How To Record On Windows

Tips
1

I’m trying to record both my screen and audio on a Windows PC but I’m confused by all the different tools and settings. I’ve tried using the Xbox Game Bar and a couple of free apps, but the recordings either don’t capture system sound or the video quality is bad. I’d really appreciate step-by-step advice on the best way to record on Windows, including recommended free software and ideal settings for clear audio and smooth video.

2

Short version for Windows screen + audio recording that actually works:

  1. First fix your audio (important part most people miss)

You want the system sound and your mic in the same place.

Step 1: Enable Stereo Mix (if your sound card has it)

  • Right click the speaker icon in the taskbar
  • Click “Sound settings”
  • Scroll, click “More sound settings”
  • Go to Recording tab
  • Right click in empty space, enable “Show Disabled Devices”
  • If you see “Stereo Mix”, right click, Enable
  • Set Stereo Mix as Default Device
  • Then right click your mic, choose “Listen” tab, check “Listen to this device”, set playback to your speakers/headset

Now Stereo Mix carries:

  • System audio
  • Your mic audio

If you do not have Stereo Mix, you fake it with a virtual cable:

Step 2: Use VB-Audio Virtual Cable (free)

  • Download “VB-CABLE Virtual Audio Device” from vb-audio dot com
  • Install, reboot
  • In Windows sound output, set your main Output to “CABLE Input”
  • In your player or browser, set output to system default (goes into the cable)
  • In recording apps, choose “CABLE Output” as the audio source
  • For your mic, mix it inside the recorder (see OBS steps below)
  1. Simple method with Xbox Game Bar

Works for games and many apps, not all.

  • Press Win + G
  • Click the Settings icon
  • Under “Capturing”, set Audio to “All”
  • Make sure “Game” and “Mic” sliders are unmuted
  • Press Win + Alt + R to start / stop recording

Limits:

  • Often does not record desktop or File Explorer
  • Breaks on some apps
  • Few options for audio routing

If Game Bar skips your window or gives black screen, move to OBS.

  1. Reliable method: OBS Studio

Install:

  • Get OBS Studio from obsproject dot com, install, run

Set video capture:

  • In “Sources”, click +
  • Choose “Display Capture” for full screen
  • Or “Window Capture” for a single app
  • Pick monitor or window

Set audio:

Option A, with Stereo Mix

  • In Settings → Audio
  • Under “Global Audio Devices” set:
    Desktop Audio: “Stereo Mix”
    Mic/Aux: disable or leave your physical mic off, since Stereo Mix already contains it
  • In main OBS window, watch audio meters move when you talk and when system audio plays

Option B, with VB-Cable

  • In Settings → Audio
  • Desktop Audio: “CABLE Output”
  • Mic/Aux: your actual microphone
  • In Windows sound settings, set system Output to “CABLE Input”
  • If you want to hear stuff, set VB Cable to monitor back out:
    In OBS mixer, click the gear on Desktop Audio → “Advanced Audio Properties”
    Set “Audio Monitoring” of Desktop Audio to “Monitor and Output”
    Monitor device set in Settings → Audio → Advanced section

Record quality:

  • Go Settings → Output
  • Mode: Simple
  • Recording Quality: High Quality, Medium File Size (good start)
  • Recording Format: mp4 or mkv
    If you use mkv, enable “Automatically remux to mp4” in Advanced settings if you want mp4 files
  • Encoder:
    If you have NVIDIA, choose “NVENC H.264”
    If AMD, pick “AMF”
    If Intel, pick “QSV”
    Else, use “x264” but it hits CPU harder

Set resolution and FPS:

  • Settings → Video
  • Base (Canvas): your monitor resolution, like 1920x1080
  • Output: same as base for simple use
  • FPS: 30 is fine for tutorials, 60 for games

Record:

  • Click “Start Recording”
  • Do your stuff
  • Click “Stop Recording”
  • File path in Settings → Output → Recording Path
  1. If audio still fails

Common issues:

No system audio recorded:

  • Wrong Desktop Audio device in OBS
  • Windows output set to different device than OBS source
  • App uses its own output device in its settings

Mic too quiet or too loud:

  • In OBS mixer, right click mic → Filters
  • Add “Gain” filter if too quiet
  • Use “Compressor” to control peaks if you yell or laugh

Delay between voice and video:

  • In Advanced Audio Properties, adjust “Sync Offset (ms)” for mic
    Example, if your voice looks late by 200 ms, set mic offset to -200 or adjust until sync
  1. Simple alternative, less setup, no streaming tools

If you hate OBS, try:

  • ShareX
    Free, light, supports screen + audio
    In Task Settings → Screen recorder → Screen recording options
    Pick encoder (ffmpeg included)
    Set audio source to your main output + mic

  • Bandicam / Camtasia
    Paid, but they hide most complexity

Practical picks:

  • For quick “record this app with sound”: Xbox Game Bar
  • For “desktop + system + mic, no weird limits”: OBS Studio
  • For “lightweight, occasional use”: ShareX screen recorder

Start with OBS, follow steps above, record a 10 second clip, check playback. Tweak once, then you are done.

