Windows Screen Recording With Audio: Mic and System Sound

Windows screen recording with audio means capturing two things at once: what happens on your screen, and the sound that goes with it, whether that is your voice, the computer’s own audio, or both. Windows 10 and 11 can already do this with built-in tools, but most failed recordings come down to one switch left off or the wrong audio device being selected. This guide walks through the free options, the settings that matter, and how to fix a recording that comes out silent or one-sided.

What “with audio” actually means on a PC

Before choosing a tool, it helps to know that Windows treats sound as two separate sources:

• Microphone input. Your voice, picked up by a built-in laptop mic, a USB mic or a headset mic.
• System audio. Everything your PC plays through speakers or headphones: a video in the browser, notification sounds, a demo app, the other people on a call. Some tools call this “computer audio”, “desktop audio” or “PC sound”.

A recorder can capture one, the other, or both. A narrated tutorial usually needs both. A recording of a webinar you are only watching needs system audio alone. A silent walkthrough you plan to narrate later needs neither at capture time.

Most complaints about “no sound” are really “only one of the two sources”. So the first decision is simply which sources you want, and then making sure each one has its own toggle switched on.

Which built-in tools record sound on Windows?

You do not need to install anything for basic recordings. Here is how the main free options compare.

Tool	Windows version	What it records	Audio options	Main limitation
Xbox Game Bar	Windows 10 and 11	One app window at a time	App/system sound plus an optional mic toggle	Cannot record the desktop or File Explorer, and switching windows can end the clip
Snipping Tool (video mode)	Windows 11	A region you draw, up to the full screen	Separate mic and system audio toggles	Basic output with no editing beyond what you do afterwards
Clipchamp screen recorder	Runs in the browser	A tab, a window or the whole screen	Mic and camera, plus tab or system audio if you allow sharing audio	Depends on the browser’s share dialog; easy to miss the audio checkbox

If you are on Windows 10, Game Bar is the only built-in route. On Windows 11, Snipping Tool is usually the easier choice because it can record any area of the screen rather than a single app. For a fuller walkthrough of each tool on its own, see our guides to built-in recording on Windows 10 and Snipping Tool and Game Bar on Windows 11.

How to record with Game Bar (Windows 10 and 11)

Game Bar was built for games, but it records most normal apps too, such as a browser or a slide deck.

1. Open the app you want to record and click inside it so it is the active window.
2. Press Win+G to open Game Bar. If nothing appears, check that it is enabled under Settings > Gaming.
3. Find the Capture widget. Click the microphone icon so it is not crossed out if you want your voice included. You can also toggle the mic with Win+Alt+M while recording.
4. Open the Audio widget and confirm the input device is the microphone you actually plan to use.
5. Press Win+Alt+R to start recording. Press it again to stop.
6. Find the file in your Videos folder, inside a Captures subfolder.

In the Captures section of Settings > Gaming, look at the captured audio options. Make sure audio recording is turned on and that the setting covers the sound you expect, because some choices capture only the recorded app while others capture everything the PC plays.

Game Bar has its own quirks, including greyed-out buttons on the desktop. Our Game Bar shortcuts and fixes guide covers those in detail.

How to record with Snipping Tool on Windows 11

Snipping Tool’s video mode is the simplest way to get Windows screen recording with audio from any part of the screen on Windows 11.

1. Open Snipping Tool and switch from the camera icon to the video icon. Recent versions also accept Win+Shift+R to jump straight into recording.
2. Click New and drag a box around the area you want. To capture the full screen, drag from corner to corner.
3. In the small toolbar that appears, check the microphone and system audio icons. Each one has its own toggle; a line through the icon means it is off.
4. Click Start, wait for the countdown, then work through your task.
5. Click the stop button. The clip opens in a preview window where you can save or copy it.

To avoid setting this up every time, open the three-dot menu, choose Settings, and turn on the options to include microphone input and system audio by default when a recording starts.

Fixing Windows screen recording with audio problems

If a test clip comes out wrong, work through these checks in order. Each one takes under a minute.

No sound at all

• Recheck both toggles in the recorder. In Game Bar, also confirm that audio capture is enabled in Settings > Gaming > Captures.
• Open Settings > Privacy & security > Microphone (on Windows 10, Settings > Privacy > Microphone) and make sure desktop apps are allowed to use the mic.
• Play the clip in a different player. Occasionally the file is fine and the player’s volume is muted.

Your voice is there but the computer sound is missing

This is the most common report, and Bluetooth headsets are the usual cause. When a wireless headset’s microphone is in use, many headsets switch into a lower-quality hands-free mode that Windows shows as a separate playback device. Your call or video audio may then play through a device the recorder is not listening to.

• Use the laptop’s built-in mic or a wired mic for your voice, and keep the Bluetooth headset for listening only.
• In Settings > System > Sound, check which output device is the default during recording, and play your test audio through that device.
• If you only need the other side of a call, turn the microphone off in the recorder so the headset stays in its normal stereo mode.

