Best Screen Recorders for Windows PCs
Screen recording is now a must-have tool for making great videos like tutorials, presentations, or online classes. In 2023, online screen recording tools will continue to grow in popularity due to remote work and virtual meetings. This article will help you discover the best online screen recording tools available. It will also explain what to look for when choosing one and present the top five tools with great features and ease of use. Whether you're a content creator, educator, or business pro, this article will help you find the perfect tool to create awesome videos and engage your audience effectively.
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- No watermarks, time limits, or ads
- Records the whole screen, a chosen area, or a single window
- Records voice-overs and computer audio
- High-quality resolution
- Offers WMV (720p) format for saving videos or direct uploading to YouTube
- Simple deletion of unwanted video segments
- Removes background noise
- Provides a variety of audio effects
Disvantage:
- Records are saved in WMV format exclusively
- Does not support webcam recording
DVDVideosoft's free screen recoder:
Free Screen Video Recorder is a lightweight yet powerful screen recording software offered by a developer renowned for its free conversion tools. One of its notable capabilities is recording Skype conversations without any restrictions, making it highly beneficial for Skype meetings and online conference calls. Moreover, the software allows you to select and capture specific elements of various Windows applications separately. Additionally, we found the user-friendly image editor to be exceptionally commendable, as it proves to be surprisingly valuable in achieving a polished appearance for your recordings.
Advantage:
- Includes a user-friendly screenshot feature
- Provides various screen and video recording modes
- Specifically designed for recording Skype conversations
- Step-by-step instructions available on the website
- Supports 10 different languages
- Offers multiple output formats, including MP4, BMP, TGA, JPEG, PNG, and GIF
Disvantage:
- Limited to recording only microphone audio
- Frequent ads that may disrupt your workflow
- Interface and built-in media player lack coherence
- Possible installation of unwanted software during download
- No notifications for users in case of disconnection
ShareX:
ShareX is a top-notch free screen recorder with lots of advanced features, almost comparable to some paid options. However, it may not be the best choice for everyone. Its abundance of advanced tools and editors might be overwhelming for average users. ShareX is primarily designed for developers and power users.
Advantage:
- Records entire screen, window, monitor, region, freehand, or scrolling content
- Hotkeys available for easier and faster navigation during recording
- Supports multiple URL sharing services
- Enables importing of existing videos, music, or photos
- Allows custom watermarks and color effects
- Offers various export options and productivity tools
- Completely ad-free experience
Disvantage:
- Game recordings have low video quality
- Can be challenging for average users to use
- Lacks webcam recording capability
- Reported issues with uploading large files
- No built-in video editor
Camstudio:
CamStudio is a free desktop application suitable for users who need screen recording on a one-time or occasional basis and have minimal editing requirements. This lightweight and open-source software produce videos in AVI format, which can later be converted to SWF. While its simplicity may be appealing to some users, others request more development and better technical support. It also lacks advanced editing features, so users may require an additional video editing tool for more comprehensive editing tasks.
Advantage:
- Records full screen or a specific area
- Supports screen-in-screen video recording
- Produces small-sized files
- Allows custom cursor display
- Offers quality options for output videos
Disvantage:
- Outputs exclusively to AVI format, which requires conversion to Flash
- Incompatibility with certain browsers for the output file
- Audio synchronization issues
- Lacks interactive and animation features
Ezvid:
Ezvid is a free screen recording program that lives up to its claim of being one of the best tools available. It stands out for its speed, designed to save users time. With Ezvid, you can swiftly create and upload videos directly to YouTube within minutes. This efficiency has earned it popularity among gamers and movie enthusiasts who frequently produce YouTube videos and want to do it quickly.
Advantage:
- Provides computer-generated speech for narrations
- Automatic high-quality resolution at 1280 x 720p HD
- Offers speed control for output videos
- Features a sleek and modern interface
- Instantly uploads videos to YouTube
- Includes a selection of popular music tracks
Disvantage:
- Reviewers mention the presence of unwanted noise in recordings
- Some minor bugs and inconsistencies have been reported
- Fullscreen game recording is not supported
TinyTake:
TinyTake by MangoApps is a advanced desktop screen recording software available for both Windows and Mac. It allows you to capture images and videos from your computer screen, add comments, and quickly share them with others. The software is especially useful for those seeking comprehensive tools, as it comes with a cloud-based gallery where you can store all your screen captures and recorded videos.
Advantage:
- Supports bulk file sharing
- Provides a public URL for easy sharing
- Includes a built-in online file viewer for images, videos, and documents
- Allows creation of custom shortcut keys
- Offers direct uploading of video captures to YouTube
- The video player is compatible with mobile devices.
