GUIDE
How to Record Gameplay on PC for Free — 4 Best Methods (2026)
About this guide
Learn how to record gameplay on PC for free in 2026. Compare Xbox Game Bar, NVIDIA ShadowPlay, AMD ReLive & more. Zero-cost, high-quality capture.
1 min readReading time
BeginnerDifficulty
UpdatedAug 13, 2026
Record Without Spending a Cent
You don't need expensive software to record gameplay. Windows and your GPU already include free recording tools.
🎥 4 Free Methods
- Xbox Game Bar (Windows) — Press Win+G → click Record. Built into Windows 10/11. Zero setup. Files save to Videos/Captures.
- NVIDIA ShadowPlay (GeForce Experience) — Press Alt+F9 to start/stop. Hardware-encoded, near-zero performance impact. Best option for NVIDIA GPUs.
- AMD ReLive (Adrenalin Software) — AMD's equivalent. Hardware-encoded recording for AMD GPUs.
- OBS Studio — Free, open-source, professional-grade. Customizable scenes, streaming support, works on any GPU. Steeper learning curve but most flexible.
📖 More Tutorials
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