This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable background recoding while playing a game to capture what happened for your account in Windows 11.
The Xbox Game Bar app is built into Windows 11 so you can record games to capture videos and screenshots while playing PC games. You can press the Windows
+ Alt + G keys to record and capture the last 30 seconds of you game when Record what happened is turned on.The background recording ("Record what happened") feature enables capturing something awesome that just happened in a game. When you turn this feature on (it’s off by default), it monitors the last few moments of gameplay, so you can capture the moment before it’s gone forever.
Background recording can affect your game’s performance because it uses some of your PC’s resources.
When background recording is turned on, you can record up to 30 minutes. Recordings automatically turn off after 30 minutes.
References:
Xbox Support
support.xbox.com
Xbox Support
support.xbox.com
Contents
- Option One: Turn On or Off Record What Happened for Gaming Captures in Settings
- Option Two: Turn On or Off Record What Happened for Gaming Captures in Game Bar Settings
- Option Three: Turn On or Off Record What Happened for Gaming Captures using REG file
EXAMPLE: "Record what happened" (Win+ALT+G) button on Capture widget for Xbox Game Bar (Win+G)
Pressing the Record what happened button will record the last 30 seconds of game play.
The Record what happened button will be grayed out unless the current game/app has Remember this is a game checked for it.
1 Open Settings (Win+I).
2 Click/tap on Gaming on the left side, and click/tap on Captures on the right side. (see screenshot below)
3 Turn On or Off (default) Record what happened for what you want on the right side. (see screenshot below)
4 You can now close Settings if you like.
1 Open the Game Bar (Win+G).
2 Click/tap on the Settings (gear) button on the Game Bar. (see screenshot below)
3 Click/tap on Widgets on the left side of Settings.
4 Check (on) or uncheck (off - default) Record in the background while I’m playing a game for what you want.
1 Do step 2 (on) or step 3 (off) below for what you want.
2 Turn On Record What Happened for Gaming Captures
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the REG file below, and go to step 4 below.
Turn_ON_record_what_happened_for_gaming_captures.reg
Download
(Contents of REG file for reference)
Code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\GameDVR]
"HistoricalCaptureEnabled"=dword:000000013 Turn Off Record What Happened for Gaming Captures
This is the default setting.
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the REG file below, and go to step 4 below.
Turn_OFF_record_what_happened_for_gaming_captures.reg
Download
(Contents of REG file for reference)
Code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\GameDVR]
"HistoricalCaptureEnabled"=dword:000000004 Save the .reg file to your desktop.
5 Double click/tap on the downloaded .reg file to merge it.
6 When prompted, click/tap on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK to approve the merge.
7 You can now delete the downloaded .reg file if you like.
That's it,
Shawn Brink
Last edited:
