Does Proctorio Detect Phones and Second Monitors?

Proctorio is automated (AI-only) proctoring — no live human watches during the test. It records everything and flags “suspicious” moments for later review. Knowing what its AI is actually good at, and what it isn't, tells you where its blind spots are.

Can Proctorio see your phone?

Proctorio can't directly detect a phone as a device — it has no Bluetooth or network scanning of your other gadgets. What it can do is catch a phone through the webcam: its AI flags you looking down and away repeatedly, or an object appearing in frame. So a phone isn't detected as a phone; it's detected as abnormal gaze and head movement on the recording a reviewer later checks.

Can Proctorio detect a second monitor?

Proctorio can detect additional displays connected to your computer at the OS level, and many exam configurations require you to unplug extra monitors before starting. It also flags gaze drifting consistently off-screen. So a second monitor is often caught — both by the display check and by the camera noticing you looking away from the exam screen.

What Proctorio reliably logs

• Tab switches and focus loss — timestamped every time.
• Full-screen exits.
• Webcam and screen recording for the full session.
• Gaze and head-pose anomalies flagged by its AI for reviewer attention.

Everything Proctorio does routes through its Chrome extension and the webcam. That's its entire sensing surface.

Where Proctorio's automated flagging is weak

Because Proctorio is automated, its flags are just that — flags for a human to review, not proof. It generates false positives constantly (looking up to think, poor lighting, a noise). More importantly, its extension can only see browser tabs and its webcam can only see you and your desk. A native application that never takes focus from the exam tab produces no tab-switch flag, and anything kept on the same screen — rather than on a phone you look down at — gives the gaze AI nothing to flag.

FAQ