Microsoft has focused much on the gaming section with the new Windows 10 OS. The software comes with pre-installed Xbox app for connecting with Xbox One and Xbox 360 console users along with Game DVR for taking screenshots and recording gameplay clips. Our favourite is streaming Xbox One games to Windows 10 computer.
A ‘Game bar’ brings users with simple shortcut on Windows 10 with Windows key + G for quick access to gaming features. The game bar basically features five buttons. Their functions are listed below:
- Xbox app shortcut
- Take a screenshot with hotkey: Win + Alt + PrtScn
- Generate recording of the previous 30 seconds. Hotkey: Win + Alt + G, works only when background recording is enabled.
- Game DVR settings.
- Start/stop recording with hotkey: Win + Alt + R
The Windows 10 game bar can be used to record gameplay footage or screenshots. The functionality can also be used as screen recording, however it is somewhat limited.
The videos and pictures are generated in MP4 and PNG formats and placed in the C:\User\(your username)\Videos\Capture.
It is advisable to configure settings for the Game DVR feature in Windows 10. You can configure options like enable/disable or replace the default keyboard shortcuts with hotkeys, choosing video quality and resolution ranging from “standard” to “high”.
The audio is being recorded in the bitrate 96, 128, 160 or 192kbps. Background recording cane be enabled to set the maximum clip length of the recorded video to 30 minutes, one hour or two hours.
How to Use Game Bar to Record a Game
To start recording, first press Win + G to bring up the bar, then press Win + Alt + R to start recording. The same can be used to stop the recording the footage. If the background recording is enabled, press Win + Alt + G to split out a clip of the last 30 seconds of gameplay.
According to Microsoft, the Game bar “usually record” footage even if it doesn’t appear. But in our review with three different games, we were only able to use it when the Game bar appeared in full screen mode.
The small red box recording time box can be hidden by pressing the Win + Alt + T. Screenshots can also be taken by pressing Win + Alt + PrintScreen. Both of them are saved in the above mentioned folder. They also show up in the Game DVR section of the Xbox app where it can be shared with your friends.
How to Use Game Bar to Record your Screen
The Game Bar can be also used as the screen capture tool, but unfortunately it doesn’t works as it says. Pressing Win + G on your desktop or in a file folder won’t do anything. Either way, you can bring up the game bar and then confirm the pop-up by telling it that, “Yes, this is a game”.
In our testing, the Game DVR worked fine with the Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Slack’s desktop app, Notepad and Spotify.
The feature works fine but it currently can’t replace the third party screen capture software apps available for Windows.