3

If Game Bar and random free stuff are giving you half‑broken recordings, you’re not crazy, that’s pretty normal. @andarilhonoturno already went deep on the OBS / Stereo Mix / VB Cable route, so I’ll avoid rehashing that and come at it from a slightly different angle.

Here’s another way to think about it: fix what you want to record first, then pick the tool.

1. Decide exactly what you need

Ask yourself:

  • Do you need:

    • Screen + system sound only?
    • Screen + system sound + mic?
    • Multiple apps with different volumes?

  • Are you recording:

    • Games
    • Desktop / browser / tutorials
    • Video calls

The reason: some recorders only grab “game audio,” some only grab a specific device, some choke on protected content (Netflix etc).

2. Try a less fussy tool than OBS

OBS is super powerful, but if you just need “record screen + audio,” it can feel like flying a 747 to go to the grocery store.

A couple of options that tend to “just work”:

A. ShareX with a sane setup

ShareX is free and lighter than OBS. @andarilhonoturno already name‑dropped it, but here’s a different approach that avoids messing with Stereo Mix / VB Cable at all.

  1. Install ShareX.
  2. Open Task settings → Screen recorder → Screen recording options.
  3. Click “Audio source.”
  4. Pick:
    • Your speakers / headphones as main audio
    • Your mic as second audio source

If Windows gives you separate playback devices for speakers and headset, be sure your default output device in Windows matches what you pick in ShareX, or you’ll get silent video.

This method keeps Windows normal:

  • No virtual cable
  • No Stereo Mix dependency

Downside: if Windows apps start routing audio to other devices, you may have to manually point them back to default.

B. Simple freeware: FlashBack Express (if you can still get it)

This one often gets overlooked:

  • Lets you pick:
    • Entire screen or window
    • Mic
    • “PC sounds”
  • UI is way simpler than OBS.
  • Doesn’t require you to understand audio routing.

In the settings, just make sure:

  • Audio source: “Speakers / Headphones” checked
  • “Microphone” checked
  • Test by hitting record for 5 seconds, play the clip, and watch if both your voice and a YouTube video show up.

Not as flexible as the OBS setups @andarilhonoturno described, but way easier to not screw up.

3. Avoid Stereo Mix unless you have to

Slight disagreement with the Stereo Mix focus: it can work great, but on some modern laptops:

  • Stereo Mix is missing
  • Or present but noisy / distorted
  • Or gets weird volume behavior

If you don’t absolutely need to mix everything at the OS level, you can skip it and just:

  • Use:
    • Speakers/headphones as “Desktop audio”
    • Mic as “Mic”
      in whatever recorder you choose.

That avoids the “why is my mic echoing” problem that happens if you accidentally monitor things twice.

4. Common gotchas that usually cause “no audio”

No matter what app you use, check these:

  1. Wrong default output device

    • Right click speaker icon → Sound settings.
    • “Output” device should be the same one your recorder is listening to.
    • If the recorder is listening to “Speakers,” but you’re actually using Bluetooth headphones, your recording will be dead silent.

  2. App using a different output

    • Some browsers, games, or conference apps have their own audio output setting.
    • If Chrome is outputting to “Headphones 2” but your recorder grabs “Speakers,” you miss it.

  3. Mic muted in the recorder

    • Even if Windows shows mic levels, your recorder might have it muted separately.

  4. Wrong capture source

    • Game Bar and some simple tools will happily record only the “game” audio, not the rest of the system, if set that way.

5. A minimal “works for most people” recipe

If you don’t want to fiddle too much, try this sequence:

  1. Use ShareX:

    • Set video source: “Screen recorder.”
    • Audio 1: your current speakers/headset.
    • Audio 2: your mic.

  2. In Windows:

    • Make sure the same speakers/headset are set as default output.
    • Talk into mic, watch ShareX VU meters to confirm signal.

  3. Record a 10 second test:

    • Play a YouTube video at normal volume.
    • Talk over it.
    • Stop recording, play the file, verify both are there.

