How to Record Only One Window on Your Computer
Recording your entire screen when you only need one window means extra editing later to crop out everything else, and it can accidentally capture things you didn't mean to share, like a chat notification or another open tab. Here's how to capture just the window you want, on Windows and Mac, using tools that are already free.
How Do You Record Only One Window?
On Windows, press Win+G to open Xbox Game Bar and record the active window directly, or use OBS Studio's Window Capture source for more control. On Mac, QuickTime Player's screen recording feature lets you click a specific window before starting.
The key difference between window capture and full-screen capture is what happens to everything else on your desktop: other apps, notifications, your taskbar, none of it appears in a proper window capture, which saves editing time and avoids accidentally sharing something you didn't mean to.
The Fastest Built-In Method
Xbox Game Bar comes with every Windows 10 and 11 PC, according to Microsoft's own support documentation, and it's built specifically to record the currently active app window.
- Open the app you want to record and click into it so it's the active, focused window.
- Press Win+G to open the Game Bar overlay.
- Find the Capture widget (if it's not visible, click the widget menu to add it).
- Click the round record button, or press Win+Alt+R as a shortcut.
- Click the same button again to stop, and the recording saves automatically to your Videos > Captures folder.
The recording will only include that specific app window, not your desktop or other open apps. If you switch to a different window mid-recording, Game Bar keeps recording the window you started with, so avoid switching away if you can.
More Control Over the Capture
For more control, or if Game Bar's limitations (it can't capture File Explorer or the desktop, for example) get in your way, OBS Studio's Window Capture source is the more flexible option.
- Open OBS Studio and, in the Sources panel, click the plus icon.
- Choose "Window Capture" from the list of source types.
- Select the specific window you want to record from the dropdown menu that appears.
- Adjust the capture area if needed by resizing the source box in the preview.
- Click Start Recording in the Controls panel when ready.
For games specifically, OBS's documentation recommends using "Game Capture" instead of "Window Capture," since games often render in a way that standard window capture handles poorly, sometimes resulting in a black screen. Game Capture is built to handle that rendering correctly.
Click the Window You Want
QuickTime Player, built into every Mac, includes a screen recording feature that supports capturing a specific window rather than the whole display.
- Open QuickTime Player and go to File > New Screen Recording.
- Click the small arrow next to the record button to check your microphone settings if you want audio.
- Click the record button, and your cursor will change to a recording icon.
- Click once inside the window you want to record (rather than clicking and dragging to select an area).
- Click Start Recording in the confirmation bar that appears.
- Click the stop icon in the menu bar when finished.
According to Apple's own support documentation, this method captures just that window, moving it or resizing it during recording can affect what's captured, so keep the window in place once you start.
When Window Capture Doesn't Work Right
- Black screen instead of the window's content. This is common with hardware-accelerated apps and most games in OBS's standard Window Capture mode; switch to Game Capture, or in the app's own settings, try toggling hardware acceleration off temporarily.
- The wrong window gets recorded. Double-check the window is truly focused (click its title bar once) before starting, especially with Game Bar, which tracks the currently active window.
- Recording includes a black area where another window overlapped. Move any overlapping windows out of the way before recording, since most window capture methods can't see through overlapping content correctly.
- The window resizes or moves during recording and throws off the capture. Keep the target window's size and position fixed for the whole recording; resizing mid-recording can cause visual glitches in some capture methods.
Editing and Sharing
Once you have a clean, single-window recording, you may still want to trim the start and end or add captions, covered in our comparison of free video editors for Windows. If the file is larger than you'd like to share, see how to reduce video file size without losing quality. And if you specifically need to pull audio narration out of the recording, extracting audio from a video handles that in one step.
Privacy and File Size Both Improve
Beyond the obvious benefit of a cleaner recording, capturing only one window has two practical side effects worth knowing about. First, privacy: a full-screen recording risks showing a notification popup, a chat message, or another open tab you forgot about, something that has caused real embarrassment for people sharing tutorials or presentations publicly. Window capture removes that risk structurally, since there's nothing else on screen for the recording to show.
Second, file size and editing time: a recording of just a small app window is naturally a smaller frame size than a full display capture, which means a smaller output file and less encoding work for whatever tool you export it with. If you're recording a narrow app window on a large monitor, the difference in raw pixel area, and therefore file size, can be substantial.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I record just one window on Windows 11?
Press Win+G to open Xbox Game Bar, make sure the window you want is the active, focused window, and click the record button in the Capture widget. Game Bar records only the currently active app window, not your full desktop.
Can OBS Studio record a single window instead of the whole screen?
Yes, add a Window Capture source (or Game Capture for games) instead of a Display Capture source, then select the specific window from the dropdown list. This keeps other windows and your desktop out of the recording entirely.
Why does my window capture show a black screen?
This usually happens with hardware-accelerated windows or certain games; switching to Game Capture mode in OBS instead of Window Capture, or toggling the app's hardware acceleration setting, typically resolves it.
How do I record one window on a Mac?
QuickTime Player's screen recording feature lets you click a specific window to record instead of the full screen, when you start a new screen recording and click once inside the window you want before starting.
Does window capture still work if the window is partially covered by another app?
In most tools, no, if another window overlaps the one you're recording, the overlapping part will show in the recording as a black area or the covering window itself, depending on the capture method used. Keep the target window fully visible during recording for best results.
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