FAQ

FAQ

Short answers to the questions people ask most. Each answer links to the page with the full story. The FAQ on flashbk.gg/faq also shows the current version's download size and SHA-256 checksum.

Jump to: General · Recording · Performance · Files and storage · Cloud and sharing · Profiles and friends · Privacy · Updates and install · Platform

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General

What exactly is Flashback? A local replay recorder for Windows 11. It keeps a short rolling buffer of your screen and saves the previous seconds as an MP4 when you press your chosen shortcut or click Save replay. See Home.

Is it free? Yes. Recording, screenshots, editing and your library are free and never need an account or a payment. Flashback Cloud is an optional paid add-on from US$2.99 a month plus tax. There is no free Cloud storage. See Cloud plans and billing.

Does it have ads? No. The app carries no third-party ad or analytics code.

Does a game need to be open? No. The buffer can run all the time and record the desktop. When a recognized game is in front on the display being recorded, Flashback uses its name and folder, whether it's windowed, borderless or fullscreen. Everything else is labelled Desktop.

Can Flashback take screenshots too? Yes. The screenshot shortcut (Ctrl+Shift+F11 by default) is separate from Save replay. Screenshots save as PNG files with the same game-aware folders and naming as clips. See Screenshots.

Is Flashback open source? Where's the code? The app's source code isn't public. This repository hosts the official installers, their checksums and this wiki. Flashback is proprietary software, free to download and use under the LICENSE in the Flashback-Releases repository and the Flashback Terms. The complete corresponding source of the FFmpeg build Flashback bundles is published in this repository's Releases, and the licenses of everything Flashback ships are on Third-Party Software.

Recording

What's the default save shortcut? Ctrl+Shift+F10 saves the last 30 seconds. To change it, click the shortcut control in Settings > Storage & shortcuts and press the new keys. F1 to F24, numpad keys, Pause, Scroll Lock and Insert work on their own; other keys need Ctrl, Alt or Win with them, so a shortcut can't swallow a letter you type. Flashback checks with Windows first, so a reserved or already-used shortcut can't replace a working one. Esc cancels. See Shortcuts.

Can I choose any replay length? Yes. Pick a preset from 15 seconds to 5 minutes, or choose Custom and enter any exact length from 15 seconds through 24 hours. The buffer stays in bounded segments even for long lengths.

What is a smart replay length? An optional setting: one press saves your normal length, and a quick double press saves a longer length you choose. With it off, a single press saves immediately as usual.

What video and audio formats does it use? MP4 files with AAC audio and hardware H.264 or HEVC video. Auto prefers verified hardware H.264, Flashback's most-tested path with the widest compatibility. Choose HEVC for better quality per bit when the PC can both record and play it; a failed HEVC start falls back to H.264 safely. Smaller-file exports can use hardware AV1. Resolutions: 720p, 1080p, 1440p, 4K UHD or source; frame rates: 30, 60, 120 or 240 FPS, when the hardware supports the combination. See Hardware encoding.

Can it record my microphone? Yes. Turn on Include my microphone in Settings > Audio. Clips have editable audio tracks by default: a Flashback mix that every player plays, a separate Game and desktop track and, when your microphone is on, a Microphone track you can adjust on its own in a video editor. You don't need a microphone for the tracks, and you can switch back to one mixed track in Settings. Record audio from picks which speakers or headset are recorded, and Audio to leave out can remove Discord, Spotify or the active browser. See Audio.

My voice crackled in older clips. Is that fixed? Yes. Clips recorded with 0.7.22 through 0.7.41 could have static on voice, because of how those versions placed captured audio. 0.8.0 writes captured audio back to back and joins segments sample for sample, so new recordings are clean. Old clips can't be repaired. If Flashback says Your microphone is dropping audio, the device itself is losing sound; see Troubleshooting Audio.

Will it show a capture border? Automatic mode asks for Desktop Duplication first, which shows no border. If that doesn't deliver a real frame, the session switches to Windows Graphics Capture, which can show a Windows capture border. Flashback doesn't promise a border-free session. See Capture pipeline.

Does it work with a game on my second monitor? Yes. By default it follows your game to the monitor it's on, and names and files the clip under that game. A monitor you pick yourself stays put and never silently switches.

