Respondus Monitor Explained: Startup, Flags and Review Priority

Respondus Monitor is an automated webcam proctoring service that runs inside Respondus LockDown Browser. Before the exam, it walks you through a startup sequence (a webcam check, a facial detection check and any extra steps your instructor chose, such as an ID photo or a room scan). During the exam it records you through the webcam, and optionally your screen. Afterwards, software marks moments worth a look as "flags", gives each session a Low, Medium or High Review Priority, and your instructor reviews the results. No one watches live. This guide walks through each stage using Respondus's own documentation and university configuration guides.

Last verified: October 12, 2026 against the official documentation linked below.

If your question is simply whether you are being recorded at all, start with Does LockDown Browser record you?, which explains the difference between LockDown Browser alone and LockDown Browser with Monitor, plus retention and system requirements. This article focuses on how Monitor itself works.

How Respondus Monitor fits with LockDown Browser

Monitor is not a separate app. The Respondus Monitor product page describes it as a fully automated service where students use a webcam to record themselves during an online exam, launched from LockDown Browser when the exam settings require it, with no scheduling or registration in advance. Instructors turn it on per exam in the LockDown Browser Dashboard inside their LMS (Canvas, Blackboard, Brightspace, Moodle and others). As TCU's Respondus Monitor setup guide notes, LockDown Browser has to be required for the exam before Monitor can be enabled.

In the dashboard, the instructor chooses three groups of settings, which together determine what you experience:

• Which startup steps to require (the pre-exam sequence described below).
• Facial detection options: whether you are blocked from starting if your face is not detected, and whether you get an on-screen alert during the exam.
• Advanced settings, such as screen recording, flag sensitivity, iPad support, and whether you may use your microphone for verbal answers. Carnegie Mellon's instructor guide notes these advanced options are off by default.

The startup sequence, step by step

Every Monitor exam begins with a short sequence before the first question appears. TCU's guide lists the possible steps; instructors enable the ones they want, and only enabled steps appear for students:

Carnegie Mellon's guide describes the Webcam Check and the Facial Detection Check as enabled by default, with the other steps optional. The Show ID step usually asks for your school ID; check your instructor's instructions before showing a government document. The Environment Check is a recorded video, so your instructor can watch it later along with the rest of the session.

What happens if the facial detection check fails

Two settings control this, and both are on by default according to the CMU guide:

• Prevent start if your face is not detected. You cannot begin until the check passes. TCU recommends this so that every Monitor feature is available to the instructor afterwards.
• Notify you during the exam if your face is not detected. A prompt asks you to fix the problem (move back into frame, improve lighting). TCU recommends it because correcting the issue right away prevents erroneous flags.

Most failures are about light, not faces: a bright window behind you, a dark room, or a camera pointed at your forehead. Face a light source, raise the laptop so the camera is at eye level, and remove anything covering the lens.

During the exam: what Monitor records

Once the exam starts, Monitor records webcam video until you submit. Respondus's Monitor privacy supplement says it uses "webcam videos, screen recordings, and other data from the computing device" and lists "video and audio recordings and photos" among the data processed. Its computer vision detects "conditions and objects, such as faces, lighting conditions, and handheld devices".

If the instructor selects Webcam & Screen, Monitor also records your screen; the Respondus screen recording page says the screen video then appears under the webcam video in the instructor's results. To check that the same person stays in front of the camera, Monitor creates a temporary facial template at the start. Respondus says the template is not linked to your identity, stays in temporary memory on your device, and is cleared right after the exam; an institution's administrator can disable the feature.

Flags, milestones and Review Priority

After the exam, Monitor does not decide anything about you. It produces a timeline for the instructor. Respondus's "Understanding Proctoring Results" page defines the building blocks.

