How to Record Your Screen on Windows 10 and Windows 11 (4 Free Methods)

You need to record your screen on Windows, whether that’s a bug to show tech support, a quick tutorial for a relative, or a game clip, and you don’t want to buy software to do it. For one app, press Windows + G and use Xbox Game Bar. For the whole desktop, install OBS Studio.

Pick the right recorder first

Windows has two built-in recorders, and Microsoft offers a third free one. OBS Studio covers everything the built-in tools can’t.

Method	Best for	Full desktop	Webcam	System audio	Editing	Main limitation
Xbox Game Bar	Quick clips of one app or game	Usually no	Limited	Yes, depending on settings	No	Records only the active app
Snipping Tool	Short recordings of a selected area	Yes, selected region	No	Limited or unavailable, depending on version	Minimal	Basic controls
Clipchamp	Recording plus quick trimming	Yes	Yes	Browser-tab audio	Yes	Less control than OBS
OBS Studio	Full desktop, multiple sources, long sessions	Yes	Yes	Yes	Scenes only; edit elsewhere	More setup

A note for Windows 10 users: Windows 10 version 22H2 was the final release, and Windows 10 support ended on October 14, 2025. Your PC still runs, and every method below still works. It no longer gets regular security fixes unless you’re enrolled in the paid Windows 10 Extended Security Updates program. Keep that in mind before you download recording software on an unpatched machine.

How to record your screen

Method #1: Record a single app with Xbox Game Bar

Game Bar records whatever app is active when you press record. If Chrome is in front, you get Chrome only. It won’t capture the desktop or File Explorer.

1. Open the app or game you want to record and click inside it so it’s the active window.
2. Press Windows + G. The Game Bar overlay opens on top of your app.

3. If Windows asks whether to enable gaming features for this app, check the box to confirm. Web browsers and apps like Photoshop often trigger this prompt.

4. In the Capture widget, select the Record button (the circle with a dot). You can also press Windows + Alt + R without opening the overlay.

5. To add your voice, turn on the microphone in the Capture widget or press Windows + Alt + M. Press the same keys again to mute it.
6. Do whatever you want to record. A small recording timer appears near the edge of the screen.

7. Press Windows + Alt + R again, or select Stop on the recording bar.

A notification pops up saying the clip was recorded. Game Bar saves recordings as MP4 files named after the app you captured.

Find your Game Bar recordings

Open File Explorer and go to Videos > Captures. The full path is C:\Users\<your-name>\Videos\Captures.

Change quality, length, and audio

1. Open Settings > Gaming > Captures.
2. Review the save location, maximum recording length, video frame rate, video quality, and whether audio is recorded.

3. To record only the active app’s sound and skip background apps, press Windows + G, select the Settings gear in the overlay, and open the capture section. Choose the game/app-only option under the audio setting. You can also pick all system audio or no audio. Labels differ slightly between Game Bar versions.

If Windows + G does nothing at all, jump to Fix #1 below.

Method #2: Record a selected area with Snipping Tool

Snipping Tool can record a rectangle of your screen, including the desktop. Game Bar can’t do that. Recording is part of current Windows 11 builds. On Windows 10, it appears only if your build and Snipping Tool version support it.

1. Open Start, type Snipping Tool, and launch it.
2. Switch to the Record mode (the video-camera icon).
3. Select New.
4. Drag a box around the area you want to capture.
5. Select Start. A short countdown runs before recording begins.

6. Select Stop when you’re done.
7. Preview the clip and save it.

Button names and placement vary by Snipping Tool version. If you don’t see a Record option, run Windows Update, then open the Microsoft Store and update Snipping Tool. Still missing? Your Windows 10 build doesn’t support it, so use Game Bar or OBS instead.

Snipping Tool is great for a 30-second “here’s where the button is” clip. It’s a poor fit for long recordings or anything with mixed audio.

Method #3: Record and edit in one place with Clipchamp

Clipchamp is Microsoft’s video editor. It handles the “record, trim, export” workflow without a second app, and it can add your webcam on top of the screen.

1. Open Clipchamp.
2. Go to Record & create.
3. Choose Screen or Screen & camera.
4. Allow microphone and camera access if asked.
5. Pick your microphone from the source list.
6. Select the red record button.
7. Choose a browser tab, a window, or your entire screen.
8. If you’re recording a browser tab and want its sound, turn on the audio-sharing option.
9. Select Share to start recording.

10. Stop the recording. Clipchamp drops it into the editor so you can trim and export.

Microsoft’s Clipchamp screen recording instructions confirm that tab audio only comes through when audio sharing is on. For game capture or long sessions, OBS is the better fit.

Method #4: Record anything with OBS Studio

OBS Studio is free and open source. It records the full desktop, multiple monitors, a single window, your webcam, and your mic all at once. You can download it for free here. The current release, OBS Studio 32.2.2, supports both Windows 10 and Windows 11, according to the official download page.

