In Summary
- Windows 11 already offers screen recording capabilities with the Xbox Game Bar. However, the functionality is very limited compared to third-party screen recorders.
- With so many free and paid third-party screen recording apps available on the market, it’s hard to decide which one best suits your needs.
- To help you figure out which screen recording app suits your needs, we have created a list of the 7 best screen recording apps for Windows 11.
If you are a long-time Android or iOS user, you may know how easy it is to use the screen recording feature to capture what’s happening on your smartphone screen. Similarly, you can use a screen recording app for a computer to record what is happening on your computer screen. This could be a video of an online game, a tutorial, or an important meeting.
Screen recording apps for PC are very useful for people who want to create tutorials or demonstrations of their skills. They can also be used by teachers who wish to record their lectures and share them with students. The screen recording app can also be used by gamers who want to show off their gaming skills in videos and share them on Youtube, Twitch, or Facebook Live.
Microsoft recognized the practicality of this feature and released the Xbox Game Bar app along with Windows 10 (and continued it with Windows 11), which allows users to record gameplay sessions that can later be uploaded to streaming services like YouTube or Twitch. However, the Xbox Game Bar only works when you focus on a specific window and doesn’t come close to the practicality and usefulness of third-party screen recording apps, which offer far more features and the ability to create professional-looking live streams.
Table of Contents
9 Best Windows 11 Screen Recorders
So if you are looking for the best screen recorder for your Windows 11 PC, check out this list of free and paid screen recording apps available on the market that can help you create professional screen recordings in no time.
- OBS Studio
- Streamlabs OBS
- Advanced Screen Recorder
- Movavi Screen Recorder
- Easeus RecExperts
- Bandicam
- Loom
- ScreenRec
- Wondershare Demo Creator
OBS Studio
OBS or Open Broadcaster Software is one of the best free, open-source software for gameplay recording, screen recording, and live streaming, which is compatible with Windows, macOS, and Linux. OBS Studio offers many features and settings for power users who want to create professional-looking YouTube videos or live streams on Twitch.
OBS Studio offers powerful real-time features for capturing and mixing video and audio. You can create multiple scenes from a variety of sources, including window captures, custom text, image overlays, videos, webcams, your smartphone’s camera, a DSLR, and more.
On the audio side, you can add multiple audio inputs/sources with dedicated filters like noise reduction, amplification, equalization, etc., which give you finer control over your sound. This makes OBS one of the most versatile screen recording software among the bunch.
Although OBS is free and versatile from a live streamer’s point of view, beginners might find it complicated and annoying if they are just looking for a simple screen recording solution. This prompts us to state if you are not willing to get over the learning curve posed by the complicated UI, you might want to consider one of the below OBS alternatives.
Streamlabs OBS
Streamlabs OBS, not to be confused with OBS Studio, is also a software tool that allows you to record your screen and create real-time live streams. However, unlike the former, Streamlabs OBS offers a very user-friendly interface that is easy to set up while retaining all the features of OBS Studio.
Streamlabs OBS lets you decide how you want your dashboard to look. You can drag and drop elements to create a unique user interface that suits your screen recording/live streaming needs. You have full control over your recording by being able to choose which sources appear in your recording.
Streamlabs OBS is a great option for gamers as it allows them to create live replay clips for their live stream instantly. In addition, gamers can also configure dynamic in-game overlays that are optimized to work on a single monitor. This lets you include custom notification boxes, event lists, or chat boxes in your live stream to generate more engagement and keep viewers engaged.
Download Streamlabs OBS (Free)
Advanced Screen Recorder
After OBS Studio, Advanced Screen Recorder might be the best Windows screen recorder. Advanced Screen Recorder has everything you need from a great screen recorder for your Windows PC.
It has powerful and effective features that let you easily record your screen at up to 4K resolution. At the same time, you can capture multiple types of screenshots, add a personalized watermark, record a selected area on the screen, and so on.
Moreover, you can record yourself while recording the screen, allowing you to capture webcam videos.
Download Advanced Screen Recorder (Freemium)
Movavi Screen Recorder
Movavi Screen Recorder is a lightweight and user-friendly screen recording software for Windows and macOS that is as easy to use as possible. It’s especially suitable for creating video tutorials and presentations, as well as for recording webinars, video conferences, and podcasts.
Apart from the basic functions of recording in full-screen mode or adjusting the frame, Movavi Screen Recorder has a task scheduler to automate your recording schedule, a tool to draw on the screen, hotkey support, and a simple editor to trim video clips.
The free version of this screen recorder has a 5-minute recording limit and a watermark on your videos. To remove all these limitations, you can purchase a 1-year subscription for $42.95 or a lifetime license for $59.95.
Download Movavi Screen Recorder (Freemium)
Easeus RecExperts
One of the best screen recorders for Windows 11/10 is EaseUS RecExperts. There are a lot of professional features built into it, and it’s fast and easy to use.
Our testing of RecExperts revealed it effortlessly captured screen images, webcam images, system sounds, and audio from built-in and USB microphones. And it’s easy to select what exactly you want to record.
