In older versions of Windows, you need to install third-party software like Camtasia (premium) or ShareX (free and open-source) to record screen. On Windows 10 however, Microsoft introduced a new feature called Game Bar that allows you to record screen on Windows 10.
Game Bar is mainly used to record gameplay on Windows 10. However, it is not simply limited to games. You can use the same game bar feature to record screen on Windows 10 for free.
The good thing is, Game Bar has all the necessary features like quality settings, duration, mic recording, frame rate, etc., that you’ll need to record screen on Windows 10 with audio. What’s more, it is quite easy to configure and use Game Bar to record your screen. Simply put, if you want to quickly record some application or game then Game bar does the job pretty good. Without further ado, let me show you how to record Windows 10 screen without installing any third-party software.
Record Screen on Windows 10 Using Game Bar Feature
Before you can record screen using Game Bar, you need to make sure that it is enabled and optimally configured. It’s pretty easy though. Just follow the steps below and you’ll be good.
Configure Game Bar to record screen optimally (optional)
1. Open Settings app by pressing the keyboard shortcut Win + I. You can also click on the All Settings button in the Action Center.
2. In the Settings app, go to “Gaming” page.
3. On the left panel, select “Game bar”. On the right panel, toggle the switch under “Record game clips, screenshots, and broadcast using Game bar” to ON. This action will enable Game bar.
4. Next, go to the Captures tab. Here, scroll down and change the Maximum Recording Length from 30 minutes to whatever you want. In my case, I set it for 2 hours. (optional)
5. If you want to record audio from your system and/or microphone then toggle the switch under “Record audio when I record a game” to ON.
6. If you want higher frame rate screen recording then select “60 fps” under “Video frame rate”. This option works well if your system is powerful enough.
7. By default, the video quality is set to “Standard”. If you want to increase the video quality, select “High” from the drop-down menu under “Video quality”.
8. To capture mouse cursor while recording screen, select the checkbox “Capture mouse cursor in recordings”.
Record screen on Windows 10 for free with audio using Game bar
After configuring the screen, recording screen on Windows 10 is as easy as pressing a single keyboard shortcut.
1. To start recording screen on Windows 10, just press the keyboard shortcut Win + G. As soon as you press the keyboard shortcut, the Game bar will open. Here, click on the “Record” icon under the Game Capture section.
2. As soon as you click on the button, the Game bar will start recording.
3. You can see the progress on the top-right corner. If you want to stop screen recording, simply click on the “Stop” icon and you are good to go.
4. When you stop recording, the video file will be automatically saved in the Videos folder in your home directory. In my case, that is C:\Users\Vamsi\Videos\Captures.
It is that easy to record screen on Windows 10 without using any third-party software.
Downsides of using Game bar
As good as it is, when compared to dedicated screen recording software, there are a few downsides to using the Game bar. They are as follows:
- You cannot record desktop or file explorer using the Game bar.
- Game bar might close automatically if you go to desktop or file explorer while recording.
- Game bar can only record one application as a time. If you switch between applications, Game bar may close automatically.
Even with all this. If you are looking for a simple way to quickly record your screen then the Game bar is the way to go.
If you like this article, do check out how to automatically login on Windows 10. This tip is especially useful when you want to speed up your Windows login process. Also, if you are facing problems with Windows update, here’s how you can pause or stop updates on Windows 10.