Can I use voice commands? Yes, if you turn them on in Settings > Voice controls. Say "Flashback clip", "Flashback save" or "Flashback screenshot" (optionally starting with "Hey"). With Cloud, "Flashback upload" saves a clip and queues it for upload, once you turn that on in the Cloud tab. Recognition runs offline on your PC, and your voice is never stored or uploaded. See Voice Commands.

Can I trim a clip without another editor? Yes. Click Edit clip (the pencil) on a clip, or Choose from library in the Editor to search your clips by name, game or tag, then set exact start and end points, preview, and save beside the original or anywhere you like. The original is never changed. You can also make Discord-sized copies and, in 0.8, join 2 to 20 clips into a montage, adding them through the same library picker, with per-clip volume, a music track, fades and optional crossfades. See Editor and Montage.

How do per-game profiles work? In Settings > Video, choose Add game or app, then pick an open program, browse to its .exe, or type its file name. It doesn't need to be a game Flashback recognizes. Each profile can have its own quality preset, replay length, game audio, microphone and mouse pointer, and Settings lists every profile with an on/off switch, a summary, and edit and remove buttons. A profile applies while its program is in front on the recorded display, and a profiled browser, launcher or chat app never takes over from a game that's still running. See Per-Game Profiles.

Why isn't the input overlay in my saved clip? By design. Flashback saves a clean clip and keeps your key and mouse timeline in private metadata beside it. The overlay is drawn in when you export a copy from the Editor, so you can add, change or remove it later. See Overlays.

Can I run Flashback next to OBS or another recorder? Flashback doesn't block other apps, but two recorders share the same GPU and hardware encoder, so you pay for both and they can slow each other down. The benchmark numbers on this wiki were measured with one recorder running at a time.

Performance

How much performance does it use? In the controlled 1080p Cyberpunk 2077 benchmark, Flashback 0.6.22 retained 140.92 average FPS and a 103.45 FPS 1% low against a 149.69 FPS recorder-off baseline. Its process averaged 0.59% normalized CPU and 238.9 MiB resident memory during that game workload. Medal averaged 109.23 FPS and NVIDIA ShadowPlay 107.18 FPS in the same test. That was one PC (Ryzen 7 9800X3D, RTX 5070); usage depends on the game, resolution, frame rate, bitrate, audio devices and hardware. See Benchmarks.

Why is it so light? Capture runs on the GPU's hardware encoder, is paced to the frame rate you record rather than your monitor's refresh rate, sends each frame to the encoder with one GPU copy, and saves clips without re-encoding. Tools like the editor and Cloud stay asleep until you use them, and background work runs below normal priority. See Why Flashback is light.

Will it get me banned? Does it interfere with anti-cheat? Flashback captures a selected display from outside the game: no code injected into games, no game-memory reads, no rendering hooks, and shortcuts use the standard Windows hotkey service, not keyboard hooks. That keeps it away from what anti-cheat systems watch for, though Flashback can't speak for every vendor's rules. See Anti-cheat and games.

Why are 1440p Quality clips smaller now? The Quality preset (1440p, 60 FPS) uses a tuned 21 Mbps target instead of the original 30 Mbps. It keeps resolution and frame rate without needless file size.

Files and storage

Where are clips saved? Videos\Flashback by default. Recognized games get their own subfolders and everything else goes to Desktop. Both the location and folder names are editable.

How does the storage limit work? It applies only to captures Flashback saved, never to the temporary buffer or other files in the folder. Flashback checks it at startup, after each save, and when you apply settings, and removes its oldest captures first only if you're over the budget (20 GB by default). Lowering the limit and pressing Apply changes can therefore remove older captures straight away. Unlimited turns automatic removal off, and Review under Storage intelligence is read-only. See Storage Limit.

My older clips are gone. What happened? Most likely the storage limit. With the default 20 GB, Flashback removes its oldest captures once your saved clips and screenshots go over the limit. Raise the limit or switch to Unlimited in Settings > Storage & shortcuts to keep more. See Storage Limit.

How much disk does the replay buffer use? The buffer keeps your replay length plus the segment being recorded, in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Flashback\Buffer. Clips take roughly the bitrate times the time: about 116 MB per minute at Balanced (15 Mbps), audio included. The buffer doesn't count toward the storage limit and is cleaned up as it rolls. Settings shows a size estimate as you change quality. See Recording Quality and Presets.

