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How To Fix Shadowplay Not Recording

If you’re also a pro social media streamer, you must be recording and sharing your experiences at desirable resolutions, using NVIDIA ShadowPlay; whether you stream on YouTube, Twitch, or any other video-sharing & streaming service, you cannot challenge the capabilities of Shadowplay.

If you have GeForce Experience installed and updated, but you are still unable to record your gameplay with NVIDIA Shadowplay, you’re not alone. There are times that even while utilizing ShadowPlay in fullscreen mode, recording videos becomes an impossible challenge. Don’t worry because we will discuss, in detail, what NVIDIA ShadowPlay is and how you can fix ShadowPlay not recording error.

What is NVIDIA ShadowPlay?

For easy, hidden, and trouble-free gameplay recording, NVIDIA introduced ShadowPlay, a feature that allows users to record and share live streams and screenshots, all in high-quality.

ShadowPlay makes up the fantastic GeForce Experience 3.0 that allows you to share your gameplay videos and streams at 60 FPS at up to 4K. It makes sharing videos of gameplay with friends and online communities less complicated. ShadowPlay can be downloaded from NVIDIA’s official website. Following are some of ShadowPlay’s prominent features:

  • NVIDIA allows you to record and replay your games instantly.
  • With the NVIDIA highlights feature, you never miss your memorable gaming moments.
  • You can enjoy gaming with others by broadcasting your games.
  • You can easily capture GIFs and take 8K Screenshots with NVIDIA (if your system supports it).
  • You can record the last 20 mins of your gameplay with the Instant Replay feature.

NVIDIA ShadowPlay recorder has its limitations too, one of the most-occurring nuisances, that many users are complaining about, is ShadowPlay not recording sound or the whole video.

Having no or video can be caused by countless reasons behind; maybe it’s NVIDIA not able to operate effectively or the plethora of concurrently-running applications for which ShadowPlay not recording.

When there’s a problem… There’s a solution too, actually there is more than one way to fix Shadowplay not recording; worry not, I won’t recommend to go to a nearby NVIDIA store and get a replacement, as there are some handy fixes to get your ShadowPlay back to smooth recording.

Starting from the basic fixes…

10 Easy Ways To Fix Shadowplay Not Recording Error

Before we get to the fixes, let’s learn about a few problems that might obstruct recording in ShadowPlay:

  • Activating hotkeys might obstruct recording the games.
  • ShadowPlay is unable to recognize your games in fullscreen mode
  • There is an issue with the Streamer Service.
  • Other installed apps and software might be interfering with the recording process.

Here are ten tried and tested fixes for fixing the Shadowplay Not Recording error. We are confident that you will find the perfect fix for the ShadowPlay Not Recording error.

1. Restart the NVidia Streamer Service

One of the problems with NVIDIA is its uninformed stoppage, at times it stopped running as it should be, encountering difficulty in recording streaming experiences with ShadowPlay.

So, just to be on the safe side, ensure the status of NVIDIA.

I know restarting sounds so basic, but still… restarting before messing with any other thing, is a wise decision, though; here’s how;

  • Press the Win + R keys, it will open the Run dialog box, type services.msc → Enter.
  • In the Services window, double click the NVidia Streaming Service and open its properties.
  • Change the Startup type to Automatic start → click on Start disabled; you can still right click the service and select Restart, alternatively.

Still not recording?

Move to the next.

2. Run Games in Fullscreen Mode

As you must know, most games are recorded only in Fullscreen mode; so, if you are running games in Windowed or borderless mode, switch to the Fullscreen mode either from the game Settings or by pressing the F11 key.

Or else, simply launch games from the GeForce Experience app, this will launch games on actual full screen.

Note: This solution is a “just to be sure” deal rather than a proven fix; so, make sure if the game you are playing allows you to play it in full screen mode, don’t opt less.

3. Reinstall GeForce Experience

In case you are using the Beta version or older version of GeForce Experience, then it’s highly possible that you may be having troubles due to a faulty driver or NVidia apps.

So, to fix the problem of GeForce Shadowplay not working, install the latest versions of GeForce by following these basic simple steps;

  • Press the Win + R keys and open the Run dialog box, there, type appwiz.cpl and hit Enter.
  • Now go to installed apps, right-click the NVidia GeForce Experience app and select Uninstall. Then keep following the on-screen prompts to complete the process of uninstallation.
  • Download back the latest GeForce Experience version and install it on your system.

Now, run a game and try recording your crazy gameplay.

4. Allow Desktop Capture

If the Shadowplay overlay is not working, simply allow desktop capture, this will record the gameplay regardless of any modes.

Here’s how you can do that:

  • Open your Shadowplay → Preferences.
  • Navigate to the Overlay section → desktop image → tick Allow desktop capture.

Now, open a game and activate the required hotkeys so that you can see whether the Shadowplay is recording gameplay.

5. Turn on Privacy Control

If ShadowPlay has stopped recording the screen, even after the basic tweaks, then you should look into NVIDIA’s privacy settings, at times option for sharing the desktop turned off after update.

To fix this issue, first you need to turn on the allow desktop capture.

  • Open the Shadowplay → Settings → General
  • Scroll down to Share toggle and switch it ON.

6. Sign out of Twitch

Yes, many at times, though being one of the best-performing platforms, Twitch disturbs the screen recording property of ShadowPlay. So, just disable Twitch for some time and notice the change, or else continue the list.

To disable Twitch;

  • Open the recorder, go to My Rig → ShadowPlay.
  • Access the settings and ensure that ShadowPlay is running successfully.
  • Now, change the mode to “Manual”, then go to “Account” and sign out of your Twitch account.
  • Now, press the hotkeys and check the recording status.

7 Switch on to Windows Aero – for Windows 7 users

If you are still using the classical Window 7, switching the Aero effect can also be the potential fix for recording issues.

To enable any of your favorite Aero themes,

  • Go to the Control Panel → Appearance and Personalization, or right-click the desktop and select Personalize.
  • Now, click Window Color, and check the Enable transparency feature.

8. Re-install or get the updated graphic and display drivers

If all other methods fail, it’s highly possible that your current Nvidia and GeForce Experience driver is corrupted or obsoleted.

So, simply uninstall the display driver altogether and reinstall the latest version; make sure you’re using the right tools to completely uninstall the graphic driver and install the latest from its official website.

To avoid driver-related issues, make sure you’ve switched on Check for Updates (Preferences → Check for Updates) button, even you can also verify that you are running the latest version of GeForce Experience.

9. Uninstall or quit third-party audio software

If you are also using additional audio enhancement software, like me, it is possible that the software is actually interfering with your GeForce Experience; so, just for the sake your recordings, uninstall the software using the Control Panel → Programs → Programs and Features → Uninstall a program.

Once done, reboot the PC and try again.

Last, not least…

10. Adjust the default directory

The Shadowplay-not-recording issue can also be triggered by insufficient disk space in your default directory or maybe due to a corrupted recording path.

One simple fix to this is to change the recording path from one HDD to another; or else, create a new directory – to avoid permissions issues, logged in with your admin account.

Video Guide To Resolve Shadowplay Not Recording Issue

Wrapping up

There you go, these all are self-tested solutions that will take your ShadowPlay back to its flawless recording performance in no time.

If you know any other fixes for NVIDIA recording issues, feel free to share in the comments section below.

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