ProctorU, Respondus & Honorlock: How Detection Actually Works

Short answer. ProctorU, Respondus Monitor, and Honorlock all detect the same core things — your webcam, your screen, your browser, and the room around you — using AI flagging plus human review. They differ mostly in where they lean: ProctorU on live humans, Respondus on browser lockdown, Honorlock on AI plus on-demand pop-in proctors. One fact matters more than any detection detail: all three run inside a locked-down or kiosk browser, so no Chrome extension loads in any of them — including ExamClutch. This post explains what each platform actually watches, and is honest about where a browser extension does and does not belong.

The one thing to understand first

Every serious proctoring product replaces or wraps your browser with a locked-down environment. In that environment, Chrome extensions do not run. That is not a "hard to detect" situation — it is a "nothing is running to detect" situation.

So when a tool markets itself as "undetectable by ProctorU, Respondus, and Honorlock," it is describing something that cannot happen. There is nothing for those systems to catch because the extension never starts. We build ExamClutch and we will say this plainly: it does not work under proctoring, and we do not pretend it does. Where it fits is unproctored quizzes taken in ordinary Chrome — see Unproctored vs. Proctored Online Exams.

With that settled, here is how each platform actually works.

ProctorU

ProctorU is one of the most widely used proctoring services in higher education, and it leans hardest on live human oversight.

Does ProctorU record you?

Yes — the full session is recorded. That includes:

• Continuous webcam video of you and your testing environment.
• Complete screen recording of everything on your monitor.
• Audio from your microphone.
• System activity logs and browser history during the exam.

ProctorU AI detection

On top of human proctors, ProctorU runs machine-learning models that flag behavior automatically:

• Face detection confirming the registered student stays in frame.
• Eye-movement tracking for repeated off-screen glances.
• Audio analysis for voices or unusual sounds.
• Behavior-pattern recognition for unusual movement.
• Keystroke dynamics to verify identity throughout the exam.

Multiple-device detection

ProctorU is built to notice a second device in play through:

• Reflections in glasses or shiny surfaces.
• Audio cues from notifications or typing.
• Body positioning that suggests interacting with something off-screen.
• Network analysis for connected devices.

Every one of these is a signal, not a verdict — flagged moments are queued for a human to review.

Respondus LockDown Browser & Monitor

Respondus is really two products students constantly conflate. Getting the distinction right changes what you should expect.

• LockDown Browser (alone) locks the testing environment but does not use your camera or record your screen.
• LockDown Browser + Respondus Monitor adds webcam and screen recording. That combination is the actual proctoring layer.

How the lockdown works

• Prevents access to other applications.
• Blocks printing, copying, and right-clicking.
• Disables messaging and screen-sharing apps.
• Blocks other websites and browser tabs.

This is also the mechanism that stops any extension from running — the browser simply does not load them.

What Respondus Monitor flags

• Missing from frame, or multiple people detected.
• Looking away from the screen for extended periods.
• Suspicious objects or materials in view.
• Unusual lighting changes or camera obstructions.

The AI layer

Respondus analyzes the webcam recording with facial detection (confirming the right student), motion detection for suspicious gestures, audio analysis for voices or device sounds, and environmental scanning for unauthorized materials or people.

Honorlock

Honorlock is known for a heavy AI approach paired with on-demand human "pop-in" proctors who join only when something is flagged.

Does Honorlock use AI?

Extensively. Its models handle:

• Real-time behavior and anomaly detection.
• Facial recognition and authentication.
• Voice detection and speech-pattern analysis.
• Search-engine monitoring for test content posted online.
• Secondary-device detection through network analysis.

Can Honorlock detect phones?

Yes — through several methods at once:

• Visual detection: AI spots phones in the webcam feed.
• Audio detection: notification sounds.
• Behavior analysis: movements consistent with phone use.
• Reflection analysis: phone screens visible in glasses or surfaces.

A phone is not invisible to a camera. Webcam proctoring catches phone use through eye-movement and head-position patterns more often than students expect, even when the phone itself never enters frame.

Screen recording and multiple monitors

Honorlock records everything on your monitor — browser activity, tab switches, opened applications, copy/paste, and any search queries if restrictions are bypassed. Its multi-monitor handling detects all connected displays at system check, may require you to disconnect extras, and watches for display-configuration changes mid-exam.

The full stack

Honorlock combines on-demand live pop-in proctors, search-engine indexing to catch test content posted online, voice detection for multiple speakers, facial detection, and browser fingerprinting to prevent identity substitution.

Detection capabilities, side by side

Capability	ProctorU	Respondus Monitor	Honorlock
Live human proctors	Yes (live)	No	On-demand pop-in
AI flagging	Advanced	Yes	Advanced
Phone detection	Yes	Limited	Advanced
Browser lockdown	Yes	Yes	Yes
Screen recording	Full	Full	Full
Search-content detection	Limited	No	Advanced
Loads Chrome extensions	No	No	No

The bottom row is the one students most often overlook, and it is the same across all three.

Best practices for a clean proctored session

The students who have the worst experience with proctoring usually did not break a rule — their setup created noise that got flagged for review. Reduce the noise.

Do:

• Complete the system check well before your exam window.
• Set up proper lighting and camera framing.
• Clear your space of unauthorized materials.
• Close every application except the testing software.
• Keep your attention on the screen.

Don't:

• Use multiple monitors unless explicitly allowed.
• Keep a phone or smart device within reach.
• Wear headphones or earbuds unless permitted.
• Look away from the screen for long stretches.
• Run virtual machines or screen-sharing tools.

Remember that an AI flag is not a finding. It queues a moment for a human, and a calm, well-lit, distraction-free setup is what keeps that queue empty.

Where ExamClutch actually fits

To close the loop honestly, since we make it:

• Under ProctorU, Respondus Monitor, or Honorlock, ExamClutch does not run. A lockdown/kiosk browser loads no extensions, so it plays no role in those exams.
• It is built for unproctored quizzes taken in normal Chrome — Canvas, Brightspace, Blackboard, Moodle, and similar — where it reads questions inline without tab-switching or copy/paste.

Any product claiming to defeat these three platforms is either misunderstanding how they work or misleading you. The honest map: ExamClutch is the lowest-signature option for the unproctored format, and makes no claim about the proctored one.

FAQ

Does ProctorU record my whole exam? Yes — webcam, screen, audio, and system activity for the full session, reviewed live and/or afterward.

Is Respondus LockDown Browser the same as being recorded? No. LockDown Browser alone does not use your camera. Only LockDown Browser paired with Respondus Monitor records your webcam and screen.

Can Honorlock detect a phone that isn't visible? Often, yes — through audio, network signals, reflections, and the eye-movement patterns that phone use produces, even off-camera.

Can any of these detect a Chrome extension? They don't need to. Proctored exams run in a locked-down or kiosk browser that never loads extensions in the first place.

Where does ExamClutch work, then? Only unproctored online quizzes in ordinary Chrome. It does not work under any lockdown or webcam-proctored exam, and we don't claim it does.

Related reading

• Online Proctored Exams: The Complete Student Guide
• Unproctored vs. Proctored Online Exams: The Real Risk Difference
• Does Canvas Detect Cheating?
• How Often Do Students Actually Get Caught Cheating?
• Canvas Quiz Help: The Complete Student Playbook