Sometimes you may need to record a video of the screen in Windows computers to explain certain steps in the computer, such as: steps to activate a specific feature, or how to change certain settings in order to explain them to someone else. You may also need to record screen video for many other reasons.
Many third-party apps dedicated to recording screen video are available on Windows computers, some free and some paid.But instead of downloading a third-party app, you can take advantage of the tools built into the Windows operating system.
A screen video tool called Xbox Game Bar is available in Windows 10 and Windows 11, and is designed to record gameplay on your computer. But it's a versatile tool that you can use to record screen video featuring any activity you do on your computer, not just gameplay.
With Xbox Game Bar, you can easily record a video of your computer screen and turn on the microphone to speak while recording the video, or you can play any other sound, then save the video to your computer. You will then be able to see and manage all the tracks recorded within the Game Bar interface and play any video. The videos will be saved as an MP4 file, so you can easily edit them using any video editor.
If your computer is running Windows 11, you can also use another screen video recording tool called Snipping Tool.
How to record screen video in Windows computers using Xbox Game Bar tool:
Before you start recording a video of the screen in Windows computers using Xbox Game Bar, you must adjust some settings, by following these steps:
1- Go to Settings on your computer, then click on the Gaming option, then choose Captures.
2- In Windows 10, enable the option (Record in the background while I'm playing a game). On Windows 11 computers, the Record what happened option was enabled.
3- You can then specify the duration of the recording in the background. Click the menu button next to the Record the last option, to select the time from 15 seconds to 10 minutes.
4- Activate the option (Record even when my PC isn't plugged) and the option (Record while wireless projecting my screen).
5- Click the menu button next to the Max recording length option, and choose either 30 minutes, one hour, two hours, or 4 hours.
6- To record your voice while recording a screen video, turn on Record audio when I record a game in Windows 10, or Capture audio when recording a game in Windows 11. You can then adjust the sound quality, microphone volume, and computer volume.
7- You can also change the frame rate of the video frame, and you will notice that the recommended frame rate is 30 frames per second. You can change it to 60 fps, but 30 fps is enough for most recordings.
8- For (Video quality) by default, it is set to (Standard), and you can change it to (High).
9- You can turn off the Capture mouse cursor when recording a game.
Start recording a video of the screen:
After you've adjusted all the settings, you can start recording a video of the screen. Here's how:
1- Prepare the activity you want to record, and when you are ready to start, press the (Windows and G) buttons.
2- The Game Bar widget will appear, which includes the top toolbar and the part of the screen video shot called Capture.
3. To start recording, click the record button that appears in the Capture section, then start the activity you want to record.
4- A small recording pad will appear in the screen while recording the video.
5. After you finish recording the video, click the stop button that appears as a small square inside a circle in the small recording panel to stop recording.
6- A message will appear informing you that the video clip was recorded. Click on that message or click on the buttons (Windows and G) to return to the Game Bar interface.
7- The video will appear in the Gallery section with the name, date and time of recording, and the video will be available for playback. Press the play button in the center of the video thumbnail, and from the screen itself you can pause the video and turn the volume up or down.
»To play or edit a recorded video without going to the Game Bar, go to (C:), then (users), then click (username of your computer), then (videos), then (Capture) where you will see your videos saved as MP4 files, you can open them in the video editing application or another application to play them.
How to record screen video in Windows 11 using Snipping Tool:
To record screen video in Windows 11 using Snipping Tool, the operating system version must be (22621.1344) or later. To verify this, follow these steps:
1- Go to Settings, then choose System, then click on the About option.
2- In the Windows specifications section, the version number shown should be (22621.1344) or later.
3- If the operating system on your computer is not up to date, go to the Windows Update section in Settings to update the operating system, then go to the Microsoft Store to update applications.
4- Next, open the window or application from which you want to start recording a video of the screen.
5- Click the Start button, then go to All Apps, then click on the Snipping Tool icon that appears as scissors.
6- Click on the camera icon shown in the toolbar and then click the (New) button.
7- Select the area you want to record a video for, then click the Start button at the top.
8- After recording starts, practice the activity you want to capture on your computer screen.
9- Click the Pause button in the toolbar to take a break, then click the Record button to complete the recording.
10- After completing the recording, click the Stop button.
12- Click the Save button to save the recording as an MP4 video file.
