Does Windows have a screen recorder?

Yes: Windows has two built-in screen recorders

You can record your screen on Windows without installing anything. Windows 10’s built-in screen recorder is the Xbox Game Bar. Windows 11 has the Game Bar too, plus a recorder in the Snipping Tool, which is the more useful of the two for everyday clips.

	Snipping Tool	Xbox Game Bar
Windows version	Windows 11 only	Windows 10 and 11
Shortcut	Win Shift R	Win Alt R
Records	An area you drag, or the whole screen	One app window
Desktop and File Explorer	Yes	No
Microphone	Yes, switched on in the toolbar	Yes, Win Alt M (off by default)
PC sound	Yes, version 11.2307 or newer	The app’s sound
Saved to	Videos\Screen Recordings (MP4)	Videos\Captures (MP4)
Length limit	None published	30 minutes to 4 hours, your choice
Webcam	No	No
Editing	Trimming at most	None

Recording with the Snipping Tool (Windows 11)

The Snipping Tool records whatever is inside the box you draw, so it works on the desktop, in File Explorer and across several windows.

1. Press Win Shift R.
2. Drag over what you want to record. Newer versions can also record the whole screen in one click.
3. In the toolbar, check the microphone and system sound buttons. The microphone can start switched off.
4. Click Start. Recording begins after a three-second countdown.
5. Click the red stop button when you’re done.

The video opens in the Snipping Tool and is saved as an MP4 in Videos\Screen Recordings. You can pick a different folder in the Snipping Tool’s settings (version 11.2408.13.0 or newer). The Edit in Clipchamp button sends the clip to Microsoft’s video editor if you want to cut it or add captions.

If there’s no video camera icon, or no sound buttons, update the Snipping Tool from the Microsoft Store. On Windows 10 the Snipping Tool takes screenshots only.

Recording with the Xbox Game Bar (Windows 10 and 11)

The Game Bar is made for games, but it also records ordinary app windows, such as your browser.

1. Click into the app you want to record.
2. Press Win Alt R. A small timer shows that it’s recording.
3. Press Win Alt M to switch your microphone on or off.
4. Press Win Alt R again to stop.

Clips are saved as MP4 files in Videos\Captures, named after the app with the date and time. Press Win G if you’d rather use the Game Bar’s buttons. There are more key combinations in our list of every screen recording shortcut on Windows.

Two settings are worth knowing, both under Settings › Gaming › Captures: the maximum recording length, after which the Game Bar stops by itself, and Record what happened, which keeps recording a game in the background so you can save a moment after it happens.

How to turn the Game Bar on if it’s disabled

On Windows 10, go to Settings › Gaming › Xbox Game Bar and turn on Enable Xbox Game Bar.

On Windows 11, go to Settings › Gaming › Game Bar. The switch there, Allow your controller to open Game Bar, only affects the Xbox button on a controller: Win G works whether it’s on or off. If Win G does nothing:

1. Try it inside an app, not on the desktop, where its recording controls aren’t available.
2. Search the Microsoft Store for Xbox Game Bar and install any update, or reinstall it if it’s missing.
3. Go to Settings › System › System components, click the … next to Game Bar, choose Advanced options and click Repair. If that doesn’t help, click Reset, which clears its settings. On older versions of Windows 11, Game Bar is listed under Settings › Apps › Installed apps.
4. On a work or school PC, game recording can be turned off by policy. Ask whoever manages the PC.

If the Game Bar opens but won’t record anything, update your graphics driver. Recording needs the video encoder on your graphics card: Intel Quick Sync, NVIDIA NVENC or AMD VCE.

Do built-in recordings capture sound?

Yes, but you usually have to switch something on first.

• Snipping Tool: the microphone and system sound buttons in the recording toolbar decide what’s recorded. Set them before you click Start. Sound needs version 11.2307 or newer.
• Xbox Game Bar: it records the sound of the app you’re recording, and your microphone only after you press Win Alt M. To include sound from other apps and Windows as well, press Win G, open the settings gear, go to Capturing and choose All. On Windows 11, the master switch, Capture audio when recording a game, is under Settings › Gaming › Captures.
• PowerPoint: its screen recorder records audio and the mouse pointer by default. Clear Audio on its control dock to record silently.

If your recording still comes out silent, our guide to screen record with audio goes through microphone permissions and the other usual causes.

What the built-in recorders can’t do

The built-in tools are fine for a quick clip to a colleague. They run out of road in a few places:

• The Game Bar can’t record the desktop or File Explorer. It records one app window, and if you switch to another app mid-recording, the video doesn’t follow you. Windows 10 has no Snipping Tool recorder, so on Windows 10 there’s no built-in way to record the whole screen at all. (Microsoft ended regular support for Windows 10 in October 2025.)
• No webcam. Neither tool records your camera, so putting your face in a corner of the video needs another app.
• No zoom or highlighting. You get the screen at full size. When the video plays in a smaller window, small text is hard to read and the pointer is easy to lose.
• Little or no editing. The Snipping Tool can trim at most, and the Game Bar has no editor. Anything more means opening the clip in Clipchamp or another editor.
• Length limits. The Game Bar stops at its maximum recording length, 4 hours at the most.

How to screen record on PC without the Xbox Game Bar

Is there a way to screen record on Windows without the Game Bar? On Windows 11, the Snipping Tool is the first thing to try. On Windows 10, or when you need more than a raw clip, use one of these.

PowerPoint

PowerPoint 2016 and later, including Microsoft 365, has a screen recorder that can capture any area, including the whole screen on Windows 10.

1. Open a blank presentation and choose Insert › Screen Recording.
2. Click Select Area and drag over what you want, or across the whole screen.
3. Click Record. Stop with Win Shift Q.
4. Right-click the recording on the slide and choose Save Media As to save it as an MP4.

Step-by-step instructions for each method are in our guide on how to screen record on Windows.

Clipchamp (Windows 11)

Clipchamp, the video editor that comes with Windows 11, has a screen and camera recorder under Record & create. It asks you to sign in, and records in sessions of up to 30 minutes, so longer videos need several takes.

A dedicated screen recorder

For games and live streaming, a gaming tool is the better fit: the Game Bar itself, or OBS Studio, which is free and open source but has a lot of settings to learn.

For demos, walkthroughs and bug reports, a dedicated app to screen record Windows tutorials with zooms saves you the editing afterwards. screenrecordwindows.com is free for Windows 10 and 11:

• Press Alt R from anywhere, choose Screen, Window or Area, and add your microphone, computer sound and webcam.
• When you stop, the editor opens with the video already edited: it zooms in on your clicks and typing, smooths the cursor, and blurs email addresses and other private details it finds.
• There’s no time limit, and nothing is uploaded unless you share a link: recording, editing and export all happen on your PC.
• Export an MP4 up to 4K, or a GIF. The free version adds a small watermark.

Download it free if the built-in tools aren’t enough.