How to record your screen

Screen recording has many uses — keeping a record of important video calls, creating a demo for someone else to follow, or recording your gaming prowess to upload to YouTube. 

The answer to "how do you screen record?" depends on what system you're running. 

And if you're looking for a guide on how to screen record on PC or Mac, then look no further! 

If you're running macOS Ventura or higher, your system includes a built-in screen recording tool. 

To record screens on a Mac:

• Press Shift + Command + 5
• Choose to record your entire Mac screen or a custom area
• Options include hiding your cursor, setting a countdown timer, and capturing audio from your Mac microphone
• You can also trigger your Mac screen recording by pressing Command + Control + Esc on your keyboard

To stop screen recording on Mac, use the same keyboard combo of Command + Control + Esc

Your video will save to your desktop by default, and systems with Mojave or higher can also trigger the above via QuickTime by going to File > New > Screen Recording.

Windows 10 and 11 both come with built-in Windows screen recorders. 

Once you've identified which version you're running by selecting Start > Settings > System > About, you'll know how to screen record Windows for your PC.

There are two ways to record screens on Windows 10 — via PowerPoint or the built-in Xbox Game Bar. 

Try both, and work with whichever Windows 10 screen recorder works best for your needs. 

PowerPoint 
If you have PowerPoint and an active Microsoft 365 subscription, then you can use this presentation software as a screen recorder for Windows 10:

• Open a new PowerPoint presentation file
• Select Insert on the menu bar
• Click on Media to the far right
• Select Screen Recording 

This will bring up a new taskbar from which you can start your screen recording. 

Xbox Game Bar 
Windows 10 comes pre-installed with the Xbox Game Bar, which can be used as an effective way of recording non-gaming screen action as well. 

To access the bar, press the Windows logo key + G and it will open over your game, app, or desktop.

You can also go to Settings > Gaming > Xbox Game Bar and toggle the switch so that the bar opens when you press the home button on your Xbox controller.

When the Xbox Game Bar is loaded, you can use keyboard shortcuts to speed things up:

• Windows logo key + Alt + PrtScn: take a screenshot
• Windows logo key + Alt + R: start/stop screen recording
• Windows logo key + Alt + B: turn HDR on or off 

Your new video can then be found as .mp4s in your default File Explorer location: C:\Users\[username]\Videos\Captures.

While the above two screen recorder methods will work on both Windows 10 and 11, this one will only work on Windows 11 build number 22621.1344 or higher. 

If you're running this (which you can check by going to Settings > System > About and checking the Windows Specifications section) then you can use the Windows Snipping Tool as a lightweight screen recorder. 

Press Win + Shift + S, select the video camera icon, and click New.

You can drag the outline to select the part of the screen you want to record, then click Start to begin capturing your .mp4.

There are a ton of screen recorders out there that claim to be free, but many of them impose time limits or watermarks, or may not be from the most trustworthy source. 

However, we feel confident recommending OBS Studio, a free, open-source package available for Windows, macOS and Linux. 

It features live streaming, specific options for mirrored recording vs. video streaming vs. gaming, and even basic video editing tools, should you need them. 

The community has created a lot of helpful resources  should you wish to find out more before downloading, and a Quick Start Guide  for when you're ready to try it out.