FAQ

FAQ

ShadePlay guide › Help

Short answers to the questions people ask most, with links to the details.

Recording

Is it always recording, even on the desktop? Yes. ShadePlay records your screen and sound into memory all the time, in games and on the desktop. Nothing is saved until you press the hotkey, and your recordings never leave your PC unless you share them. See Privacy.

Can I pause it, or record only in games? No: ShadePlay always records. To stop it, choose Exit; it starts again at your next sign-in.

Does it slow down my games? The video is compressed by the graphics card's separate video engine, and ShadePlay used about 0.9 % of the processor on the test PC. A proper frame-rate test with and without ShadePlay hasn't been done yet. See Performance and memory.

Does it wear out my SSD? No. The replay stays in memory; only the clips you save are written to your drive.

Does it work with anti-cheat games? ShadePlay doesn't inject anything into games or hook into them: it records the picture Windows shows and the sound Windows plays, like any screen recorder. No problems are known, but not every game has been tried. If a game complains, please tell us.

Hardware

Does it work on AMD or Intel graphics? Experimentally: AMD Radeon RX 6000, 7000 and 9000 series and Intel Arc use the same design, but recording on them hasn't been tested yet. The built-in encoder test tells you how your card does, and the report helps us: Testing AMD and Intel graphics.

My NVIDIA card is older than the RTX 40 series. GeForce GTX 10 series and newer cards have no AV1 encoder, so ShadePlay records HEVC instead, by itself. Nothing to set up. See Graphics cards and encoders.

Does it work on a laptop? It should, but laptops haven't been tested. On many laptops the built-in screen is driven by the processor's integrated GPU, so ShadePlay records it with that GPU's encoder (Intel or AMD: experimental). See Laptops and PCs with two GPUs.

Does it work on Windows 10? Windows 11 is tested. Windows 10 version 2004 or newer installs and should work, but is untested.

Does it record HDR? When is a clip HDR? Yes: when Windows HDR is on for the recorded monitor, clips are HDR10. See HDR clips.

I have several monitors. Which one is recorded? Your primary (main) monitor. You can pick another one in the advanced Video settings (Monitors and displays).

Sound

My game plays on my headset, not on the Windows default output. Is it still recorded? Yes. ShadePlay records the game and Discord directly, whatever device they play on. Choose the device you listen on in the settings, so that everything else you hear is recorded too. See Sound and microphone.

A video editor shows several audio tracks. Which one do I want? The first track is the full mix, and most players play only that one. The others are the separate tracks, for when you want to turn the game, the voice chat or your microphone up or down. See Audio tracks.

Does it record my Discord friends? Yes: the call is on the Discord track and in the Mix. Ask before you share a clip with other people's voices in it. You can switch the Discord track off in the advanced Audio settings.

Can I use a mouse button as the hotkey? No, only keyboard keys. If your mouse or keyboard software can make a button send a key such as F13 to F24, pick that key. See The save hotkey.

Clips

Where are my clips, and how big are they? In Videos\ShadePlay, one folder per game. At the default settings (2560 × 1440, 240 fps, HDR) a minute of clip can take up to about 2.1 GB; most clips are much smaller. See Clips, folders and names and file sizes.

How do I play the clips? VLC plays every clip. The Windows Media Player app needs Microsoft's AV1 Video Extension (free, from the Microsoft Store) for AV1 clips, or the HEVC Video Extension for HEVC clips. HDR clips look their best on an HDR screen; good players adapt them for other screens. See Playing, sharing and YouTube.

A game's clips have an odd name. ShadePlay names clips after the game's program. You can give each game your own name in the advanced settings (Games and clip names).

Can I upload clips to YouTube? Why is there no "Sign in with Google"? Yes, upload them as they are. YouTube plays them at up to 60 fps and keeps the HDR; the HDR version appears a few hours after the upload. There is no Google sign-in on purpose: an optional helper opens YouTube's own upload page in your browser instead, so your Google account never touches ShadePlay. See YouTube helper.

Other recorders

How is it different from NVIDIA's Instant Replay (ShadowPlay, in the NVIDIA App)? ShadePlay was made because Instant Replay kept letting its maintainer down (Why I made this). It does one thing, instant replay, and is built to:

• be on from the moment you sign in, and restart its recorder by itself when something goes wrong;
• record the game, voice chat and microphone on separate tracks, whichever devices they play on, plus one mix with every sound counted once;
• let you turn the quality far higher than the NVIDIA App let its maintainer use;
• be free and open source, with no account and no overlay.

NVIDIA's app does much more: an overlay, screenshots, streaming and other features. ShadePlay is not affiliated with or endorsed by NVIDIA; ShadowPlay and GeForce are NVIDIA trademarks.

How is it different from OBS Studio's replay buffer? OBS Studio is a full recording and streaming studio, and it can keep a replay buffer too, with scenes and sources you set up yourself. ShadePlay is a small tray app with nothing to set up: it starts with Windows, finds the game and Discord by itself and names clips after the game. If OBS already works for you, keep using it.

What about Xbox Game Bar or Steam? Both can also record in the background, each in its own way. ShadePlay's focus is the same as above: always on, separate sound tracks from any device, and high quality settings, with nothing to set up.

About ShadePlay

Does ShadePlay phone home? The only things ShadePlay does online are a daily check on GitHub for a new version, which you can switch off, and downloading an update from GitHub when you ask for one. Your recordings never leave your PC unless you share them. The check carries nothing but the app's name and version, and nothing is downloaded until you click Update now (unless you switched on automatic updates). Switch the check off under Show advanced settings > Check for updates. See Updates and Privacy.

Why is there no pop-up when an update is out? On purpose: a pop-up in the middle of a game is the last thing a recorder should do. An update shows a small red ! on the tray icon, Update to X.Y.Z in the tray menu and a bar in the settings window, and waits for you. Updating stops recording for a few seconds, so it starts only when you click Update now (while a game runs, it asks first) or, if you switched on automatic updates, after 5 minutes with no game running.

Is ShadePlay made by NVIDIA? No. ShadePlay is an independent project, not affiliated with or endorsed by NVIDIA; ShadowPlay and GeForce are NVIDIA trademarks.

Who made it? baddo, together with Claude, an AI model made by Anthropic. baddo set the goals, made the key decisions and tested it on a real gaming PC; Claude researched, designed and wrote the code and its tests. Anthropic does not publish, endorse or support ShadePlay. The whole story: How it was built.

Something doesn't work. Troubleshooting lists the messages ShadePlay shows, with their cause and fix. Still stuck? Choose Send feedback / report a bug in the tray menu (Feedback and bug reports).

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Next: Privacy

See also: Troubleshooting · Glossary