How to record gameplay on PC

Four free ways to record gameplay on PC

	Works on	Start or stop recording	Save what just happened
Xbox Game Bar	Any Windows 10 or 11 PC	Win Alt R	Win Alt G, up to 10 minutes back
NVIDIA app	PCs with NVIDIA GeForce graphics	Alt F9	Instant Replay
AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition	PCs with AMD Radeon graphics	Set in Hotkey Settings	Instant Replay, up to 20 minutes back
OBS Studio	Any PC	A key you choose	Replay buffer

If your graphics card’s software is already installed, it’s usually the best way to screen record games on PC: it’s made for games, it can record the whole desktop, and it has more quality settings. The Game Bar needs nothing installed, and OBS gives you full control.

Record gameplay with the Xbox Game Bar

The quickest way to screen record a game on PC is the Game Bar that comes with Windows.

1. Start the game and click into it, so it’s the active window.
2. Press Win Alt R. A small timer shows that it’s recording. In a full-screen game you may not see it, but the shortcut still works.
3. Press Win Alt M to switch your microphone on or off. It’s off by default.
4. Press Win Alt R again to stop.

The video is saved as an MP4 in Videos\Captures, named after the game with the date and time. Win G opens the Game Bar, where the Capture widget has the same controls as buttons.

The Game Bar records only the game’s window, not your desktop or other apps you switch to. A recording stops at the maximum length set under Settings › Gaming › Captures, between 30 minutes and 4 hours. If your voice or the game sound is missing, see how to screen record with audio on Windows.

Save the last 30 seconds (or the last 10 minutes)

Background recording keeps the last stretch of play in a rolling buffer, so you can save a clip after something happens.

1. Open Settings › Gaming › Captures.
2. Turn on Record what happened. On Windows 10 it’s called Record in the background while I’m playing a game.
3. Under Record the last, choose how far back to keep: from 15 seconds up to 10 minutes.
4. In the game, press Win Alt G when something worth keeping happens. The clip goes to Videos\Captures.

Microsoft calls the shortcut “Record last 30 seconds”, but it saves the length you picked. Background recording keeps using some of your PC’s resources while you play, so leave it off in a game that is already short of frame rate.

If the Game Bar’s button for recording the last 30 seconds is greyed out, Windows doesn’t treat the app as a game. Press Win G, open the settings (the gear), and tick Remember this is a game under General.

NVIDIA app and AMD Software

Both graphics card makers include a game recorder with their software, with an Instant Replay that works like the Game Bar’s background recording.

NVIDIA app (formerly GeForce Experience)

The NVIDIA app has taken over from GeForce Experience, and its recorder is still called ShadowPlay.

1. Press Alt Z to open the NVIDIA overlay.
2. Click Record, or press Alt F9 in the game, to start. Do the same to stop.
3. For Instant Replay, click Instant Replay in the overlay and switch it on. Set how much it keeps in the overlay’s settings.
4. Save a replay with its keyboard shortcut. It’s listed, and can be changed, under Keyboard shortcuts in the overlay’s settings.

Your clips appear in the overlay’s Gallery, which can open the folder they’re saved in. Resolution, frame rate and quality are under Video capture in the overlay’s settings. NVIDIA says it records up to 4K at 120 fps, and RTX cards from the 40 Series on can use the AV1 codec for smaller files.

AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition

1. Open AMD Software and go to the Record & Stream tab. The first time, a short setup asks you to turn recording on.
2. Click the record button to start and stop. To use a key instead, search for “Hotkey” in AMD Software, open Hotkey Settings and look under Media Hotkeys.
3. For Instant Replay, search for “Record”, open Record & Stream Settings and turn on Instant Replay. The slider sets the length, up to 20 minutes.

Recordings and replays are saved to Videos\Radeon ReLive unless you change Media Save Location in the same settings. Recording FPS offers 30 or 60.

OBS Studio: full control

OBS Studio is free, open source and works with any graphics card.