If that test works, your setup is fine and any future failure is usually app‑specific (like a game using a weird device), not your recorder.

If you post what exactly isn’t being captured (only mic, only game, only browser, etc) and what headset/speakers you’re on (USB, 3.5mm, HDMI, Bluetooth), people can probably pinpoint the exact mis‑match. The tools are less the problem than Windows quietly sending audio to one place and the recorder listening to another.

4

If Game Bar + random free apps are giving you junk, I’d stop fighting them and flip the approach: let Windows handle the messy routing, then use a recorder that just listens to whatever Windows is already playing.

Since @andarilhonoturno went deep on OBS, Stereo Mix, and virtual cables, here’s a different route that skips virtual devices entirely and focuses on reliability.

1. Start with Windows sound sanity check

Before touching any recorder:

  1. Right click speaker icon → Sound settings.
  2. Under Output:
    • Set the device you actually hear (speakers, USB headset, HDMI monitor) as Default.
  3. Under Input:
    • Pick the mic you actually use as Default.
  4. Click “More sound settings” → “Recording” tab:
    • Talk and make sure your mic level moves.
    • On “Playback” tab, play a YouTube video, make sure it hits the same output device you set as default.

If this is wrong, no recorder will behave.

I slightly disagree with relying purely on per‑app audio outputs: for a first clean setup, force everything to the Windows default. Once it works, then customize.

2. Use a recorder that follows the system mix

If Game Bar is skipping audio or grabbing only game sound, try a tool that simply records the system mix instead of guessing “game” vs “desktop.”

Two categories:

A. Tools that respect “what you hear”

Some screen recorders just grab the current playback device. That usually means:

  • Whatever you hear in your headphones/speakers
  • Plus your mic

These are simpler than the OBS + VB Cable stack that @andarilhonoturno mentioned and usually enough for tutorials, calls, and light gaming.

When you compare options like this, pretend you’re picking a camera:

  • Can it see the whole screen?
  • Does it hear what you hear?
  • Can it also hear you?

If all three are true in a 10 second test clip, you’re good.

3. Handle special cases that usually break recordings

Where people get stuck:

  1. Video calls (Zoom, Teams, Discord, etc.)
    These apps often try to be clever with echo cancellation and audio devices. If your recording has mic but no call audio:

    • In the call app’s audio settings, set both speaker and mic to “Default device” or explicitly to the same devices you chose in Windows.
    • Turn off fancy “use separate audio device” options until you have a working baseline.

  2. Bluetooth headphones
    These sometimes create multiple playback devices (music vs hands‑free). Only one carries proper stereo system audio.

    • Make sure Windows and your recorder are both using the stereo music device, not the hands‑free one.
    • If your recording sounds like it came through a phone call, you picked the wrong one.

  3. Multiple monitors / HDMI audio
    If your monitor has speakers:

    • Decide whether audio should go to the monitor or your main speakers.
    • Set just one as default, match that in the recorder.

I disagree a bit with avoiding all complexity: occasionally picking the wrong HDMI device is exactly why it seems like “the recorder is broken.”

4. Test like this every time you change something

Whenever you switch headsets, mics, or apps:

  1. Record 10 seconds.
  2. Play YouTube + talk into mic.
  3. Watch that you hear:
    • System audio
    • Your voice
      at reasonable levels.

If it fails after that worked once, 90% of the time a specific app overrode your audio devices.

5. About the unnamed “How To Record On Windows” type tools

There are a bunch of apps marketed as “How To Record On Windows” screen recorders that bundle:

  • Full screen or window capture
  • System audio + mic capture
  • Simple export formats

Pros:

  • Usually easier to set up than OBS.
  • No need for Stereo Mix or VB Cable.
  • UIs tend to be straightforward: pick screen, pick mic, hit record.
  • Good for quick tutorials, training, or recording browser content.

Cons:

  • Less control over multiple audio tracks than OBS.
  • Some limit recording length in the free version.
  • A few add watermarks or compress video more aggressively.
  • Not ideal for complex game streaming setups.

Compared to the more advanced pipeline @andarilhonoturno described, these “How To Record On Windows” style tools trade power for reliability. For most people just trying to grab screen + system audio + mic, that tradeoff is worth it.

If you post your exact combo (e.g. USB mic + Bluetooth headset + 2 monitors, trying to record a browser and a Zoom call) plus which recorder you want to stick with, you can usually narrow it down to a single wrong device setting instead of bouncing between five different apps.