---
title: Before your exam
description: What you need for a Hawkeye exam, and how to get your room and computer ready.
sidebar:
  order: 1
features: [sessions]
---

Hawkeye records your webcam, your microphone and your screen while you take an online exam. Your educator reviews the recording afterwards. This page tells you how to get ready.

## What you need

- A computer with a webcam and a microphone.
- A browser that can share your entire screen.
- An internet connection that stays on for the whole exam. Hawkeye uploads your recording every few seconds.
- A Hawkeye account, unless you start the exam from Canvas. See [Find and join your exam](/docs/test-takers/join-an-exam).

## Get your room ready

1. **Find a quiet room**

    Hawkeye listens for loud sounds during the exam. Close the door and silence your phone.

2. **Be alone**

    Hawkeye can mark the recording when it sees more than one face on the camera.

3. **Use good light**

    Sit with the light in front of you. Your face must be clear for the face photo.

4. **Sit at arm's length from the screen**

    Keep your whole head inside the camera picture. Do not sit too far away.

## Get your computer ready

1. **Close other apps that use the camera**

    Another app that uses the camera can stop Hawkeye from starting it.

2. **Close tabs and windows that you do not need**

    During the exam, Hawkeye marks the recording when you go to another tab or window.

3. **Charge your computer**

    Connect the charger before you start.

> **The first exam can take longer**
>
> The face photo checks download to your browser the first time. The page shows the progress. Your browser keeps the checks for the next exam.

## What happens on exam day

1. You open the exam from your email, from My Exams, or from Canvas.
2. You do the pre-check: camera and microphone, face photo, and screen share. Some exams also ask for a few details first, such as a student ID.
3. You press **Start the Exam**. Hawkeye starts to record.
4. You take the exam and submit it.

Read [The pre-check, step by step](/docs/test-takers/pre-check) and [During the exam](/docs/test-takers/during-the-exam) before you start. To learn what Hawkeye keeps, read [What Hawkeye records](/docs/test-takers/privacy).

If something does not work, read [Fix common problems](/docs/test-takers/troubleshooting).