How to record your screen with audio on Windows
Record the screen with your voice, the computer’s own sound, or both, on Windows 10 and 11. How to check the microphone first and fix a silent recording.
Updated · 2 minute read · By the Sceed team
To record the screen with audio on Windows, switch on both sources before you start: the microphone for your voice and system audio for the computer’s own sound. The Snipping Tool and Game Bar can record both into one track. Sceed records them as two separate tracks, so you can change the level of each after the take.
Two kinds of sound
A screen recording can carry two different things. Microphone audio is your voice. System audio is whatever the computer is playing: a video, a call, the click of an app. Recorders treat them as separate switches, and a silent recording usually means the wrong one was off.
With the tools in Windows
Snipping Tool (Windows 11): after you drag the area, the bar at the top has a microphone switch and a system sound switch. Set both before pressing Start.
Xbox Game Bar: press Win + G, open Settings, then Capturing, and choose which audio to record. Press Win + Alt + M to switch the microphone on or off during a recording.
Both mix everything into a single track. If your voice is too quiet against the system sound, there is no fixing it afterwards short of recording again.
With separate tracks
A recorder that keeps the microphone and the system sound apart gives you a second chance. In Sceed each is its own lane on the timeline. The microphone goes through a noise gate and levelling, so room hiss between sentences is cut and quiet speech is brought up. What you hear in the preview is what the export contains.
Before you press Record
Use a headset or a separate microphone if you can. A laptop microphone also records the fan and the keyboard.
Wear headphones when recording system sound and your voice together, or the microphone will pick up the speakers.
Close apps that make noise: chat, mail, calendar reminders.
Do a three-second test and listen to it.
If the recording is silent
No voice: open Windows Settings, Privacy and security, Microphone, and allow desktop apps to use the microphone. Check the right microphone is selected in the recorder.
No system sound: make sure system audio was switched on before recording, and that sound is playing through the default output device. Sound sent to a different device is not captured.
Sound out of sync: this usually comes from variable frame rate recordings opened in another editor. Editing in the same app that recorded avoids it.
With Sceed, step by step
- 1
Switch on the sources
In the Sceed recorder, switch on the microphone, system audio, or both. Choose which microphone to use if you have more than one.
- 2
Check the microphone
Watch the level meter while you speak, or press Test to record three seconds and hear them back.
- 3
Record
Press Record and do the take. Sound plays through your default output as usual.
- 4
Balance the tracks
In the editor the microphone and the system sound are separate lanes. Set the level of each, or mute one.
- 5
Export
Export an MP4. The preview plays the same mix the file will have.
New to Sceed? Install to export in five steps.
Questions
Can I record internal audio without a microphone?
Yes. Switch system audio on and the microphone off. The recording carries only what the computer plays.
Can I remove the microphone after recording?
Only if the recorder kept it as a separate track. Sceed does: mute or delete the microphone lane and the system sound stays.
Does Sceed reduce background noise?
The microphone track goes through a noise gate and levelling. It cuts steady room noise between words and evens out the volume. It is not a studio noise remover.
Why is there no system sound in my recording?
System audio was off, or the sound was playing through a device that is not the default output. Set the device you are listening on as the default in Windows sound settings.
Keep reading
More guides on recording
- How to record your screen on Windows 11Three ways to record the screen on Windows 11: the Snipping Tool, Xbox Game Bar, and a dedicated recorder. What each one can and cannot do, with the shortcuts.
- How to record your screen on Windows 10How to record the screen on Windows 10 with Xbox Game Bar, what it cannot capture, and what to use when you need the desktop, an area or an edited video.
- How to record your screen and webcam at the same time on WindowsRecord the screen and your camera together on Windows, then choose where your face goes: a bubble in the corner, side by side, or full screen.