How to record your screen as a GIF or MP4 on Windows
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Showing a colleague how something works, or filing a bug someone can actually reproduce, is often easier with a short recording than with ten screenshots. Here is how to record your screen as an MP4 or a GIF on Windows.
The basic steps
- Press Ctrl+Shift+A and choose Record in the mode bar at the top.
- Drag to select the area to record. You can drag freely, or pick a fixed size and move the frame into position.
- Choose the format (MP4 or GIF) and frame rate. Turn on System sound or Microphone if you need audio.
- Click Start recording. You can Pause and Resume, then click Finish to end or Cancel to discard.
- When you are done you can preview the result, save it somewhere else, open its folder or delete it. It also stays in your history.
MP4 or GIF?
- MP4 is small, looks sharp and can carry sound, so it suits longer demos.
- GIF has no sound, but it loops by itself in documents, tickets and chats, which suits a short action of a few seconds. GIFs have a maximum length, and the app tells you when you choose one.
Free and Pro
The free edition records up to 60 seconds, enough for a small demo, and keeps the 3-second countdown before recording starts. Pro removes the length limit and adds recording effects that make a video easier to follow:
- Click highlights around the mouse pointer
- Shortcut display (only key combinations and function keys are shown, so normal typing, including passwords, never appears in the video)
- Automatic zoom that follows the mouse when you click
- A webcam picture-in-picture in any of the four corners
- Hide the mouse pointer inside the recording area, and hide desktop icons while recording
Pro has a 7-day free trial that needs no payment method and never charges automatically. System sound and these effects currently work on Windows only.
Before you record
- If the area may show emails or keys, hide them or switch to test data first. For screenshots, see how to blur sensitive details in a Windows screenshot.
- To show a very long page, a scrolling screenshot is often easier. See how to take a scrolling screenshot on Windows.
- More about the app on the SnapDuck home page.
SnapDuck is available from the Microsoft Store, and the core features are free.