Computer sound is there but your voice is missing

• Speak while watching the input level bar in Settings > System > Sound > Input. If it does not move, Windows is listening to a different mic.
• In Game Bar, the mic may have been switched off with Win+Alt+M during a previous session.

Choppy video or out-of-sync sound

Recording is demanding on the processor. If something else is using most of the CPU, such as a large build or an AI coding agent working in the background, frames and audio can drift. Close heavy apps before you record. We are also working on CPU Limit, a coming-soon Windows utility meant to reserve part of the processor for you while greedy background tasks run.

Worked example: a five-minute tutorial with voice and app sound

Say you need to record a short walkthrough of a web app for a class or a colleague, and the app plays an alert sound you want viewers to hear. On Windows 11 it could go like this:

1. Prepare the screen. Close unrelated tabs, turn on Do Not Disturb so chat pop-ups do not appear, and set the browser zoom so text is readable at video size.
2. Pick devices. Plug in a wired headset or use the laptop mic. Open Sound settings, speak a sentence, and confirm the input bar moves.
3. Set Snipping Tool. Video mode, both audio toggles on, region drawn around the browser window only.
4. Test for 10 seconds. Say “testing, one, two”, then trigger the app’s alert sound. Stop and play the clip back. You should hear both your voice and the alert at a sensible balance.
5. Record in short sections. Two or three clips of a couple of minutes each are easier to redo than one long take.
6. Join and trim. Combine the clips in any video editor, cut the countdown and any false starts, then export.

The 10-second test is the step people skip, and it is the one that saves a wasted half hour of narration.

Turning a screen recording into an audio file

Sometimes you only want the sound, for example the audio from a recorded lecture or a voice note you made while demoing something. The video file already contains a separate audio stream, so you can pull it out without re-recording.

One reliable way is FFmpeg, a free command-line tool for audio and video. Once it is installed and available in your terminal, this command copies the audio from an MP4 recording into an M4A file without re-encoding it:

ffmpeg -i "Screen Recording.mp4" -vn -acodec copy "lecture-audio.m4a"

-vn drops the video, and -acodec copy keeps the original audio as it is. If you need an MP3 instead, let FFmpeg re-encode:

ffmpeg -i "Screen Recording.mp4" -vn -q:a 2 "lecture-audio.mp3"

Many video editors can also export an audio-only file if you prefer a graphical tool. Either way, keep the original video until you have listened to the extracted file.

When a separate screen recording program makes sense

The built-in tools are fine for occasional clips. Dedicated screen recording software for Windows starts to pay off when you record often and the same frustrations keep coming back:

• You need to record the desktop or several apps, which Game Bar cannot do.
• You want both sources captured reliably without re-checking toggles each time.
• You record many short clips and want to paste them straight into a chat or upload them quickly.
• You want a webcam overlay, annotations or editing in the same workflow.

We are building QuickCapture Screen Recorder for this kind of everyday use. It is a Windows tray recorder for a window, a region or the whole screen, designed to capture microphone and computer sound and then let you copy the video or open its publishing tools. It is coming soon and not yet available to download.

For editing recordings after capture, Xorn: AI Video Editor is also coming soon. It is a visual editor you can work in alongside coding agents such as Cursor, Claude Code or Codex, with the source included. If you are comparing recorders in general, our guide to choosing a screen recording program on Windows goes through setup tips, and you can browse everything else we make under Utilities and Software.

Whichever tool you use, the habit that matters most is the same: decide which sound sources you need, switch on each one, and record a short test before the real take.

Frequently asked questions

How do I screen record on a Windows laptop with sound?

On Windows 10 or 11, press Win+G to open Game Bar, then press Win+Alt+R to start recording the active app. Turn on the microphone button in the Capture widget if you want your voice. On Windows 11 you can also open Snipping Tool, switch to video mode and enable both the microphone and system audio toggles before you press Start.

How can I record my screen and audio at the same time?

Choose a recorder that captures two sources at once: system audio, which is the sound your PC plays, and microphone input, which is your voice. Snipping Tool on Windows 11 and Game Bar both offer separate toggles for each. Switch both on, check the right microphone is selected in Sound settings, and make a short test clip to confirm you can hear both.

Is there audio on a screen recording by default?

It depends on the tool. Game Bar usually captures the app's sound but leaves the microphone off until you enable it. Snipping Tool shows separate microphone and system audio toggles, and their default state follows its settings. Browser recorders only include tab or system audio if you tick the share audio option when picking what to share.

How do I turn my screen recording into audio?

Extract the soundtrack from the video file. A free command-line tool called FFmpeg can do this in one line, copying the audio stream into an M4A file without re-encoding. Many video editors can also export an audio-only file. Keep the original video until you have checked that the extracted audio plays correctly and is complete.

Why does my recording only have my voice and not the computer sound?

The most common cause is a Bluetooth headset. When its microphone is active, many headsets switch to a hands-free mode that appears as a different playback device, so the recorder may capture the wrong output. Use the laptop's built-in mic or a wired mic while keeping the headset for listening, and check that system audio is switched on in the recorder.