1. Install OBS from obsproject.com. When the Auto-Configuration Wizard opens, choose Optimize just for recording, I will not be streaming.
2. Under Sources, click +, add Game Capture and pick your game’s window.
3. In Settings › Video, set the frame rate to 60.
4. In Settings › Output, pick a hardware encoder (NVENC for NVIDIA, AMD for Radeon, QuickSync or QSV for Intel) so the graphics chip does the work. Set the recording format to MKV or Hybrid MP4: both can be recovered if the PC crashes mid-recording, and a plain MP4 can’t.
5. Click Start Recording. Files go to the recording path shown in the same settings.

To save the last few minutes, turn on the Replay Buffer in Settings › Output, assign a Save Replay key in Settings › Hotkeys, and click Start Replay Buffer. A longer buffer uses more memory.

Minecraft, Fortnite and Roblox

Minecraft

To screen record Minecraft on PC, the Game Bar is enough for both Java and Bedrock editions: press Win Alt R in the game. Press F1 first to hide the HUD (hotbar, health and crosshair) for clean shots; on a laptop you may need Fn F1. If the Game Bar won’t record Java Edition, tick Remember this is a game as above, or use your graphics card’s recorder or OBS.

Fortnite

You can screen record Fortnite on PC live with any tool above, but its replays give cleaner footage:

1. In Fortnite’s settings, open the Game tab and make sure Record Replays is on.
2. After a match, go to Career, choose Replays, pick the match and select Play.
3. Choose a camera, such as Drone Free, hide the replay controls, and record your screen with the Game Bar or your graphics card’s recorder.

Replays only play in the version of Fortnite that recorded them, so record anything you want to keep before the next update.

Roblox

Roblox has its own recorder. During an experience, open the Roblox menu in the top-left corner and choose Captures. A capture icon appears on the right of the screen: click it to start and again to stop. Clips are limited to 30 seconds, have no game sound or voice chat, and leave out the game’s on-screen interface. You can save them to your Videos folder from the Captures gallery.

For anything longer or with sound, screen record Roblox on PC with the Game Bar (Win Alt R) or your graphics card’s recorder.

Settings for smooth footage

• Record at 60 fps. In the Game Bar it’s Video frame rate under Settings › Gaming › Captures; the other tools have it in the places above. A recording can’t be smoother than the game, so the game needs to hold 60 fps too.
• Raise the quality. Set the Game Bar’s Video quality to High. Elsewhere, a higher bitrate means a sharper picture and a bigger file.
• Check your free space. File size is bitrate multiplied by time: at 50 Mbps an hour is about 22 GB, at 20 Mbps about 9 GB.
• Record to an SSD. A slow hard drive that’s also loading the game can fall behind and drop frames. Save to an SSD with plenty of space.
• Let the graphics card encode. The Game Bar, NVIDIA and AMD do this already; in OBS, choose the hardware encoder.

If the clip is going to YouTube, these are the settings for high-quality YouTube recordings.

Game tutorials and commentary videos

To be clear: screenrecordwindows.com isn’t a game recorder. It has no instant replay and isn’t tuned for fast gameplay, so for raw footage the tools above are better.

It helps when the video is about explaining something: installing a mod pack, setting up a Minecraft server, a Roblox Studio walkthrough, or a commentary video with your face on screen. It’s a free screen recorder for Windows that edits while you record:

• Automatic zoom on clicks and typing, framing the exact button or field in browsers and most modern apps, so small menus are readable.
• Webcam layouts such as a bubble, side by side or stacked, so you can record your screen and webcam in one go.
• Any shape: 16:9 for YouTube or 9:16 for Shorts and TikTok from the same recording.
• Privacy blur that finds email addresses and phone numbers, useful when a launcher or account page is on screen.
• Editing with split, trim and speed from 0.5× to 4×.

Press Alt R, choose Screen, Window or Area, turn on your microphone and webcam, and click Record. Download it free.