How to Capture Video Clips on Windows 10 and 11

Authored by: Support.com Tech Pro Team

1. Introduction

Windows has a built-in tool called Game Bar to help you record your screen during PC and Xbox gaming sessions. But this tool can also be used to record non-gaming apps and activities. In this guide, you'll learn How to Capture Video Clips on Windows 10 and 11.

2. How to Capture

Enable Screen Recording

Before you can use Game Bar, first make sure the feature has been enabled. In Windows 10, go to Settings > Gaming > Xbox Game Bar and turn on the switch for Enable Xbox Game Bar. If you have an Xbox controller or Xbox 360 controller with the right driver, you can trigger Game Bar through the Xbox button on the gamepad.

To enable that feature, click the checkbox for Open Xbox Game Bar using this button as a controller. From this screen, you can also change any of the keyboard shortcuts associated with opening the Game Bar, taking a screenshot, and recording a video.

In Windows 11, go to Settings > Gaming > Xbox Game Bar. To use an Xbox controller or Xbox 360 controller, turn on the switch for Open Xbox Game Bar using this button as a controller. In Windows 11, you can’t change any of the keyboard shortcuts at the Windows settings screen; you’ll have to do that through the settings in the Xbox Game Bar app itself. 

Record Your Screen

Open the app that you wish to record. You can start a recording from most applications and windows, but you can't kick off a capture from the Windows desktop, File Explorer, or certain Windows apps such as Weather. Press Win + G to open the Game Bar. 

Several Game Bar widgets pop up with options for capturing screenshots, controlling your video and audio, and viewing your Xbox social account. The pane also displays the name of your current app, file, or window as the source for the video capture.

• Click the camera icon to take a simple screenshot or hit the Start Recording button to capture your screen activity. Instead of going through the Game Bar pane next time, you can also just press Win + Alt + R to immediately start your recording.

The first time you choose to record screen activity, Game Bar needs your permission. Click the checkbox next to Enable gaming features for this app to record gameplay. You can now perform whatever screen actions you want to capture. The Game Bar widgets vanish, replaced by a small floating bar on the upper-right corner of the screen, through which you can control the recording.

To stop the recording, click the Recording button on the floating bar. A notification appears telling you that the game clip was recorded. Click the notification, and a window pops up showing your video.

Click the Play button to view the video. You can also access your video from its location in File Explorer, which by default is C:\Users\[username]\Videos\Captures. If you don't like where video captures are being saved by default, you can always change the location. Go to Settings > Gaming > Captures and click the Open folder button, then choose a different folder.

Enable Background Recording

Have you ever done something on your computer and then suddenly wished you'd captured the moment? With the Windows Game Bar, you can record the last several seconds or minutes of screen activity after the fact. To do this, you first need to grant permission for the computer to record your activities in the background.

In Windows 10, go to Settings > Gaming > Captures and turn on the switch for Record in the background while I'm playing a game. While here, click the drop-down menu for Record the last to change the interval to anywhere from 15 seconds to 10 minutes.

In Windows 11, go to Settings > Gaming > Captures and turn on the switch for Record what happened. Here, you can set the max recording length to 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, or 4 hours.

Now you need never miss a moment again. Open Game Bar and click the Record last 30 sec button, and a video is generated based on the number of seconds or minutes you set.