How to Record Gameplay on PC: 5 Free Ways Compared
Nemo · · 6 min read
To record gameplay on a Windows PC, press Win+Alt+R to start the built-in Xbox Game Bar recorder, or use your graphics card’s app: Alt+F9 in the NVIDIA app, Ctrl+Shift+E in AMD Software. For long sessions you plan to edit, OBS Studio is the better free choice: it records the full screen, your webcam and separate audio tracks.
Recording gameplay means capturing the game’s video and sound to a file while you play. Every option below is free and can use your graphics card’s hardware encoder, so the hit to frame rate is small. They differ in what they capture, how much control you get, and whether they can save a moment after it already happened.
Which free tools can record gameplay on a PC?
| Tool | Start / stop | Save the last moments | Separate audio tracks | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xbox Game Bar (built in) | Win+Alt+R | Win+Alt+G (last 30 s by default) | No | Quick captures, no install |
| NVIDIA app | Alt+F9 | Alt+F10 with Instant Replay on | Game and mic | NVIDIA cards |
| AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition | Ctrl+Shift+E | Ctrl+Shift+S with Instant Replay on | Game and mic | AMD cards |
| Steam Game Recording | Steam overlay | Yes, background recording | Game audio | Steam games |
| OBS Studio | Your own hotkeys | Replay Buffer | Up to 6 | Long sessions, webcam, editing |
Hotkeys are the defaults and can be changed in each app; check the app’s own settings if one doesn’t respond.
How do you record with Xbox Game Bar?
- Open the game and press Win+G to bring up Game Bar.
- Press Win+Alt+R to start recording, and again to stop.
- To save a moment after it happened, turn on background recording in Settings > Gaming > Captures (“Record what happened”), then press Win+Alt+G.
- Find the files in Videos > Captures.
Game Bar is the fastest way to grab a clip with nothing installed. It records one app window, not the desktop, and it doesn’t record your webcam; if you want your face in the recording, OBS is the free tool built for it.
How do you record with your graphics card’s app?
The NVIDIA app (it replaced GeForce Experience) and AMD Software both include a recorder that uses the card’s encoder directly.
- NVIDIA: press Alt+Z for the overlay, then Alt+F9 to start and stop a recording. Instant Replay keeps a rolling buffer; Alt+F10 usually saves it. How to clip with NVIDIA walks through the setup.
- AMD: press Alt+R for the overlay, Ctrl+Shift+E to record, and Ctrl+Shift+S to save an Instant Replay.
Both can record your microphone on its own track, which helps later when you want to turn the game down without losing your voice.
How do you record gameplay with OBS Studio?
OBS takes ten minutes to set up and then gives you the most control. These are the settings that matter for footage you plan to edit:
- Add sources. Add a Game Capture source for the game (or Display Capture if the game refuses), a Video Capture Device for the webcam, and your mic.
- Split the audio. In Advanced Audio Properties, put the game on track 1 and the microphone on track 2, then tick both tracks in Settings > Output > Recording. Separate tracks let you balance them later.
- Pick the encoder. Choose the hardware encoder: NVIDIA NVENC, AMD AMF or Intel Quick Sync.
- Set quality, not just bitrate. For editing, a quality-based mode (CQP around 18 to 23) or a high bitrate (20 to 40 Mbps for 1080p60) keeps fast motion clean.
- Choose a safe format. Record to MKV, or to fragmented MP4 in recent versions, so a crash doesn’t destroy the whole file. OBS can remux MKV to MP4 afterwards (File > Remux Recordings).
- Set the output size. Record at the size you will publish: 1920x1080 at 60 fps is the safe default.
OBS settings for recording gameplay covers each of these in more depth.
What recording settings should you use?
| Setting | Recommended | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Resolution | 1920x1080 (or your monitor’s size if you post in 1440p) | Matches the export, no scaling |
| Frame rate | 60 fps | Smooth motion; you can export 30 later |
| Encoder | Hardware (NVENC, AMF, Quick Sync) | Small frame rate cost |
| Quality | CQP 18 to 23, or 20 to 40 Mbps | Room for the edit and YouTube’s re-encode |
| Audio | 48 kHz, game and mic on separate tracks | Balance and clean captions later |
| Format | MKV or fragmented MP4 | Survives a crash |
What do you do with hours of recorded gameplay?
Recording is the easy half. A two-hour session might hold three or four moments worth posting, and finding them by scrubbing takes longer than playing did. That is the job GameClip does.
GameClip is a desktop app for macOS and Windows that turns long gameplay recordings into a highlight video and vertical clips with captions, zooms and sound effects. You drop in the files from any recorder above (several parts of one session are fine, plus webcam files), and it looks at the game second by second to find the plays, either with a model running on your own computer or with AI Director in the cloud. Every cut stays editable before you export.
On Windows, GameClip doesn’t record yet: you capture with one of the tools above and import the files. The built-in recorder is macOS only for now. Download GameClip, or read how to find the best moments in a long recording to do it by hand.
FAQ
How do I record gameplay on PC for free?
Press Win+Alt+R in any game to record with Xbox Game Bar, built into Windows 10 and 11. For more control, the NVIDIA app, AMD Software and OBS Studio are free too, and OBS can also record your webcam and separate audio tracks.
Does recording gameplay lower FPS?
A little. Hardware encoders (NVENC, AMF, Quick Sync) run on dedicated parts of the graphics card, so the drop is usually a few percent. Software encoding (x264) costs far more and is best avoided while playing.
How do I record the last 30 seconds on PC?
Turn on a replay buffer, then press its save key: Win+Alt+G in Xbox Game Bar, Alt+F10 in the NVIDIA app, Ctrl+Shift+S in AMD Software, or the Replay Buffer hotkey you set in OBS.
What is the best format to record gameplay in?
MKV or fragmented MP4, because a crash or a power cut leaves a playable file. Plain MP4 written by an interrupted recording often can’t be opened. OBS remuxes MKV to MP4 in seconds.
Can GameClip record gameplay on Windows?
Not yet. The GameClip recorder works on macOS 15 and later; on Windows you record with Game Bar, your graphics card’s app or OBS and import the files into GameClip.