event in this mode never reports tab switching or clipboard activity: it cannot see them, and it says so rather than reporting them as clear.
Download
Install ahead of time. This is not a five-minute job on a managed laptop.
Step by step
- 1
Install Safe Exam Browser first — not on the day
Download the build for your operating system and install it like any other application. On Windows the installer needs administrator rights; on a managed work laptop that is the step most likely to fail, so try it early.
- 2
Do not open Safe Exam Browser on its own
It will start on a blank screen and there is nothing to do there. The exam is opened by the launch link we send you, which carries the configuration for your specific event.
- 3
Open the launch link from a normal browser
Your machine hands the configuration to Safe Exam Browser, which starts on a fresh, locked-down desktop with only the exam open. You will see a short handover — that is expected.
- 4
Allow the camera on first run
Safe Exam Browser asks for camera permission the first time. Allow it. The camera stays on and visible for the whole exam; nothing is recorded, only periodic still images are stored.
- 5
Stay in it until you submit
Application switching, the task bar, the terminal and the shortcut keys are all disabled while the exam runs — that is the point of the lockdown. Quitting requires the quit password shown on the exam screen.
Troubleshooting
| What you see | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The launch link opens a normal browser tab instead of Safe Exam Browser | The .seb file type is not associated with the application, usually because the install did not complete. | Reinstall Safe Exam Browser, then open the downloaded configuration file directly once. From then on the link will hand over correctly. |
| Windows blocks the installer | SmartScreen or a corporate policy is refusing an unrecognised publisher. | Choose More info then Run anyway if you own the machine. On a managed laptop you need IT, or a personal machine — plan for this a day ahead, not an hour. |
| The exam says the environment does not match | The event is configured for Safe Exam Browser and you opened it in a normal browser. | Go back to the launch link. If Safe Exam Browser is already running, quit it fully first — a stale session can hold the handover. |
| The camera is black or unavailable | Another application still holds the camera, or permission was declined on first run. | Quit anything that uses the camera — video calls are the usual culprit — and relaunch. If you declined the permission, reset it in your operating system's privacy settings. |
| A second monitor is connected | Safe Exam Browser refuses to run across multiple displays where the event requires a single one. | Physically unplug the second display. Mirroring is not enough on every platform; disconnecting is. |
What browser mode is, and why
Browser mode runs the exam in a recent Chromium browser with your entire screen shared and full screen enforced. There is nothing to install, and it observes considerably more than Safe Exam Browser can: tab switching, window focus, full screen, clipboard attempts, reloads and monitor count are all visible, plus periodic screen stills.
What it does not buy is operating-system lockdown. Neither mode is the better one; they are different trades, and the event tells you which one applies.
Step by step
- 1
Use a recent Chromium browser
Chrome, Edge, Brave or Opera, updated. Safari and Firefox do not support the entire-screen sharing the exam requires, so they will fail at the check rather than mid-exam.
- 2
Grant the camera when asked
The browser asks once, at the top of the window. Choose Allow. If you have previously blocked it for this site, click the padlock in the address bar and reset the camera permission.
- 3
Share your ENTIRE SCREEN — not a window, not a tab
The share prompt offers three choices. Only Entire Screen is accepted, because a window or a tab share cannot show what else is open, which is the whole point of the capture. Picking the wrong one is the most common single failure.
- 4
Disconnect any second display
Where the event requires a single display, an extra monitor is detected and blocks the start. Unplug it before you begin; you cannot plug it back in mid-exam either.
- 5
Stay in full screen
The exam takes over the screen when it starts. Leaving full screen, switching tabs or minimising is recorded as an integrity signal — the exam does not end, but the event will see it.
The share prompt, per operating system
Only Entire Screen is accepted. Window and Tab are rejected, and this is the single most common failure.
Windows
A Chrome dialog with three tabs across the top: Entire Screen, Window, Chrome Tab. Choose Entire Screen, click the screen thumbnail, then Share. If you have two displays you will see two thumbnails — that itself is the warning that a monitor needs unplugging.
macOS
The same three-tab dialog, but the first time you will also be sent to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen Recording to allow your browser. macOS requires the browser to be restarted after granting it, so do this before exam day.
Linux
On Wayland the picker is provided by your desktop environment rather than the browser. Choose the whole screen entry. On X11 the browser's own three-tab dialog appears as on Windows.
Why a window or tab share is refused
A window share shows one application and a tab share shows one page. Neither can show what else is open on the machine, which is the only thing the capture is for. Choosing one of them is not a partial pass — the exam will ask you again.Troubleshooting
| What you see | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The share prompt has no Entire Screen option | On macOS the browser has not been granted Screen Recording permission. | System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen Recording, enable your browser, quit it completely and reopen. The option appears after the restart. |
| The exam says screen sharing stopped | The floating Stop sharing bar was clicked, or the browser reclaimed the stream. | Start sharing again from the prompt in the exam. The interruption is logged with its duration; a short one is normal and reviewed as such. |
| The camera works elsewhere but not here | A permission block saved against this site, or another application holding the device. | Click the padlock in the address bar, reset the camera permission, reload, and close other video applications. |
| More than one display detected | A second monitor, a projector or an iPad running Sidecar is attached. | Disconnect it. Sidecar and AirPlay count as a display even when nothing is shown on them. |
| The page keeps dropping out of full screen | An operating-system notification, a screenshot tool or a browser extension is stealing focus. | Turn on Do Not Disturb, quit screenshot and screen-recorder tools, and disable extensions for the session. |
Do
- Sit somewhere quiet, well lit, with your face clearly visible.
- Use one screen only, and unplug anything else before you start.
- Plug the charger in. A laptop that sleeps mid-exam is an interruption you have to appeal.
- Use a wired or strong connection, and close everything else that uses bandwidth.
- Close every other application before you begin — not after the exam has started.
- Keep photo ID within reach in case identity verification needs a second look.
- Run the system check on the actual machine you will sit the exam on.
- Arrive in the lobby early. Late entry is capped and the clock does not restart for you.
Do not
- No second screen, projector, Sidecar or AirPlay display.
- No phone, tablet or smartwatch within reach.
- No virtual machine, and no remote-desktop session.
- No screen recorders or streaming software running.
- No headphones unless the event says otherwise.
- Nobody else in the room, and nobody passing behind you.
- No copying the questions — the whole paper is retired and may be published afterwards.
- No opening the exam on two devices. The second session replaces the first and is flagged.
Find out now, not on the day
The system check needs no account. It runs the same probes the exam does and tells you what failed, why it matters and how to fix it.
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