How to Record Screen in Windows 10 Using Xbox Game Bar

Although there are plenty of screen recording applications available in the market. But what if you don't even have to look for those third-party apps and buy them to use them.

Yes, you heard it right why would you need to look for other third-party apps if your windows 10 provides you with its inbuilt recording features known as Xbox Game Bar.

What is Xbox Game Bar? What Purpose it is used for?

To start with, Xbox Game Bar is a tool/app which is provided as an inbuilt feature on Windows 10 using which you can record your gameplay's, chat with your friends over Xbox Console, and receive invitations. etc You can also capture your screen activity or take a screenshot of a screen, particularly a working window screen.

NOTE: Even though you can record almost every single application which is provided in Microsoft stores or any usual desktop app such as Microsoft Office, web browsers, etc. But the only drawback of this tool is that it doesn't allow you to ideally record the windows File manager or the whole desktop home screen.

Why use the Xbox Game Bar tool for screen recording?

Xbox Game Bar tool comes pre-installed with Windows 10 and is totally free of cost. Initially, the interface is interactive and easy to understand and work with. Also, this is an inbuilt feature. Therefore, Microsoft will definitely provide future updates and may add a couple of new features to it.

How to Enable the Xbox Game Bar app in Windows 10?

1. To enable Xbox Game Bar, go to Settings > Gaming section or just search "enable Xbox Game Bar" in the search bar.

2. After the window get open tap the button and make sure it's "ON" in order to enable it. Also, tick mark the box to enable it in case you want to use the Xbox controller to open the Xbox Game Bar. (as shown in the image below)

3. Then go to the Capture section and tap on the background recording to enable it. in this section, you can also set various settings such as video recording length, video and audio quality, frame rates, etc... as per your requirement.

NOTE: Make sure that your PC meets certain hardware requirements else you can not use this tool . if your computer doesn't meet the basic requirement it may display an error message saying " your PC doesn't meet the minimum requirement ".

Below you will see all the keyboard shortcuts which you can use to perform different actions while using the Xbox game bar app.  All of These shortcuts' command keys are customizable too if you want to create your own command shortcut which is easier to remember for you.

Audio Settings:

Before launching the Xbox game bar app/ tool, you will need to allow access to your microphone if you want to record audio with the video as well. Therefore to do so follow the below steps ⬇:

1. Search 'microphone privacy settings' in the windows search bar and click to open it.

2. Now allow apps (including Xbox game bar)  to access your microphone by turning it "ON " as shown in the image below. 

Then Scroll down and look for the Xbox game bar and enable it.

3. To set up a few more settings in place, you need to open the Xbox Game Bar app by pressing Win+G and then click the 'Settings' icon (as shown in the figure below) on the bar to open the setting tab and then click on 'capturing' option where you will find "audio to record" section.

Choose accordingly whether you want to record audio while playing games only or in other areas as well...(All -is Recommended).

Xbox Game Bar Interface:

Now that you have set up all the settings needed and qualify the minimum hardware requirement,  you can now open the Xbox game bar app by simply pressing the Win+G shortcut command. When you will open the app for the first time you will see quick tips which will guide you through all the features you can use within the Xbox game bar. This is how the Xbox game bar interface will look like

How to Start Screen Recording?

To start or stop recording/capturing the screen while you are gaming, browsing, or doing some other task you need to press the Win+alt+R keys together.  A timer will show up somewhere on the screen (i.e. top right corner) indicating that the screen is recording right after you press the recording button and will also show the duration of the clip. 

By default, your mic will be muted as you start recording. therefore if you want to capture audio simultaneously use the command  Win+Alt+M to start or stop the audio recording. 

Or, You can also do so by clicking on the mute/unmute button beside the timer strip. [As shown below in the image]

When you finish or stop recording your clip the app will notify you that the clip is recorded and you can now view them from the destination folder.

How to View Recorded Clips?

After you are done recording the clips. you can now either save them for personal use or for editing and sharing purposes. To access these recorded clips folder you can follow two simple ways mentioned below:

• All the recorded files are saved in a folder named "Capture" on your computer. To find this folder you can simply search "capture" in the windows search ba

• or you can find the folder destination from the "captures settings".  To open captures settings go to Settings > Gaming > Captures. or you can simply search it on the windows search bar to open it directly. You can also change the folder 

• The Third way to find the destination folder is by using the Xbox game bar widget "Gallery".(shown in the image below )

Final Conclusion:

Even though Xbox Game Bar is a great tool for screen recording but due to its limitation that it won't let you record the whole desktop home screen ideally and the windows file manager might seem to be a drawback for some users.  Apart from these limitations it sometimes doesn't work instantly and might have a performance issue while playing some games.

But if you can work with these limitations then the Xbox game bar is a worth using all-in-one tool. However, if you want a more reliable option that can provide you a hazel less experience then you can consider other third-party tools or software available.