The main window looks busy at first. You only need three panels: Sources, Audio Mixer, and Controls.

Set up OBS (one time)

1. Install and launch OBS Studio.
2. When the Auto-Configuration Wizard opens, choose Optimize just for recording.
3. Select Settings in the Controls dock on the right.

4. Open the Audio tab. Set Desktop Audio to your speakers or headphones, and Mic/Auxiliary Audio to your microphone. If you plan to narrate often, a USB microphone usually sounds clearer than a laptop’s built-in mic.

5. Select Apply, then OK.

Choose what to record

1. In the Sources box, select the + button.

2. Pick a source type:

– Display Capture records an entire monitor, including the desktop, every open window, and any notifications that pop up. Close private chats, email, and password managers before you start. – Window Capture records one app window. Depending on the app and the capture method, it can keep recording that window even when other windows overlap it. – Game Capture works best for supported full-screen games.

3. Name the source and select OK.
4. Choose the monitor or window from the dropdown, then select OK.

5. Drag the red handles in the preview to resize or reposition the source. Want your face in the corner? Add a Video Capture Device source for your webcam and shrink it.

Set levels and record

1. Check the Audio Mixer. Speak and watch the mic meter. It should bounce into the yellow, not the red.

2. Select Start Recording in the Controls dock.
3. Select Stop Recording when you’re finished.

OBS saves to whatever folder is set under Settings > Output > Recording Path. That folder differs between installs, so check it rather than guessing.

OBS settings worth changing

• Record in MKV. If OBS or Windows crashes mid-recording, an MKV file is still playable. A half-written MP4 usually isn’t.
• Remux to MP4 afterward. Use File > Remux Recordings when an editor or website wants MP4.
• Use a hardware encoder if you have one: NVIDIA NVENC, AMD’s hardware encoder, or Intel Quick Sync. It takes the load off your CPU.
• Pick 30 fps for tutorials and 60 fps for games.
• Watch your free space. Long recordings eat gigabytes fast. An external SSD works well as a recording drive if your internal one is nearly full.

When recording goes wrong

Fix #1: Turn Game Bar back on when Windows + G does nothing

1. Open Settings > Gaming > Xbox Game Bar.
2. Turn the toggle On.
3. Click inside an app window and press Windows + G again.

Still nothing? Open the Microsoft Store, search for Xbox Game Bar, and install or update it. Then repair it: go to Settings > Apps > Installed apps (Apps & features on Windows 10), find Xbox Game Bar, open Advanced options, and select Repair. If that fails, select Reset.

Fix #2: Get rid of a black recording

A black video means the recorder couldn’t read the window. Work through these in order:

1. Make sure you aren’t recording protected video. Netflix and other DRM-protected streams show black on purpose, and no legitimate recorder gets around that.
2. Update your graphics driver from NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel.
3. If the app runs as administrator, run the recorder as administrator too.
4. On laptops with two GPUs, open Settings > System > Display > Graphics and set the app and OBS to the same GPU.
5. In OBS, swap Game Capture for Window Capture or Display Capture.

Fix #3: Bring back missing microphone or system sound

1. Open Settings > Privacy & security > Microphone (Privacy > Microphone on Windows 10) and allow microphone access for desktop apps.
2. Check that the right mic is the default input in Windows sound settings.
3. Make sure the mic isn’t muted in the Game Bar Capture widget.
4. In OBS, confirm you have an Audio Input Capture source for the mic and an Audio Output Capture source for system sound.
5. In Clipchamp, allow mic access, and turn on audio sharing for browser tabs.

Fix #4: Find a recording that “disappeared”

1. Check Videos > Captures for Game Bar clips.
2. Check the Recording Path in OBS under Settings > Output.
3. Confirm the drive didn’t run out of space mid-recording.
4. If you use Controlled folder access in Windows Security, check its block history. It can stop a recorder from writing to your Videos folder.

Fix #5: Smooth out choppy video

1. Close browsers and launchers you don’t need.
2. In OBS, switch to a hardware encoder.
3. Lower the frame rate from 60 to 30, or drop the output resolution.
4. Reduce the bitrate on older PCs.
5. Record to a fast local drive. A slow USB hard drive on a busy port causes dropped frames.

When the fixes don’t work

If Game Bar won’t open after a repair and reset, skip it and use Snipping Tool or OBS. If every recorder stutters or records black, your graphics driver or GPU is the more likely problem. On Windows 10, that’s also a good moment to look at upgrading to Windows 11, since driver and app support will keep shrinking.

Conclusion

Game Bar handles the quick “record this one app” job. OBS Studio is my pick for anything else, because it records the full desktop and gives you crash-safe MKV files. If your recordings come out black in every app, update your graphics driver before blaming the recorder.