SaaS Onboarding Video Examples and How to Make Them

A good SaaS onboarding video shows a new user how to reach their first result in your product, then gets out of the way. Most products need four kinds:

• A welcome video of 30–60 seconds.
• First-task videos of 1–3 minutes, each covering one job.
• Feature tours of about 1–2 minutes.
• Setup videos for imports and integrations.

Below are onboarding video examples for each type, written as outlines you can copy. After that: what the good ones share, and a recording setup that keeps the whole series looking consistent.

The lengths are working targets, not figures from a study. They follow from how onboarding videos get watched: in a small in-app player, by someone who wants to get back to the product.

Onboarding video examples by type

The outlines below use an invoicing app as the example, because nearly every SaaS product has some version of these steps.

Welcome video

Its job is to tell the person what to do first and where help lives. It is not a product tour.

Example outline, "Welcome: what to do first" (about 60 seconds):

1. 0:00–0:10, on camera: who you are and the one result they'll get today ("you'll send your first invoice in the next few minutes").
2. 0:10–0:40, screen: the dashboard they are looking at right now, with a zoom on the button that starts the first task.
3. 0:40–0:55, screen: where the onboarding checklist and the help center are.
4. 0:55–1:00, on camera: a one-line sign-off.

First-task video

This video matters most. It covers the moment a new user either gets value or gives up.

Example outline, "Send your first invoice" (about 90 seconds):

1. Start on the empty Invoices screen, exactly as a new account sees it.
2. Click New invoice so the view zooms onto the form.
3. Add a client, one line item and a due date. Say out loud which fields are optional, then skip them.
4. Click Send and hold on the sent state for a second.
5. End on what happens next: "You'll get an email when it's paid."

Feature tour

One feature per video. If you need the word "and" in the title, split it.

Example outline, "Set up recurring invoices" (about 75 seconds):

1. The problem in one sentence, spoken over the screen.
2. Where the setting lives, in two clicks or fewer.
3. Configure it once with realistic values.
4. Show the result: the schedule list with the next send date.

Setup and integration video

These cover the screens with the most fields: imports, connecting another tool, inviting a team. Example: "Import your clients from a CSV" shows the file format you expect, the column-matching screen and what to do when a row fails. Show the error case on purpose. Someone who opens a setup video is often stuck on exactly that.

For finished examples of other video types, see our product demo video examples.

What good onboarding videos have in common

• One task, named in the title. "Send your first invoice" beats "Getting started, part 2". The title is what people scan in a checklist or help widget.
• They start where the viewer is. Record in a fresh account in the same empty state a new user sees, not a demo workspace full of data.
• They end on the result. Show the sent invoice, the imported list, the connected integration.
• The important part is readable in a small player. In-app videos often play in a modal or side panel. Zoom in on what you click and use a larger cursor. Our guide to readable screen recordings goes further.
• The series looks like a series. Same background, window size, cursor size, zoom level, webcam corner and audio loudness in every video.
• No real customer data. Use made-up names and example.com email addresses, a domain reserved for documentation and examples.
• They are cheap to redo. Your UI will change. Re-recording a 90-second video about one task takes minutes; re-recording a 10-minute tour is a project.

Planning a first-task video

1. Pick the task where a new user first gets what they signed up for.
2. Write the click path as a numbered list. Remove every detour and optional step.
3. Prepare a recording account in the empty state, seeded only with what the task needs.
4. Set your browser window to a fixed size and use that size for every video in the series.
5. Clean up the screen: close other tabs, hide the bookmarks bar, turn on a Focus such as Do Not Disturb. Our checklist for preparing your Mac has the full list.
6. Write the narration as one short sentence per step. The tutorial video script template gives you a structure.
7. Do one dry run, then record.

In Screen Bolt, Window mode records just that browser window, even if something else covers it. It captures at 2× the window's size in points, so on a Retina display a 1280×800 window records at 2560×1600. That extra resolution helps text stay sharp when a zoom kicks in. If you'd rather read than memorize, the Script button opens a teleprompter that is hidden from the recording.

