Is HackerEarth Proctored? What the Test Settings Reveal

Not by default. A HackerEarth test is proctored only to the extent the employer switched on individual controls, and as of September 9, 2026, HackerEarth documents those controls as separate settings rather than a single proctored mode. The same platform can serve a plain timed test to one company's candidates and a webcam, audio, and ID-verified session inside a lockdown app to another's. What every programming question records regardless is your keystrokes.

What runs on every HackerEarth programming test

HackerEarth's code player "records candidates' keystrokes such that it can be played as a video", and the feature is "only available for programming questions" (code player documentation). A separate FAQ confirms that for programming questions "the platform automatically saves keystrokes". This is not a proctoring setting a recruiter toggles; it is how the editor works. Multiple-choice answers are not auto-saved.

Plagiarism comparison against other candidates is also a standard report feature. Beyond those two, nothing watches you unless it was enabled.

The controls an employer can enable

HackerEarth's proctoring settings documentation lists them: webcam snapshots "at random intervals when the test is live", ID verification with "a government ID (Aadhar or PAN)", a full-screen restriction that warns on exit, a "Log Out on Leaving Test Environment" rule where "The ideal number of warnings is 5", disabling copy and paste, and IP restriction. Audio proctoring is documented on its own page as "not enabled by default" and available through an account manager (audio proctoring documentation). Screen monitoring and multiple-monitor detection were added in March 2025 for Chrome and Edge only.

The strictest configuration is Smart Browser, a desktop application that runs the test in a locked full-screen window. HackerEarth's Smart Browser documentation says it blocks other applications, screenshots, screen sharing, multiple monitors, virtual machines, and developer tools, and removes a candidate who leaves the test screen and does not return within 10 seconds. The full inventory is in what HackerEarth proctoring records and flags.

How to tell which controls your test uses

Each control leaves a footprint before the timer starts.

• A Smart Browser download link in the invitation means the lockdown app. HackerEarth's download instructions say to "Click the link in the email" and install the version for "Windows, Mac, or Linux". A plain test link means a browser test.
• A webcam permission prompt means snapshots are on. HackerEarth's candidate instructions state that "Tests with this setting require you to have an active webcam" and that you cannot take the test if the webcam is off (Before you begin).
• A microphone prompt appears in the system compatibility check for browser tests: "We require you to grant microphone access while attempting a test on HackerEarth" (system compatibility documentation). Because the check asks for it regardless, the prompt alone does not prove audio proctoring is on; the test instructions do.
• A Verify Aadhaar Card button means ID verification through DigiLocker, an India-specific flow described in HackerEarth's ID verification documentation.
• A full-screen launch means the full-screen restriction. Leaving it produces a warning.
• A share-screen prompt in Chrome or Edge means entire-screen monitoring.

Is the practice test proctored?

HackerEarth generates a practice test for every assessment, 45 minutes long, attemptable "for multiple numbers of times", linked from the invitation email (dynamic practice tests documentation). Whether proctoring settings apply to it is not documented. Treat it as a rehearsal of the editor and question types, not of the proctoring flow. The setup steps in the real test are walked through in what to expect from a HackerEarth test.

What this means for candidates

Read the invitation, then the instructions page, then each permission prompt. Together they tell you exactly which controls are on. If the instructions do not say whether documentation or AI tools are allowed, ask the recruiter in writing before you start. If outside assistance is prohibited, use it to prepare and take the test without it. For a platform that works the other way round, with named modes rather than individual switches, compare how to tell whether a HackerRank test is proctored.