Flags vs milestones

Milestones are ordinary events on the timeline: Pre-Exam, Exam Start, "Question X Answered", End of Exam. Flags are moments where a problem might exist. Examples Respondus lists include:

• Missing from Frame
• Different person in Frame
• Multiple persons in Frame
• Partially Missing from Frame (Strict sensitivity only)
• Low Face Detection
• A webcam was disconnected
• An attempt was made to switch to another screen or application
• Video session terminated early
• Internet interruptions
• Handheld device (an optional flag the instructor can turn off)

Respondus notes that new flags and milestones are added periodically, so the list is not exhaustive.

Review Priority

Respondus describes Review Priority as "a composite measure that helps an instructor determine which exam sessions warrant a closer look". It is shown as Low, Medium or High and combines three sources of data:

1. The webcam video of the test taker.
2. The computing device and network used for the exam.
3. The student's interaction with the exam itself, such as start and end times, saved answers and early exits.

The point of the score is triage. An instructor with 200 sessions sorts by Review Priority and looks at the High ones first instead of watching 200 hours of video.

Sensitivity levels

Instructors can choose how sensitive flagging is:

Changing the level changes which events are flagged and the resulting Review Priority, so the same behavior can produce more or fewer flags depending on the instructor's choice.

Who reviews the results

Your instructor does. After the exam, the instructor opens Class Results from the LockDown Browser Dashboard, sees a roster with summary data and Review Priority, and expands a student's record to view flags, milestones, the video with a timeline, and thumbnails, as described on the proctoring results page. Clicking a flag jumps to that moment in the video.

Under the privacy supplement, the instructor can share session information, including a downloaded copy of the video and screen recording, with other administrators as the institution and instructor determine. Respondus personnel do not review recordings except in listed cases such as technical problems, product improvement, Terms of Use investigations, or when directed by the institution or a legal authority. Monitor's computer vision, Respondus says, "exclusively generates event flags and alerts and does not make any determinations, automated decisions, or recommendations".

False flags: why they happen and what they mean

Respondus is direct about this on its results page: flagged events and Review Priority results do not determine whether a student broke the rules; they only help identify events that may need review. A flag means "the software noticed something", nothing more. Common harmless causes:

• Looking down at allowed scratch paper or a calculator, which can produce Missing from Frame or Low Face Detection.
• Poor or changing lighting, such as a cloud passing a window or a screen brightness change.
• Someone walking behind you in a shared space, which can produce Multiple persons in Frame.
• Wi-Fi drops, which create internet interruption flags and gaps in the video.
• Glasses glare, hats, or a low camera angle, which reduce face detection quality.
• System pop-ups that pull focus, which can be logged as an attempt to switch applications.

Instructors reviewing a flag watch the clip and judge it in context. If you are asked about a flagged moment, explain what happened plainly. If you know in advance something might trigger flags (a roommate, a medical need to look away, an unreliable connection), tell your instructor before the exam; a heads-up email turns an unexplained flag into an expected one. If an issue becomes a formal academic integrity case, your institution's process applies, and you usually have the right to see the evidence and respond.

Accommodations

Monitor settings apply to the whole exam, but instructors have tools to adapt them, and disability services offices handle these requests regularly:

• Facial detection options. The instructor can turn off the in-exam alert or the prevent-start option, which can help students whose condition affects face detection or who need to move or look away.
• Sensitivity. Relaxed sensitivity is designed for exams where students look away from the screen.
• Microphone for verbal answers. CMU lists an advanced setting that lets students use the microphone during the exam, for example to give a verbal answer.
• Extra time and separate versions. Time accommodations are set in the LMS quiz itself (for example the Moderate page in Canvas New Quizzes). Some instructors create a separate copy of the exam with different Monitor settings for students with approved accommodations.
• An alternative to webcam proctoring. If you cannot use a webcam at home, lack a private space, or the software conflicts with assistive technology, ask about a campus testing center or another arrangement.

Start with your disability services office, ideally weeks before the exam, and copy your instructor so the settings can be adjusted in time.

