---
title: The pre-check, step by step
description: Each pre-check step before your exam starts, what you see on the screen, and what to do.
sidebar:
  order: 3
features: [sessions, integrity, retention]
---

The pre-check gets your camera, microphone and screen ready before the exam. It has four steps. If your educator asks for extra details, there is one more step at the start. The top of the page shows the steps as a timeline. Finished steps have a check mark, and the current step has a blue outline. From the camera step on, your camera picture shows in a circle beside each step.

Hawkeye does not record during the pre-check. Recording starts when you press **Start the Exam**.

## Your details (some exams only)

Your educator can ask for a few details, such as a student ID. Fill in each field. Fields marked "(Optional)" can stay empty. Press **Save and Continue**.

You can change your details until you start the exam. After that, they are fixed.

![The Your Details step with a Student ID field and a Save and Continue button](/docs/blume-assets/content/docs/test-takers/images/s09-precheck-details.png)

## Turn on your camera and microphone

1. **Press Allow Camera and Microphone**

    Your browser asks for permission.

2. **Allow both the camera and the microphone**

    The camera and the microphone show "Allowed", and your camera picture shows in the circle. The Allow button goes away.

3. **Press Next: Take Your Face Photo**

![The camera and microphone step with the camera picture in a green ring, and Camera and Microphone marked Allowed](/docs/blume-assets/content/docs/test-takers/images/s10-precheck-camera.png)

If they show "Blocked", read [Fix common problems](/docs/test-takers/troubleshooting#camera-or-microphone-blocked).

## Take your face photo

Your educator sees this photo next to your recording.

1. **Sit at arm's length from the screen in good light**

    Look at the camera.

2. **Wait for the checks**

    Your browser checks your picture every few seconds. Each check shows "OK" or "Adjust".

3. **Adjust until every check shows OK**

    The checks are: head inside the frame, close enough to the camera, eyes open and looking ahead, head straight and level, and face uncovered.

4. **Press Take Photo**

    The button works only when every check shows "OK". The page then shows only your photo, marked "Photo Saved".

5. **Press Next: Share Your Screen**

    To try again, press **Retake**.

![The face photo step after the photo is taken, with the saved photo, a Retake button and the Next button](/docs/blume-assets/content/docs/test-takers/images/s12-photo-taken.png)

Some exams ask for fewer checks. Some exams make the photo optional. The page tells you when the photo is optional.

> **If the checks do not load**
>
> The page says that the photo checks could not load. Take the photo anyway. Your educator reviews it.

## Share your entire screen

1. **Press Share Screen**

    Your browser asks what to share.

2. **Choose your entire screen**

    Do not choose a window or a tab. Hawkeye does not accept them.

3. **Press Next: Start the Exam**

    The screen check shows "Sharing", and the Share Screen button goes away.

![The screen step with Entire Screen marked Sharing and a preview of the shared screen](/docs/blume-assets/content/docs/test-takers/images/s13-screen-shared.png)

> **If your exam requires one monitor**
>
> Use Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge. In other browsers, the pre-check shows "This Exam Needs Chrome or Edge" and stops. Open the exam link from your educator in Chrome or Edge instead. If a second monitor is connected, the screen step tells you to disconnect it or set your displays to mirror each other. Then press **Check Again**. If you connect a second monitor during the exam, Hawkeye tells your educator.

> **Keep sharing on**
>
> Do not stop sharing until you submit. If sharing stops during the exam, Hawkeye tells your educator.

## Ready to start

Read your educator's instructions. The page tells you how many minutes you have. Your time starts when the exam opens, not when you press the button.

The list "What Hawkeye Records" tells you what Hawkeye records and when Hawkeye deletes it. Hawkeye deletes your face photo and your recordings 30 days after the exam. To read the full recording agreement, press **Read the Full Recording Agreement**. It says that your educator keeps the exam record and can keep copies, and it links to the [Privacy Policy](/docs/legal/privacy).

Tick **I agree to be recorded as described**. **Start the Exam** stays off until you tick the box. If you cannot agree, do not start. Contact your educator about another way to take it.

Press **Start the Exam**. Hawkeye does not ask for the camera or the screen again.

![The Ready to Start step with the exam instructions, the time limit, what Hawkeye records and when it deletes it, the agreement checkbox and the Start the Exam button](/docs/blume-assets/content/docs/test-takers/images/s14-ready-to-start.png)

For most exams, Hawkeye then goes to fullscreen. If your exam opens in its own window, Hawkeye does not go to fullscreen.

Next: [During the exam](/docs/test-takers/during-the-exam).