Can I control clip and folder names? Yes. In Settings > Naming & organization, pick a name preset (game first, date first, or no spaces) and a folder layout (a folder per game, game then month, a folder per month, or one folder), and a live preview shows the exact name and folder. Customize names lets you write your own pattern from game, app name, date, time, timestamp and length, and change the Desktop label, folder and game names. See Naming and Organization.

Does uninstalling delete my clips? No. Clips and settings live outside the app folder, so updating or uninstalling keeps them.

Cloud and sharing

Does Flashback upload my clips? Only when you choose. Upload a clip yourself, say "Flashback upload", or turn on automatic uploads for the games you pick; voice and automatic uploads stay off until you turn them on. Uploading makes a separate hosted copy and never replaces the original.

How does Cloud sharing work? Pick a clip or screenshot and choose Upload to Cloud. Flashback prepares a browser-ready H.264/AAC copy of a clip only when needed, removes hidden file details from a screenshot's copy, uploads directly to storage through short-lived permissions, and leaves the original untouched. Interrupted uploads resume. See Flashback Cloud.

How do I get Flashback Cloud? Open the Cloud tab. It shows whether Cloud is open for new accounts and uploads; Cloud opens from its server, separately from app releases. When it's open, sign in with Discord (or Google, where offered) and choose a plan. Checkout opens in your browser through Link, Stripe's checkout. Plans start at US$2.99 a month plus tax, you must be 13 or older, and you can cancel anytime from Manage billing.

Who can see my clips? You choose for each clip. Only me: just you, signed in. Friends: you and the people you've accepted as friends. Anyone with the link: whoever has the link, and it previews in Discord. Public on my profile, for adults where offered: anyone who can see your profile. New uploads start as Only me. You can change one clip or all of a game's clips at any time, and get a new link so the old one stops working, though copies other services already made can't be recalled. See Sharing and visibility.

Will a shared link preview in Discord? Yes, for anything shared as Anyone with the link and clips that are Public on my profile. A clip link carries a poster, video details and a browser-playable MP4; a screenshot link carries the image. A Friends clip's link shows no preview, so its title and picture stay out of chats.

Can I share screenshots? Yes. Choose Upload to Cloud on a screenshot. It uploads as PNG or JPEG with text notes, EXIF and XMP camera and location data, and timestamps removed from the uploaded copy; the image itself isn't re-encoded. Each screenshot can be up to 64 MB and 7680×4320 pixels.

Can I switch to a bigger or smaller plan mid-month? Yes, from the plan cards in the Cloud tab. A larger plan starts at once and you pay the prorated difference for the rest of the billing period right away; if that payment fails, your plan stays as it was. A smaller plan also starts at once, and the unused time becomes a credit on your next bills, as long as your Cloud clips fit in it. Switching isn't available while a payment has failed, your plan is set to end or the subscription is paused. See Cloud Plans and Billing.

I have a complimentary plan. Can I pay for a bigger one? Yes. Choose the same plan or a larger one in the Cloud tab and check out as usual. The complimentary plan ends when the payment goes through and doesn't come back if you cancel later.

Profiles and friends

What do my friends see? Your profile, with your picture, display name and bio, and the clips you've set to Friends or Public, grouped by game, along with your pinned clips and the collections you share with them. Clips you share with friends also show up in their feed for 30 days. Only me clips never appear, and link-only clips aren't listed. Reactions are anonymous counts, so nobody sees who reacted. See Profiles and friends.

Where are profiles available? In the United States for now. Accounts of people aged 13 to 17 keep friends-only profiles.

What's my profile link? flashbk.gg/u/<username>. The short form flashbk.gg/<username> leads to the same page, and capital letters or an @ don't matter. In the app, Copy profile link is in your profile card's ... menu. A profile still shows only what each visitor is allowed to see. See Profiles and friends.

Can I undo deleting my Cloud account? Yes, for seven days. Deleting takes your clips off the web at once, and everything is deleted for good seven days later. Sign in again before then and choose Keep my account to get your clips and profile back; a cancelled plan stays cancelled. See Cloud account and data.