Click so the zoom lands in the right place

With Create zooms automatically on (the default), Screen Bolt builds zoom regions from your mouse clicks after you stop recording. Clicks within 1 second and 200 px of each other merge into one zoom, each zoom holds for at least 1.8 seconds, and while zoomed the view follows your cursor. Typing does not create zooms. That shapes how you should click:

• Click into a field before you type in it, so the zoom moves to the field.
• Pause for a beat after an important click.
• Keep the cursor near what you are talking about. The zoom center comes from the cursor position and can't be moved by hand later.
• Avoid clicking around while you think. Each stray click becomes a zoom region you'll delete afterward (right-click the region on the zoom track, then Delete This Region).

Built-in recorder or Screen Bolt

macOS has a free recorder built in. Press ⌘⇧5 (Command-Shift-5) to open the Screenshot toolbar, pick the whole screen or a selected portion, and click Record. QuickTime Player can then trim the start and end (Edit > Trim). That is enough for a one-off welcome video or an internal draft.

What the built-in tools can't do is add zooms after recording, put a background behind the recording, or save a styled look you reuse across 10 videos. For a series that plays in small in-app players, Screen Bolt adds auto zoom from your clicks, cursor size and smoothing, backgrounds, webcam styling, microphone clean-up and saved presets. It runs on macOS 14 or later, and recordings are processed locally and never uploaded.

Recording a consistent series with presets

A preset in Screen Bolt saves the look of a project: padding, corner radius, shadow, inset, aspect ratio, background, cursor, zoom, device frame, reflection, speed, 3D camera, audio volumes and enhance toggles, sound effects and camera-1 styling. Set it up once on your first video, save it, and apply it to every video after that.

Build the series preset

In the editor, ⌘1 to ⌘6 (Command-1 to Command-6) switch between the Screen, Background, Webcam, Audio, Zoom and Cursor panels.

1. Record your first video. With the default After recording setting, the editor opens when you stop.
2. In the Screen panel, set Aspect Ratio, Padding and Corner Radius.
3. In the Background panel, choose Wallpaper or Image. For a brand color, use Image with a plain image file in that color.
4. In the Cursor panel, set Size (default 3.0×) and leave Smooth Movement on.
5. In the Zoom panel, set Default Level (default 2.0×), then click Apply to All Regions.
6. In the Audio panel, under Audio Enhance, turn on Noise Reduction, Volume Normalization and Voice Clarity as needed. Normalization brings your voice to about −16 LUFS, so videos recorded on different days play at a similar level. See what loudness normalization is.
7. If the series uses a webcam, style it in the Webcam panel.
8. In the toolbar, open Presets and choose Save Current as Preset.... Name it something like "Onboarding series".

For each new recording, open Presets, find your preset and click Apply.

There is also Settings > Editing > Use last project settings as default for new recordings. It copies the look of whatever project you edited last, so if you cut a social clip in between, that look carries over. A named preset is safer for a series.

Leave these out of a series preset

In version 1.11.5, some settings show in the editor preview but are not rendered in the exported file: screen Shadow and Inset, Device Frame and Reflection, Background Blur, custom Gradient colors (they export as the selected wallpaper's gradient) and solid Color backgrounds (they export as a dark gradient). Keep them off so the preview matches the file you ship. Also keep the preset's speed at 1x unless you want every video sped up.

User presets are stored in UserPresets.json in ~/Documents/Screen Bolt Presets (change it under Settings > Editing > Save presets in). There is no command to export a preset; File > Import preset... adds one from a preset .json file.

What a preset doesn't cover

Keep a short checklist for the rest: the same browser window size, the same account state, the same browser zoom level and the same microphone. Frame rate is a global setting (Settings > Quick export > Frame rate, 30 or 60 FPS, default 60) that also sets the recording frame rate, so leave it alone mid-series. More in keeping screen recordings on-brand with presets.