Technical issues and how to get help

• Test first. The Help Center button on the LockDown Browser toolbar (visible once you open a course) offers a pre-exam Webcam Check, a System & Network Check that can email diagnostics to your help desk, and a knowledge base. If your instructor publishes a practice quiz with Monitor enabled, take it on the same device and in the same room.
• Webcam not found. Close any app that might be using the camera (video calls, camera apps), check your operating system's camera permissions, and reconnect external webcams before launching LockDown Browser.
• Connection drops. The University of Central Arkansas's article on lost connections explains that Monitor retries every 5 seconds; the missing stretch shows up as a gap with an automated note to the instructor. Longer outages require exiting, reconnecting and relaunching, and you will repeat the webcam check.
• Locked out mid-exam. Email your instructor immediately with the time, what happened and a photo of any error message taken after you left the exam. Only the instructor or an LMS admin can reopen the attempt.
• Hardware. Webcam exams need at least 4 GB of available RAM, according to Respondus's requirements; see the full list in our LockDown Browser guide.

A checklist for your first Monitor exam

1. Install from your school's link a few days early and open the course in LockDown Browser so the Help Center button appears.
2. Run the Webcam Check and the System & Network Check on the device and network you will actually use.
3. Read the Additional Instructions your instructor wrote in the startup sequence. They say what materials, if any, are allowed and whether scratch paper must be shown to the camera.
4. Set up the room: light in front of you, camera at eye level, a plain background, and housemates told when you will be testing.
5. Close other apps, including video calls and anything that sends pop-up notifications, and plug in your charger.
6. Keep your school ID nearby if the Show ID step is enabled.
7. Save your instructor's email and the help desk contact on your phone before you start, so you can report a problem right away if one happens.

Respondus Monitor compared with other proctoring tools

Monitor is fully automated and tied to LockDown Browser. Honorlock and Proctorio work as browser extensions in Chrome and offer different mixes of automated and human review. See how Honorlock works, what Proctorio records and the side-by-side Honorlock vs Proctorio vs Respondus. For unproctored Canvas quizzes, what the LMS records on its own is covered in What professors see in Canvas quiz logs.

Sources

• Respondus: Respondus Monitor (product page)
• Respondus: Understanding Proctoring Results (flags, milestones, Review Priority)
• Respondus: Respondus Monitor privacy policy supplement
• Respondus: Screen recording for Respondus Monitor
• Respondus: Help Center for LockDown Browser & Respondus Monitor
• TCU Online: Enable Respondus Monitor (startup sequence options)
• Carnegie Mellon University: Respondus instructor guide for Canvas
• University of Central Arkansas: Lost internet connection during a Monitor exam

FAQ

What does Respondus Monitor flag?

Events such as leaving the camera frame, a different or additional person in frame, low face detection, a disconnected webcam, internet interruptions, an attempt to switch applications, a session ending early and, if enabled, a handheld device. Each flag is a timestamp for the instructor to check, not a verdict.

What does a High Review Priority mean?

That the session has more or stronger flags than others and the instructor may want to look at it first. Respondus states that Review Priority does not determine whether a student broke the rules; the instructor watches the flagged moments and decides.

Does a person watch Respondus Monitor live?

No. Monitor records and analyzes automatically. Your instructor reviews the results after the exam, and Respondus staff only access recordings in the limited cases listed in its privacy policy.

Why does Respondus Monitor say it can't detect my face?

Usually lighting or camera angle: a window behind you, a dark room, or a camera below eye level. Face a light source, center your face and retry the Facial Detection Check. If it keeps failing, contact your instructor before the exam window closes.

Can I get accommodations for Respondus Monitor?

Yes, through your disability services office. Instructors can adjust facial detection alerts, sensitivity and time limits, create a separate exam version, or arrange an alternative such as a testing center.

Does Respondus Monitor record my screen?

Only if the instructor selects the "Webcam & Screen" option for that exam. Screen recording is not supported on iPad. Details are in Does LockDown Browser record you?.