How to Screen Record on Windows 10 & 11 (With Audio)

Digital illustration of a desktop computer with a Windows logo on the screen, indicating a guide for screen recording on a Windows operating system. A camera icon with focus brackets is positioned to the right of the monitor, symbolizing a webcam or video capture function. A control panel with buttons and dials is seen to the left of the screen, suggesting software tools for video recording.

Table of contents

Have you ever wanted to record your screen on Windows, but found yourself getting frustrated by the limitations of built-in tools? Odds are that if you’ve tried using a basic tool, you’ve struggled with one or more of the following obstacles:

  • You can’t record file menus or dropdowns
  • You can only record one window at a time
  • You can’t add effects or callouts
  • You can’t record your audio simultaneously

Well, there is a better way. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the steps of how to record your screen on Windows 10 & 11 using a range of different tools. So you can find the best screen recorder to suit your needs. 

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illustration of snagit's screen recording interface

How to screen record on Windows 10 & 11 with Game Bar

The Xbox Game Bar is readily available on Windows 10 and Windows 11 computers. Initially designed for gamers wanting to capture their gameplay, it can be used to record anything!

Here’s how to make a Windows screen recording using the Game Bar:

Open the Game Bar

Starting up the Game Bar is super easy. All you need to do is press the keyboard shortcut Windows logo key + G at the same time. This will open a control panel near the bottom of your screen.

Choose your audio inputs

In case you want to narrate or add a live commentary to your screen recording, click on the Record Mic option. But remember, you can record your audio separately and add it later if you prefer. 

You might want to think about the equipment you’re using and whether you’ve got the best microphone for recording videos. It’s not a deal-breaker, but it can make a difference.

Start recording

Next, start your screen recording by clicking on the bright red recording icon. Then, when you want to stop recording, click on the red recording panel that appears in the top right corner of your screen. 

All screen recordings are automatically saved on your laptop as MP4 files and can be found in the videos folder.

How to screen record on Windows 11 & 10 with Snagit

When you need to show a process or walkthrough with a short video that doesn’t require much editing, then a screen capture tool like Snagit is the perfect tool for you.

It’s easy to use, has high video quality, and comes with a range of features, from basic trimming and editing to more advanced tools that let you turn screenshots into videos

Short and informal screen recordings are great for off-the-cuff videos that explain and convey information to others. For many people, these are the types of recordings they make the most, which is partly because they only take seconds to create!

 

In this section, we’ll walk you through the step-by-step process of video recording your screen using Snagit. 

Choose what you want to record

To start, open Snagit and select the video tab from the start menu. Make sure that Region is selected from the drop-down menu, as this will make it easy to record just part, or all, of your screen.

Image of Snagit's capture Menu with arrows indicating where to click.

When you’re ready, hit the red Capture button — you can’t miss it! Then, the crosshairs will appear, so you can select the area that you want to record.

You’ll notice that the selection will automatically snap to the windows you have open. However, to manually select a portion of your screen, just click and drag the crosshairs accordingly.

How to use the crosshairs to select a recording region in Snagit

Step 2: Choose which audio to record

With your region selected, it’s time to choose your audio input settings.

To record your voice, select the Record Microphone option. To record the sounds that come from your computer as well, make sure to select Record System Audio.

Snagit can even record your webcam alongside your screen so that your face appears in the screen recording. It’s a great way to bring more personality to your videos and connect with your audience.

Image of Snagit's Capture menu with arrows indicating where to click.

Step 3: Start your screen recording

Click Record. Snagit will then give you a three-second countdown and anything that appears in the recording area will be captured in your video.

Snagit will give you a 3 second countdown before it starts recording

Once you’ve recorded everything that you want to be included in your video, click Stop.

Recording toolbar

Step 4: Trim your video

Once you’ve stopped recording, the Snagit Editor will open in a new window and your video will open in a new canvas, ready to be edited, trimmed, or shared. 

Of course, once you’re finished with your screen recording, you’ll probably want to edit it a little. Even the most carefully planned recordings will likely have something you want to cut, and with Snagit, you can easily trim your recording to remove unwanted clips.

How to trim a video in Snagit

On the other hand, to bring multiple clips or snippets together and produce a longer video, you can use Snagit’s Combine Videos feature. This allows you to merge several clips together and create one cohesive video.

Step 5: Save or share

To save your video, simply go to File and click Save as…, from there, all you have to do is decide where you want to save your file, and click Save.   

However, you can click on the Share Link button in the top-right corner of the Snagit Editor too. This will automatically upload your video to Screencast

The link to your video will be automatically copied to your clipboard so that you can share it instantly with anyone. Simply paste the link into an email, a direct message, a Slack channel, or any other form of communication and send it!   

How to make a professional-quality recording on Windows 10 & 11 with Camtasia

While Snagit is perfect for creating short and informal videos, there’s nothing better than Camtasia when you need to add more polish to your screen recordings.

 

While many screen recordings don’t need to be overly complex, sometimes you might want to add closed captions, effects, and animations to your videos.

Step 1: Choose your recording options

First, open Camtasia and click the Record button.

How to record your screen using Camtasia

From here, the Camtasia recorder allows you to fully customize the controls for your recordings.

Customize your recording controls with Camtasia

Step 2: Select the region you want to record

Similarly to Snagit, Camtasia lets you choose to record your whole screen or a specific part of it. You can choose from one of the pre-determined regions or choose “select an area to record” to select a custom region.

Pro tip: If you do plan on recording your entire desktop, it might be worth tidying it up a little to ensure there is nothing distracting or unwanted in your video.

Select a custom region to record with Camtasia

Step 3: Record your audio

Just choose which microphone you want to record from and decide whether you want to record your computer’s system audio.

Then, when you’re ready to stop the recording, click the recorder icon in the taskbar. We told you it was easy! 

How to select your microphone using Camtasia

Step 4: Edit your video

While you can do some simple editing in Snagit, Camtasia comes with a much more powerful and feature-rich built-in video editor. 

How to trim a video in Camtasia

When editing your video, the first thing you’ll want to do is cut out any mistakes and errors. You can do this by selecting them with the playhead, and clicking Cut. You can also trim footage from the beginning and end of your recording by dragging either end of the clip in the timeline.

Once you’ve trimmed your footage accordingly, you can play around with Camtasia’s more advanced features and add a wide range of different effects and animations!

Step 5: Produce and share

Finally, once you’ve perfected your video it’s time to share it with the world. Whether you’ve recorded a webinar or an entire lecture, there are loads of platforms you can use to host your video.

Depending on your audience an online platform like YouTube or Vimeo could be the perfect place to host your video. If, however, you’d rather share it with a select group of people then Screencast might be a better option. 

How to share videos using Camtasia

And that’s all there is to it! Whether you want to use the built-in tools, like Game Bar, or third-party software such as TechSmith’s Snagit and Camtasia, you now know how to screen record on Windows, with audio.

Screen recordings are a great way to produce clear communications for your audience. This means you no longer have to schedule Zoom calls to walk a coworker through a process or have countless meetings to explain simple tasks. From now on, you can just send them a screen recording!