Webcam or no webcam

Use the webcam for the welcome video and for anything that is a personal message: a founder's hello, a customer success manager introducing themselves. A face makes the first contact feel like there's a person behind the product.

Skip it for first-task, feature and setup videos. Viewers need every bit of the UI, and a face in the corner adds work later: when the UI changes, you have to re-record yourself as well.

If you use it in Screen Bolt:

• Turn it on by picking a camera from the Camera menu in the recording bar. Max camera resolution offers 720p, 1080p or 4K (default 1080p). The round preview bubble on your screen is not recorded.
• In the Webcam panel, Position is one of four corners. Pick the corner away from where your clicks happen. Aspect offers Native, 1:1, 4:5 or 16:9, and Size runs from 8% to 40%. New projects start with a 4:5 card in the bottom-left at 17%.
• For a full-screen intro or outro, set an In point (I) and Out point (O) on the timeline, then use Fullscreen Moments > Add from Marked Range.
• Open the teleprompter with Script or ⇧⌘T (Command-Shift-T). Place its window near your camera so your eyes stay close to the lens.

Camera-1 styling is saved in your preset, so the webcam looks the same across the series. For more, see recording a presentation with webcam and switching between webcam and screen.

Exporting for in-app and email

To export from the editor:

1. Click Export in the toolbar.
2. Choose Format: MP4 for anything that plays in your app or help center.
3. Choose Quality. Presets larger than your recording are disabled.
4. Check the summary line for the estimated file size (an estimate, ±30%).
5. Under Save to, click Change… if you don't want the default (Desktop).
6. Click Export or press Return.

Compression is set in Settings > Quick export > Compression (Studio, Social Media, Web or Web (Low); default Social Media) and applies to editor exports too. To estimate sizes before you export, use the video file size calculator.

For email: GIF export needs a Pro license. Standard GIFs are 640 px wide, about 10 fps, silent and looping. Screen Bolt asks before exporting a GIF over 15 seconds and refuses one over 60 seconds. Those checks use the full recording length, not your trimmed cut, so trimming a 90-second video down to 8 seconds won't get it past them. Record a separate short take of just the result, or export the MP4 and turn a section into a GIF with the free video to GIF converter. For a still image, grab a frame with the video thumbnail extractor and link it to the full video.

Hosting: Screen Bolt saves files on your Mac. It has no hosting or share links, so upload the MP4 wherever your app or help center serves video. The toolbar Share button sends the raw, unedited recording.mov, so always use Export for the finished video.

Free version limits: exports are capped at 3 minutes and 720p, carry a "Made with Screen Bolt" watermark, and GIF is unavailable. The 3-minute check also counts the full recording, not the trimmed result, so record each onboarding video as its own take instead of one long session you cut up later. The export docs list every option.

Common mistakes

• Recording in a full demo account. The viewer's screen is empty; yours shouldn't be crowded with sample data they don't have.
• One long "everything" video. Split it by task. Short videos are easier to find, finish and update.
• Using a speed ramp to skip a loading spinner. In Screen Bolt, speed ramps play in the preview but not in the export. Cut the wait instead (set In and Out points, then Cut I-O). Also note that J and L change the whole project's speed, which does export.
• Typing without clicking first. No click means no auto zoom, and the field stays tiny in a small player. If you forgot, move the playhead there and press ⌘K to add a zoom by hand.
• Turning off Auto Zoom on Click to remove one zoom. That switch disables every zoom region, including manual ones. Delete the single region instead.
• Leaving real emails on screen. Run Effects > Blur / Privacy > Auto-Detect Sensitive Text after your final cuts, clip reordering and speed changes, because detections aren't re-timed afterward. Review the results on the blur track before exporting. Our guide on hiding sensitive information covers the other options.
• Changing window size between videos. The zoom framing and text size shift, and the series stops looking like one.

If you're building a full library around these videos, read how to make help center videos next, and see why your SaaS needs a demo video for the pre-signup side.

Screen Bolt's free version has no time limit, so you can build and test your series preset before deciding. Compare Free and Pro.