People searching for how to record Genshin Impact on PC usually want one of three things: to keep the golden animation from a five star pull, to show a friend a clean Spiral Abyss clear, or to figure out why OBS is recording a black screen with no sound. Start with the key fact: Genshin Impact on PC has no record button. The game stops at a photo mode and screenshots, so every video you see was captured by something outside the game, whether that is Windows, your graphics driver or OBS. This guide walks through each option with Genshin in mind, then covers the problems that come up with this game more than most: administrator rights, laptop GPU assignment, fullscreen mode and audio that never reaches the file. If PC game recording is new to you, the broader guide on how to record PC games is a good primer. And if you would rather never press record at all, DOR, covered at the end, starts recording the moment Genshin launches.
The short answer: record Genshin with an outside app and run OBS as administrator
For a quick clip, Xbox Game Bar is already on your PC. Whether it captures Genshin cleanly seems to vary by setup, so before relying on it, press Win+Alt+R, record ten seconds and play the file back. With an NVIDIA card, the NVIDIA app can record (Alt+F9 by default) or save the last few minutes with Instant Replay; with AMD, AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition can record too; check its hotkey in the Hotkeys settings. OBS gives you the most control over quality and audio tracks, but it is also where most Genshin complaints come from: Game Capture shows black, shows nothing, or never hooks the game. Japanese community guides list the same first cause again and again. Genshin runs with administrator rights, OBS runs as a normal user, and Windows will not let the lower privilege app read the game's frames. Running OBS as administrator is widely reported to fix it. If the picture is still black after that, continue with the OBS black screen fix. If the picture is fine but the file is silent, the cause is usually Windows audio rather than Genshin, and the checks in game recording has no sound will find it.
Set up Genshin Impact recording in this order
- 1Pick one recorderUse Xbox Game Bar recording for the fastest start, the NVIDIA app or AMD Software if you want your GPU's recorder, or OBS if you want scenes and separate audio tracks. Whatever you pick, do a ten second test in Genshin before you record anything important.
- 2Switch to a borderless windowExclusive fullscreen is widely reported to make recorders lose the picture. Many guides suggest changing the display mode in Genshin's graphics settings to a borderless or windowed option, which tends to make capture more stable. If you still get nothing, see fullscreen recording not working.
- 3Run OBS as administratorRight click the OBS shortcut, open Properties, go to the Compatibility tab and tick Run this program as an administrator. Community guides note that the Steam version of OBS needs this set on the obs64.exe file in the OBS install folder, not on the Steam shortcut, or it will not stick.
- 4Set up the Game Capture sourceAdd a Game Capture source in OBS, set the mode to capture a specific window and choose the Genshin window. If it stays empty, try Window Capture or Display Capture to compare. The trade offs are explained in OBS Game Capture vs Window Capture.
- 5Match the GPU on laptopsOn laptops with both a dedicated and an integrated GPU, Genshin may run on the dedicated card while OBS runs on the integrated one, and the capture comes out black. A common fix is to open Windows Settings, go to Display and then Graphics, and assign OBS and Genshin to the same GPU.
- 6Test picture and soundRun around the open world for a moment, use an Elemental Skill, then stop and play the file. Check that game sound, music and your mic are all there and the picture is smooth before you record a pull or a Spiral Abyss run.
Ways to record Genshin Impact on PC and what to check
| Method | How to start | What to check for Genshin |
|---|---|---|
| In game photo mode | Camera icon in the Paimon menu (Esc); in combat the Camera gadget, reported as Z by default | Photos only, no video. Check the key in the game's control settings. |
| Xbox Game Bar | Win+Alt+R to start and stop | Results vary by setup, so test with a short clip first. |
| NVIDIA app | Alt+F9 by default, or Instant Replay for the last few minutes | Make sure the overlay is on and note the save folder in the app settings. |
| AMD Software | Use the Adrenalin recording feature; check the hotkey in its Hotkeys settings | Shortcuts can be changed, so confirm the actual key in AMD Software. |
| OBS Game Capture | Add a Game Capture source, then Start Recording | If it shows black, run OBS as administrator first. |
Before you record Genshin Impact
- You have an outside recorder ready, since Genshin on PC has no video recorder of its own
- OBS is set to run as administrator (on the Steam version, through obs64.exe properties)
- Genshin's display mode is set to a borderless or windowed option
- On a laptop, Windows graphics settings put Genshin and OBS on the same GPU
- Security software is not blocking your recorder from capturing the game
- If your recorder never sees the game, you checked recorder not detecting game
- If you want co op voice chat in the clip, you set up Discord call audio recording
- A ten second test shows the picture, game audio and mic
Just launch the game and DOR's AI records it automatically
Just launch the game and DOR's AI records it automatically. DOR is a free Windows app that detects Genshin Impact when it launches and records the whole session in the background as mp4 until you quit. Exploration across Mondstadt and Sumeru, the pull that suddenly turned gold, and the Spiral Abyss run where you finally got nine stars are already saved without pressing anything. Game audio and your mic are captured together, so the co op voice chat stays in the clip. AI Voice Notes turns what you and your party said into text on the recording timeline, so you can jump straight to the moment someone shouted that they got the character. Trim the pull animation in the DOR library and export it in 9:16 for Shorts; recording vertical game Shorts has the details. Check the clips you saved and press AI Highlight to join them into one montage, or open DOR Studio in your browser with no install to join clips and add text, background music and effect templates such as shake zoom and punch zoom, then download the mp4. Share the result with one dor.gg link that opens in any browser without installing anything; sharing Genshin Impact gameplay videos shows how.
