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How to Record Your Computer Screen

This wikiHow teaches you how to capture a video of your computer's screen's contents, from the desktop to games and programs. You can do this on Windows computers using OBS Studio, or on a Mac by using the built-in QuickTime player. If you...
Method 1 of 3:

On Windows

  1. How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 1How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 1
    Download screen recording software. Open Broadcast Software (OBS) Studio and Bandicam are popular options. Since there isn't a built-in screen-recording utility in Windows, you'll need to install screen recording software if you want to record your desktop or multiple running programs at once.
    1. If you only want to record gameplay or a specific app, you can instead use the Game Bar app in Windows 10 Creator's Update.
  2. How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 2How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 2
    Install OBS Studio. Double-click the OBS Studio installer file (you'll find it in your browser's default downloads location), click Yes when prompted, click Next, click I Agree, click Next, uncheck the plugin box if you don't want OBS in your browser, and click Install.
  3. How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 3How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 3
    Click Finish when prompted. It's in the bottom-right corner of the window. Doing so will complete the installation and open OBS Studio.
    1. You can also open OBS Studio by click Start
      How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 4How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 4
      , typing in obs studio, and clicking OBS Studio at the top of the Start window.
  4. How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 5How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 5
    Click OK when prompted. This accepts the OBS Studio terms of use and opens the OBS Studio window.
  5. How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 6How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 6
    Click Yes on the "Auto-Configuration Wizard" window. This will bring up a window. To complete the setup wizard:
    1. Check the "Optimize just for recording" box.
    2. Click Next
    3. Click Next
    4. Click Apply Settings
    5. If you prefer to set your own settings, click No instead.
  6. How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 7How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 7
    Add your computer's desktop as a source. Click the + icon below the "Sources" heading, click Display Capture or Game Capture, click OK at the bottom of the "New Capture" window, and click OK at the bottom of the subsequent window.
  7. How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 8How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 8
    Click Start Recording. It's in the bottom-right corner of the OBS Studio window. Doing so will prompt OBS Studio to begin recording your screen's contents.
    1. You can stop the recording by clicking Stop Recording in the bottom-right corner of OBS Studio.
  8. How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 9How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 9
    Fix the OBS Studio "Failed to start recording" error if needed. In some cases, you'll see an error that says "Starting the output failed. Please check the log for details" in a pop-up window. To fix this error:
    1. Click OK on the error message.
    2. Click Settings on the lower-right side of the OBS Studio window.
    3. Click Output in the upper-left side of the Settings window.
    4. Click the "Encoder" drop-down box.
    5. Click Software (x264) in the drop-down menu.
    6. Click Apply, then click OK
Method 2 of 3:

On Mac

  1. How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 10How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 10
    Open Spotlight
    How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 11How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 11
    . Click the magnifying glass-shaped icon in the top-right corner of the screen.
  2. How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 12How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 12
    Type quicktime into Spotlight. This will search your Mac for the QuickTime app.
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    Click QuickTime. It should be the top search result in the Spotlight search. Doing so will open QuickTime.
  4. How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 14How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 14
    Click File. This menu item is in the top-left corner of your Mac's screen. A drop-down menu will appear.
  5. How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 15How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 15
    Click New Screen Recording. It's near the top of the File drop-down menu. Clicking this prompts a "Screen Recording" bar to open.
  6. How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 16How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 16
    Click the "Record" button. It's the red and silver circular button at the bottom of the Screen Recording bar. Doing so brings up a screen selection box.
    1. You can also click ∨ to the right of the recording button to prompt a drop-down menu with microphone options and the option to enable or disable alerts for mouse clicking in the recording.
  7. How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 17How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 17
    Click anywhere on the screen. This will prompt QuickTime to begin recording your entire screen's contents.
    1. Alternatively, you can click and drag the selection box to surround a section of your screen and then click the "Record" button again to record only the surrounded section.
    2. To stop recording, click File in your Mac's menu bar, then click Stop Recording in the drop-down menu.
Method 3 of 3:

Using the Game Bar on Windows

  1. How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 18How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 18
    Open Start
    How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 19How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 19
    . Click the Windows logo in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
  2. How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 20How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 20
    Open Settings
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    . Click the gear-shaped icon in the lower-left side of the Start window.
  3. How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 22How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 22
    Click Gaming. It's the Xbox logo on the Settings page.
    1. Not all Windows computers have this option. If you haven't updated to the Creator's Update and/or you don't have a supported video card, you won't be able to screen-record with the Game Bar.
  4. How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 23How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 23
    Click Game bar. You'll find this tab in the upper-left side of the page.
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    Enable game recording. Click the
    How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 25How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 25
    Off switch below the "Record game clips, screenshots, and broadcast using Game Bar" heading at the top of the page. It will switch to
    How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 26How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 26
    On. You should now be able to record the screen from within games.
    1. You can add your own keyboard shortcut for game recording in the text field below the "Stop/start recording" heading.
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    Open a game that you want to record. You can also open an app or program that you want to record, though you cannot record the desktop with Game Bar and you can't switch apps whilst recording.
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    Press ⊞ Win and G at the same time. This keyboard combination launches the Game Bar.
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    Check the "Yes, this is a game" box. It's in the Game Bar notification at the bottom of the screen. Doing so will open the Game Bar itself at the bottom of the screen.
  9. How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 30How to Record Your Computer Screen Picture 30
    Begin recording your gameplay. Click the red circle icon on the game bar, or press ⊞ Win+Alt+R. Windows will start recording your gameplay.
    1. You can click the square icon on the game bar to stop recording, or you can use the ⊞ Win+Alt+R shortcut again.
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