Your First Clip

Your first clip

ShadePlay guide › Getting started

How to find ShadePlay's icon, the one-time hotkey check, how to save a clip, and where it goes.

Find the tray icon

ShadePlay has no main window. It lives in the notification area (the tray), next to the clock.

• Windows 11 hides new icons there. Click the ^ arrow next to the clock to find ShadePlay's round icon.
• To keep it in sight, drag it onto the taskbar, or open Windows Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Other system tray icons and turn ShadePlay on.
• A red dot in the icon means it is recording. The other icons are on Is it recording?.

The one-time hotkey check

A few seconds after its first start, once it is recording, ShadePlay shows a notification:

ShadePlay is recording Press F10 now to test it: it saves the last 60 s. If your GPU's own instant replay is on, turn it off so nothing is recorded twice.

Press F10 within 15 seconds. This press only tests the key; it saves nothing. When ShadePlay receives it you hear a short chime and see:

Hotkey works F10 saves the last 60 s. Clips go to <your clips folder>.

Click that notification to open the clips folder.

• If you pressed F10 but ShadePlay never received it, another program took the key (often a graphics card overlay or another recorder). ShadePlay then says Your hotkey didn't reach ShadePlay. See The save hotkey.
• If you don't press it, nothing happens: the check simply ends.
• If a fullscreen game or Do Not Disturb holds notifications back, the check waits and shows up later.
• If ShadePlay is not recording yet after 30 seconds, the title reads ShadePlay is running instead.
• The same check comes back as Test your save hotkey each time you choose a new hotkey.

On a compact or laptop keyboard, F10 may need the Fn key. You can choose another key in the settings.

Save a clip

Whenever something happens that you want to keep, press F10.

1. You hear a short tick: ShadePlay got the key.

2. It writes the clip in the background, at low priority, while you keep playing. A 60-second clip at 2560 × 1440, 240 fps took 3 to 4 seconds on the test PC.

3. You hear a two-note chime and see:

   Clip saved Saved 60 s of <game>. Click to show it.

   Clicking it opens File Explorer with the clip selected.

Each press saves its own clip, and several saves can queue. A second press within 0.75 seconds counts as the same press. If a clip can't be saved you hear a low tone and see Clip not saved with the reason; see Troubleshooting.

Other ways to save

• The tray menu's Save last 60 s now (the length follows your buffer length).
• ShadePlay.exe --save from a command line or a script: it asks the running ShadePlay to save. With nothing running, it does nothing.
• In advanced mode, the Save last 60 s now button on the Status page.

Where the clip went

Clips go to Videos\ShadePlay, in one folder per game:

Videos\ShadePlay\<Game>\<Game> 2026-09-24 21-15-03.mp4

The name is the game (or Desktop when no game or app was in front), then the date and time you pressed the key. Open the folder with the tray menu's Open clips folder. More in Clips, folders and names.

Notifications wait for your game

Windows holds notifications back while a fullscreen game, a presentation or Do Not Disturb is on, and so does ShadePlay: it doesn't show Clip saved then. The sounds still tell you what happened: a tick when you press the key, a chime when the clip is saved, and a low tone when it is not.

The sounds play on the Windows default output. If you listen on a headset that is not the Windows default, you hear them on the default device instead.

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Next: Is it recording?

See also: The save hotkey · The tray menu and notifications · Clips, folders and names