Disvantage:
- Free version restricts video recording to 5 minutes and provides 2 GB storage
- Video files are saved in MP4 format only
- Contains ads/promotions
- Offers limited editing tools
OBS[Open Broadcaster Software]:
OBS Studio is a top-notch free screen recorder, especially popular for livestreaming on platforms like Twitch. It allows you to create scenes with various sources like images, texts, window captures, webcams, and more. You can switch between scenes smoothly using custom transitions. Unlike many other free screen recorders, OBS Studio offers advanced features and settings. However, for those seeking a quick and easy way to record videos, it might be overwhelming. Learning to use OBS Studio effectively may require investing a significant amount of time and effort.
Advantage:
- Records full screen or specific areas of your choice
- Enables the creation of multiple scenes with various sources
- Comes with a built-in audio mixer and per-source filters
- Offers advanced configuration settings
- Does not include watermarks in recordings
- No recording time limit
- Supports streaming to multiple services
Disvantage:
- Interface is considered clunky by some users
- Steep learning curve for non-technical users
- Reports of frequent crashes
- Not ideal for quick screen recordings
Debut Video Capture:
Debut is one of the top free screen recorders for Windows, providing versatile video-making capabilities and the option to stream videos on YouTube. While the interface might appear slightly old-fashioned, it offers advanced functionality. Users can utilize features like mouse highlighting spotlights, displaying keystrokes, replacing the background with images or videos, adding logos or watermarks to video captures, and even scheduling recordings.
Advantage:
- Supports capturing from network IP cameras and other devices
- Allows recording of screen, webcam, and audio
- No time limit on recordings
- Offers powerful editing features
- Provides a wide range of output formats
- Includes a Green Screen tool
- Supports time-lapse video recording
Disvantage:
- Editing features are limited
- Interface is outdated
- Lacks interactive or animation capabilities
- Reported to have slow uploading for videos
Loom:
Loom is a handy PC software that enables you to easily record and send short video messages to your team. It serves as an excellent alternative to emails, instant messaging, and web meetings. However, the free version does have some limitations. It allows a maximum of 25 videos per user, with a duration limit of five minutes per video. Additionally, the free version provides limited editing capabilities, so you may need to use other applications to edit and share the recorded messages.
Advantage:
- Records screen, webcam, and audio
- Free version has no watermark or ads
- Offers a team workspace for video storage and sharing
- Allows tracking of video views
- Integrates with other tools like Jira and Confluence
- Provides video interaction features such as emoji reactions and comments
- Offers a Google Chrome extension
Disvantage:
- Video duration is restricted to 5 minutes
- Editing functionality is very limited
- Maximum of 25 videos allowed per user
Camtasia:
Camtasia is an impressive software designed for meticulous enthusiasts. It enables you to capture both video and audio sequentially and merge them seamlessly. One of the standout features of Camtasia is its remarkable adaptability when it comes to incorporating animations, video effects, and overlays. Additionally, the tool consistently receives updates and new functionalities, which is a major plus.
Advantage:
- Webcam integration for seamless recording
- Independent editing of audio, video, and cursor tracks
- Supports importing of various media types, including videos, music, photos, and PowerPoint slides
- Enables the addition of captions, callouts, and quizzes to enhance videos
- Offers frame-by-frame editing capabilities
- Provides a library of royalty-free music and sound effects for creative projects.
Disvantage:
- Considered as one of the pricier screen capture tools available
- Users have reported performance slowdowns when dealing with extensive and resource-intensive projects
- The interface can be busy and complex, especially when dealing with multiple tracks.
Filmora Scrn:
Filmora Scrn is a reliable video recording software adored by gamers for its excellent features. It allows you to effortlessly capture high-speed scenes (up to 60 fps for Mac) while simultaneously recording from your webcam. With its basic video editing tools, you can enhance the visual quality of your recordings. Additionally, it offers tutorial features that help draw attention to important elements on the screen, making it ideal for creating informative content.
Advantage:
- Simultaneous recording from computer and webcam is possible.
- Supports importing of over 50 file formats and offers various export options.
- Features a picture-in-picture mode for added visual effects.
- Flexible frame rate options from 15 to 120 FPS.
- Supports recording in HD and even 4K resolution for high-quality videos.
Disvantage:
- Doesn't offer advanced editing capabilities.
- May have a noticeable impact on gaming performance.
- Users have reported lagging and freezing issues during the editing process.