How to Use Xbox Game Bar for Screen Recording?

Do you ever feel the need to record your screen? For example, creating a video tutorial on how to use a particular program, or facing a problem in using a particular product, therefore, creating a video of the same to share with the product support team, or simply capturing gameplay of your favorite video game to share with your friends on social media. So whatever your reason for recording your screen, Windows 10 has provided you with an easy solution, i.e. Xbox Game bar.

In this article, we will be discussing how to use the Xbox Game Bar to record your screen. So without further ado let’s start.

How to Record Screen using Xbox Game Bar

The original idea behind designing the Game Bar is to primarily record the gameplay of your favorite video games. However, Windows hasn’t limited to recording video games and in fact, you can use it for any type of screen recording.

However, to Xbox Game Bar it is essential that the video card used in your computer supports any one of the following encoders out of three, i.e. Intel Quick Sync H.264, NVidia NVENC, or AMD VCE encoders. You can understand the encoder like the one which is responsible for translating video input into a compatible digital format.

But in case if you are unaware of which video card is used on your laptop then you can easily check it out in the Device Manager. To open Device Manager Open the run command box by pressing Windows +R key on your keyboard and then type devmgmt.msc and then hit the Enter key. Now in the Device Manager window, click on the Display adapters option to check which video card is used in your device.

You can also start with a test recording to check if your video card supports the screen recording through Xbox Game Bar. If it doesn’t support it then you will receive an error message.

Now, in case you get an error message then try updating the drivers for your video card to check whether it fixes the problem. In case if still it doesn’t work then you can try the other best screen capture software available on the Internet.

However, if you have the required specifications on your computer to use Xbox Game Bar then just head on to the next section on how to use Xbox Game Bar.

How to Use XBox Game Bar (Enable Game Bar)

Game Bar is an inbuilt feature of Windows 10 that helps you to record your screen without installing any additional recording software. To get started, press Windows + G on your keyboard, this will open up the Game Bar on your screen.

In case if it doesn’t open up then here’s how to enable it:

• Open Windows Settings on your computer and click on “Gaming”
• Now make sure that the setting named as “Record game clips, screenshots, and broadcast using Game bar” is set to on position.

You can also find the shortcut that can be used in Game Bar on the same page. The shortcut includes opening the Game Bar, taking a screenshot on Game Bar, along starting and stopping the recording of the screen.

And guess what more you can customize these Game Bar shortcuts as per your choice and likings.

How to Screen Record using Xbox Game Bar

Now since you have enabled Game Bar you are ready to use it to record the screen.

1. To get started first open up the application window that you want to record. Also we suggest you close or at least minimize any other opened window except the one that you wish to record. This will help to rule out any possibility of accidentally recording the wrong screen.
2. Also, we suggest you turn off any audio that you do not want to have in the screen recording. As if there is audio coming from any other applications then they will be recorded as well and that will result in a mix of multiple audios in your video.
3. Now once you have followed the above instructions, press the Windows key (key with windows logo on it) + G on your keyboard to open up Xbox Game Bar.
4. You now have an option to enable external recording by clicking on the microphone button in case you wish to add your voice in the video. Do note that internal audio coming from the system is by default enabled. There is also one other option in the “System sounds” section of the Audio window, using which you can mute any of the audio coming from any opened apps.
5. Once you have implemented the settings correctly, now click on the Record button (it is a button that simply has a dot in it). This will start the recording. Instead you can also use a keyboard shortcut, i.e. Windows + Alt + R to start the recording of the screen.
   

1. Now once you have started recording, you will see a small popup right on the screen with a timer and two control buttons. You can click on the microphone button to enable or disable your external mic.
2. Once you are done with the screen recording click on the Stop button to stop the recording. Alternatively you can use a keyboard shortcut, i.e. Windows + Alt + R to stop the recording of the screen.
3. After you have successfully finished recording, a pop up notification will appear on the right side of the screen, confirming that the Game clip is recorded. If you click on it, it will open the location where recording has been saved i.e. the “Captures” folder in File Explorer. You can also later navigate to the path This PC >Videos >Captures to access all your recordings.

Wrapping Up

So folks this is how you can use the Xbox Game bar to record the screen. Although the process is quite simple and doesn’t require the installation of any third-party tool, however, you just need to remember that Game Bar can only record one application window at a time. And that too is the last window you clicked before the start of recording. Also, do remember that you cannot switch to recording any other window once the recording is in progress. Additionally, it will also not allow you to record your entire screen, this means you cannot record your Desktop or File Explorer and a few other programs. But if you just need a basic screen recording software that fulfills your basic requirements of screen recording then Xbox Game Bar is worth using.