Naming and Organization

Naming and Organization

Flashback names and files every clip and screenshot for you, using the game you were playing. Pick a name style and a folder layout in Settings > Naming & organization, and a live preview shows the exact file name and folder your next capture gets. This page explains the defaults, every option, and how game recognition works.

The default layout

Videos\Flashback\
├─ Elden Ring\
│   ├─ Elden Ring 2026-10-03 21-14-07.mp4
│   └─ Elden Ring screenshot 2026-10-03 21-15-40.png
├─ Counter-Strike 2\
│   └─ Counter-Strike 2 2026-10-03 22-02-11.mp4
├─ Desktop\
│   └─ Desktop 2026-10-03 18-30-02.mp4
└─ Montages\
    └─ Montage 2026-10-04 12-00-00.mp4

• Clips from a recognized game go into a folder named after that game.
• Anything else (the desktop, a browser, a video player) goes into the Desktop folder with the Desktop label.
• A montage of clips from one game goes into that game's folder; a montage that mixes games goes into Montages.

How a game is recognized

Flashback looks at the foreground window on the display it's recording, in windowed, borderless or fullscreen mode.

1. Well-known games are recognized directly by their program name.
2. Games installed through Steam, Epic, Riot, Xbox, Battle.net, GOG, EA or Ubisoft, or in a folder named Games, are recognized by where they're installed, and named after the game's app name or window title.
3. Any program you gave a game profile is recognized too, under the profile's name.
4. Everything else gets the desktop label, including a game installed somewhere else. To name one of those, give it a per-game profile. Without a profile, browsers, launchers and chat apps are never treated as games, and Windows itself and Flashback never are.

Recognition reads only the game's file path. It never reads or touches the game's memory.

It checks continuously for the status display, and again at the moment you save, so a clip is labelled with what's in front of you right then. Alt-tabbing away doesn't carry the old game's name onto a desktop clip. A game on your second monitor is recognized as long as that's the display Flashback is recording.

Settings > Naming & organization

Setting	Default	What it does
Name captures after the game you're playing	On	Uses the game in front on the recorded display, for the games described above. Off: every capture uses the desktop label.
File names	Game, date, time (default)	A name preset, or Custom pattern to write your own. See below.
Folders	A folder for each game	Where captures go inside your clip folder. See below.
PREVIEW		The exact file name and folder your next replay and screenshot will get, before you apply.
Customize names		Opens the name patterns, the desktop label and folder, and custom game names.

New replays and screenshots use your choices as soon as you apply. Existing captures aren't renamed or moved.

Name presets

Preset	Replay	Screenshot
Game, date, time (default)	Elden Ring 2026-10-03 21-14-07.mp4	Elden Ring screenshot 2026-10-03 21-15-40.png
Game - date, time	Elden Ring - 2026-10-03 21-14-07.mp4	Elden Ring - screenshot 2026-10-03 21-15-40.png
Date, time - game	2026-10-03 21-14-07 - Elden Ring.mp4 (sorting by name lists captures in order)	2026-10-03 21-15-40 - Elden Ring screenshot.png
Game_timestamp, no spaces	Fortnite_20261003-211407.mp4	Fortnite_screenshot_20261003-211540.png

Folder layouts

Layout	Example
A folder for each game (default)	Elden Ring\ and Desktop\ for captures with no game
Game, then month	Elden Ring\2026-10\
A folder for each month	2026-10\, shared by every game
Everything in one folder	Straight into your clip folder

Name and folder are independent, so you can keep game names in file names but use one flat folder, or the other way round. The Library and its game filter still find the game when a month folder sits below it.

Customize names

Customize names holds the finer controls:

Setting	Default	What it does
Replay name pattern	{game} {date} {time}	How clips are named. Pick name pieces from the list below the field, or type them.
Screenshot name pattern	{game} screenshot {date} {time}	How screenshots are named.
Desktop label	Desktop	The name used when no game is detected.
Desktop folder	Desktop	The folder for captures with no game, when captures are sorted by game.
Custom game names	(empty)	Your own names and folders for specific games.

Editing a pattern switches File names to Custom pattern.

Filename patterns

Build a pattern from plain text and these pieces:

Piece	Becomes	Example
{game}	The game's name, or your desktop label when no game is detected	Elden Ring
{process}	The program's file name without .exe	eldenring
{date}	The day it was saved, year-month-day	2026-10-03
{time}	The time it was saved, hours-minutes-seconds	21-14-07
{timestamp}	Date and time together without spaces	20261003-211407
{duration}	The replay length in whole seconds (screenshots use 0)	30

Examples:

Pattern	Result
{game} {date} {time}	Elden Ring 2026-10-03 21-14-07.mp4
{timestamp} {game}	20261003-211407 Elden Ring.mp4
{game} - {duration}s - {date}	Elden Ring - 30s - 2026-10-03.mp4

The PREVIEW shows what your pattern produces before you apply it. Flashback checks the pattern in plain language: an unknown piece or a stray { or } is an error that stops the save, and anything Flashback will adjust for you is explained as a note. Characters Windows doesn't allow in file names are replaced with -, and very long names are shortened. If a file with the same name already exists, Flashback picks a new name rather than overwrite it, and renaming a capture in the Library refuses a name another capture in that folder already uses.

Dates and times follow your PC's time zone, including a change made while Flashback is running.

Custom game names

Use Custom game names to rename a game, give it a different folder, or name a game Flashback labels in a way you don't like. A rule only renames a game Flashback already detects; a line for a program it doesn't detect never takes effect. To name one of those, give it a per-game profile instead. While Name captures after the game you're playing is off, the box is greyed out.

Write one rule per line:

process name = display name | folder name

For example:

cs2 = Counter-Strike 2 | CS2 Clips
eldenring = Elden Ring
# lines starting with # are ignored

• The process name is the program's file name; .exe is optional.
• The folder name is optional. Leave out | folder name and the folder uses the display name.
• Each process can have only one rule. If a line can't be read or repeats a process, Flashback tells you which line to fix.

The display name is what {game} becomes; the folder name is where those captures go.

Choose your clip folder

Your clip folder is %USERPROFILE%\Videos\Flashback unless you change it in Settings > Storage & shortcuts. If you pick a folder that already holds other media, Flashback offers to use a Flashback subfolder so your own files stay separate. The storage limit only ever removes captures Flashback made, never other files in that folder.

Your clips live outside the app's install folder, so updating or uninstalling Flashback never removes them.

Related pages

Library · Per-Game Profiles · Screenshots · Instant Replay