Can I watch my clips on my phone? Yes. Sign in at flashbk.gg/account with Discord (or Google, where offered) on a phone or any browser to watch your Cloud clips, change who can see them, and catch up on what friends shared. Watching needs a Cloud account but no plan; uploads still come from Flashback on Windows. A clip shared by link plays in any browser without signing in. See Watching on the web and phone.

How do I block or report someone? On their profile, open the three-dot (...) menu and choose Block, Block and report, or Report. Friend requests have Block and Report next to Accept, and every shared clip page has a Report link that works even when you aren't signed in. A block removes the friendship and any requests and hides each of you from the other, and they aren't told. Blocking never stops you from reporting. For copyright, use flashbk.gg/copyright.

Privacy

What does the app send? Without Cloud: an update check when you open the window, and an anonymous active-status token (on by default, can be turned off). Discord status goes to the Discord app on your PC, which shows it, with a Get Flashback link, to people who can see your Discord activity; it never includes your game. The Cloud tab contacts Cloud only when you open it. No clip, game name, setting or hardware detail is sent anywhere unless you upload it. See Privacy.

What does "Share anonymous active status" send? Only a daily rotating anonymous token, used for an approximate count of devices seen in the last 30 minutes. It isn't an account total and includes no clips, game names, hardware, accounts, settings or feature usage. Turn it off in Settings > Privacy & integrations > Share anonymous active status.

What does the input overlay store? Only a bounded rolling list of selected key and mouse-button states while the overlay and buffer are on. A saved clip keeps its timeline in private local metadata, so the clean master stays untouched and the editor can add or remove the overlay later. It's never uploaded automatically.

Does Flashback listen to me? Only if you turn on voice commands, and only on the microphone you select. Recognition happens on your PC; samples are processed in memory and never stored, uploaded or logged.

Updates and install

How do updates work? Flashback checks the signed official feed once when you open its window and shows a quiet notice beside Check for updates if there's a new release. It doesn't poll from the tray and never downloads without a click. It verifies signed release information, the whole package and the pinned publisher before installing, resumes interrupted downloads, and offers a signed installer repair if the normal handoff can't finish. Clips and settings stay in place. See Update security chain.

I'm on 0.7.40 or earlier and the update fails. Expected: those versions don't recognize Flashback's new Microsoft signature, so they can't install current releases by themselves. On 0.7.39 and 0.7.40, Check for updates offers Download installer; versions before 0.7.39 may not show any update at all. Either way, open flashbk.gg/update-repair, quit Flashback from the tray, and run the current installer once (choose Update when setup asks). See Troubleshooting updates and install.

How big is the installer? Do I need to install anything else? About 105 MB for 0.8.0, down from 137 MB for 0.7.41. The exact size and checksum of the current version are on flashbk.gg/faq. Nothing else is needed: the .NET runtime and the Visual C++ runtime the recorder uses ship inside Flashback, so setup is a single step with no extra prompt or download. See Installing and Updating.

Why might Windows SmartScreen warn me? The installer is signed by Flashback's verified publisher through Microsoft Artifact Signing, so Windows shows the verified publisher. Because the certificate is new, SmartScreen may still ask you to confirm while download reputation builds: if Windows shows "Windows protected your PC", choose More info, then Run anyway. Compare the SHA-256 checksum with flashbk.gg/faq and the release's SHA256SUMS.txt. See Verifying Downloads.

Can Flashback start with Windows and stay in the tray? Yes. Launch after I sign in to Windows, Start with the window hidden and Keep Flashback running when I close the window are separate settings in Settings > Startup & background. Ghost Mode keeps the window closed at launch, mutes Flashback and turns off its Discord status, while the tray icon stays so you can reopen Flashback, turn Ghost Mode off or quit.

Platform

Is Flashback available for macOS or Linux? Not currently. Flashback targets 64-bit Windows 11.

Does it work on Windows 10? Windows 10 isn't supported. Flashback targets and is tested on 64-bit Windows 11.

Does my PC need a particular graphics card? Flashback targets a hardware video encoder that Windows Media Foundation can use, which most current NVIDIA, AMD and Intel graphics provide. It's designed and tested for hardware encoding. See System Requirements.

Does it support HDR? HDR output isn't part of this release.

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Related pages: Troubleshooting · Known limitations · Getting help · Glossary