How to Capture Video Clips in Windows

Taking a screenshot in Windows is relatively quick and easy, but capturing a video of your screen activity is more difficult. Microsoft has made it more comfortable through the use of a built-in video capture tool called Game Bar.

This feature was created to record games you play directly on your PC or those you stream from an Xbox console, but it can just as easily capture video of screen activity from your web browser, Windows applications, and other programs. Any action you record is automatically saved as an MP4 video file.

To use Game Bar, you’ll have to satisfy certain system requirements, including the right type of graphics card. If you try to use Game Bar and your PC isn’t up to snuff, you may obtain an error telling you that your PC doesn’t meet the hardware requirement for recording clips.

---

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 modify 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.