However, the free version has some limitations. RecExperts recordings are capped at one minute without a subscription. Moreover, useful tools like the recording scheduler are locked behind a paywall.
Download Easeus RecExperts (Freemium)
Bandicam
Bandicam Screen Recorder is a user-friendly, simple and efficient screen recording tool for Windows, ideal for gamers and teachers to create presentations and record gameplay scenes. With Bandicam, you can capture videos and images for screen recording in the best possible quality while reducing the load on your system. It offers support for hardware-accelerated h.264 encoding, allowing you to capture video quickly at a high compression ratio and excellent video quality at resolutions up to 4K UHD (3840 x 2160).
Apart from the technical details, Bandicam displays the FPS number in the corner of the screen when you enable the “Game Recording” mode, which lets you merge your webcam stream with the screen recording. In addition, unlike most screen recorders, Bandicam can remove the background of a webcam stream and offers support for mouse-click animations as well as a real-time annotation feature that allows users to draw lines, boxes, or highlights while recording.
Although it lets you capture an unlimited number of screen recordings, the freemium version of this app comes with a large watermark and only allows you to record videos up to 10 minutes long at a time. To overcome these drawbacks, you need to buy the full version of Bandicam, which is available for a one-time purchase of $39.95 (about Rs. 3,816).
Loom
Loom is available for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS and might be one of the easiest apps for screen recording. With Loom, you can take screen recordings of what’s on display and record yourself using the webcam.
In addition, the ability to sync videos directly to your username makes the screen recordings easy to share and collaborate with other users that can be added to the same account, making it ideal for workplaces.
However, unlike all the other alternatives listed here, Loom requires an active Internet connection to work. With the free version, you can only create up to 25 five-minute screen recordings. On the other hand, if you want to capture longer or more screen recordings, you need to subscribe to the business plan starting at $10/month.
Related Read: 10 Best Windows Screen Sharing Tools
Screenrec
Screenrec could be the perfect free alternative to Loom, offering an amazing number of features not usually offered by free products.
First of all, Screenrec is a lightweight recorder that won’t hog up your system resources. You can use it to make screen recordings at 1080 pixels with voiceovers and publish these videos without watermarks. Besides, there is no time limit for recording!
After recording, Screenrec will also immediately provide a shareable link for the recorded videos. Meanwhile, all recorded videos will be synced to your personal Screenrec cloud storage space. The platform also supports offline screen recording, where the files are stored locally on your PC and synced to the cloud as soon as you are connected to the internet.
Wondershare DemoCreator
Wondershare DemoCreator is an easy-to-use screen capture tool originally developed as part of the Wondershare Productivity and Media Creation apps. Wondershare DemoCreator is great for recording tutorials, PowerPoint presentations, gameplay sessions, and more.
It offers powerful screen recording capabilities and a very useful video editing feature that lets you trim, rotate, and crop clips. Besides, Wondweshare DemoCreator enables you to apply various audio/video effects, annotate/draw over videos, and record voiceovers, whether you have a subscription or not.
Note, however, that during the free trial period, you can only record up to 10-minute videos at a time. The paid plan, which offers unlimited recording and full access to the video editing toolkit, animated text, and the DemoCreator Chrome extension, is available for $10 for the monthly plan, $40 for the annual plan, or a one-time payment of $60.
Download Wondershare DemoCreator (Fremium)
FAQs on Best Screen Recording Apps for Windows 11
Which screen recording app offers the most features?
OBS Studio might be the most versatile and feature packed screen recording app of the bunch. OBS Studio provides powerful real-time video/audio recording and mixing capabilities. You can create multiple scenes from multiple sources such as window captures, custom text, image overlays, videos, webcams, your smartphone’s camera, a DSLR, and more.
Meanwhile, on the audio side of things, you can add multiple audio inputs/sources with dedicated filters such as noise reduction, gain, equalization, and so on that give you finer control over your sound.
Which screen recording app is best for gamers?
Streamlabs OBS might be the best screen recorder for games as it offers Gamers the ability to instantly create live replay clips for their live stream.
Additionally, with Streamlabs OBS gamers also can configure dynamic in-game overlays that are optimized to work on a single monitor, allowing you to enable custom alert boxes, event lists, or chat boxes to appear in your Livestream to create more engagement and retain viewers.
Which screen recording app is the easiest to use?
Screenrec might be the easiest screen recording app on the market.
Screenrec can be set up very quickly and also offers the ability to add a webcam overlay over a screen recording, syncing across multiple devices, and much more whilst being completely free.
Which screen recorder offers the best video quality on Windows?
Almost all screen recording apps support atleast 720p to 4k resolution when recording depending on whether they're free or paid.
However, if you want to go even higher than 4K and your PC supports it then OBS Studio might be your best bet. It offers you the ability to enter custom screen recording resolutions while being completely free.
How to record part of my computer screen on Windows 11?
If you want to record a part of your computer screen on Windows, you can use third-party screen recorder apps like Bandicam or Camtasia. On Bandicam, once you start the program, look for the "Rectangle on a screen" menu option and select it. Choose the area of the screen you want to record and start recording by clicking the REC button or F12 keyboard shortcut.