If your computer has an Nvidia graphics card, you are well equipped to play many of the best PC games. If you love gaming, you might want to record yourself playing at some point so you can share those clips with your friends, and the Nvidia GPU can help.
Enter Nvidia Shadowplay, also known as Nvidia Share, proprietary video recording and sharing software that anyone with an Nvidia GPU can use. It’s part of the GeForce Experience suite of programs, and it’s easy to use – well, if you have an Nvidia GPU, chances are GeForce Experience is already running on your PC!
Read on to learn how to quickly and effectively record yourself playing games with Nvidia software, which again is only possible if you’re using an Nvidia graphics card.
It doesn’t even need to be the latest either; Sure Nvidia GeForce RTX 4000 series cards will do, but as long as your Nvidia graphics card is newer than 2015 or so you should have no problem using Shadowplay.
How to use Nvidia Shadowplay
1. Verify that GeForce Experience is running with in-game overlay enabled
2. Press Alt-Z to open the GeForce Experience overlay
3. Click Record to start recording a video
4. Alternatively, click on Live Stream to stream the live video
1. Verify that GeForce Experience is running with in-game overlay enabled
(Photo: © Future)
You need to make sure that Nvidia’s GeForce Experience software is running on your computer in order to use Shadowplay recording features. You can download GeForce Experience from a file Nvidia website (Opens in a new tab) If you don’t have it installed.
If GeForce Experience is installed, launch it (the fastest way is Press the start button And type GeForce Experiencethen here when it is featured in the search results) and Enter the settings menu by Clicking the gear icon. From there, make sure that the In-game overlay turned on Because it’s what you want to record video.
2. Press Alt-Z to open the GeForce Experience overlay while gaming
(Photo: © Future)
Once you’ve launched GeForce Experience and made sure that the in-game overlay feature is enabled, you can press Alt + Z Key combination while playing games to open the GeForce Experience overlay.
This simple interface gives you quick access to GeForce Experience settings (just hit the gear icon) as well as toggles for microphone, camcorder, and capture modes.
From here, you can do things like screenshots, look at your gallery, and tweak performance settings. You can also turn on Instant Replay, which automatically records video as you play (up to a preset limit) so you can quickly bring it up to capture a video of something you did in the game.
3. Click Record to start recording a video
(Photo: © Future)
But what we’re interested in for the purposes of this guide is video recording, and the simplest way to do that is using Nvidia Shadowplay Click the Record button in the center of the screen.
From there you can Click Start to start recording your gameplay (You can also use the Alt + F9 key combination) and do the same again when you want to stop recording. Once done, the video will be stored on our computer, usually in a file Videos > Desktop folder by default. You can change this and other settings via Clicking on the Settings option instead of starting.
4. Alternatively, click on Live Stream to stream the live video
(Photo: © Future)
If you’d rather live stream video of yourself playing games via Nvidia software, you can. Simply Click Live instead of (Or use the Alt + F8 keyboard shortcut) and you’ll be able to live stream video of yourself playing games on any number of supported streaming services (including Facebook, Twitch, and YouTube at the time of publication) once you’re signed in to them.
If you want to adjust the look of your stream, simply Click Settings to tweak details like the resolution you’re broadcasting, what overlays you’re using, and the like.
Now you know how to capture and live video of yourself playing your favorite PC games!
Speaking of gaming, if you feel like switching to the couch and console sometimes, we also have a guide dedicated to explaining how to use Discord on Xbox One (the process is the same as on Series X). And if you happen to stumble upon the PS5, be sure to check out our roundup of the best PS5 tips everyone needs to know. In addition, we also have dedicated guides on how to upgrade PS5 internal storage and how to transfer data from PS4 to PS5.
