Free Screen Recorder for Windows: Audio, Webcam, No Watermark

To record your screen with Sleekshot, press PrtSc and select an area. Press V to switch to the screen recorder, then Ctrl + R to start. You get an MP4 with your voice and your computer's sound. If you want, add your webcam in a bubble, highlight your clicks and draw arrows on the screen. It's free, with no watermark, no time limit and no account.

The screen recorder starts the same way as a screenshot, so there's nothing new to learn: the same selection, the same toolbar, one extra key. It runs on Windows 10 (1809 or later) and Windows 11, on x64, x86 and ARM64 PCs.

How to record your screen with Sleekshot

1. Press PrtSc. The screen dims.
2. Drag over the area you want to record, click a window or press Ctrl + A for the whole monitor. Need an exact size like 1920 × 1080? Type it into the size box or pick a ready-made size.
3. Press V (Screen recorder mode). The recording toolbar appears.
4. Pick a microphone, and turn system audio, click highlights and the camera on or off.
5. Press Ctrl + R (Record). A red dashed outline marks the area being recorded, and the toolbar shows a timer.
6. When you're done, click Save to file or Copy to clipboard. Pause / Resume and Discard and Close are on the same toolbar.

Sleekshot keeps its own toolbars out of the video, so viewers only see your screen. For a side-by-side comparison with Snipping Tool, Xbox Game Bar and OBS Studio, see how to screen record on Windows.

Microphone and system audio

Sleekshot records sound from your microphone, from the PC itself (system audio) or both, in one AAC track at 128 kbps. The microphone list shows a live level meter, so you can check that the right mic hears you before you press Record. System audio has its own switch: turn it on for a product demo with sound and off for a silent bug report.

Tip: Before a long session, record five seconds and play them back. A muted or wrong microphone is the most common reason to record again. More in how to record your screen with audio.

Webcam bubble, highlighted clicks and drawing on the screen

These three are why people pick Sleekshot over the recorders built into Windows:

• Webcam bubble. Turn on the camera, and a round video of you appears over the recording. Drag it to any corner and resize it from 120 to 800 px. It's handy for course videos and video updates. See how to record your screen with a webcam.
• Highlighted clicks. Every mouse click shows an animated circle, so viewers can follow quick clicks in a tutorial.
• Draw while you record. All the tools for arrows, steps and blur are still there. Drop an arrow, a box or a highlighter stroke exactly where you're pointing, and it shows up in the video. Click Cursor to go back to using the desktop.

Quality and file sizes

Pick the quality in Settings → Video → Recording quality. The video is H.264 in an MP4 file. Sleekshot uses your graphics card to encode it and falls back to the processor if it can't.

The sizes are simple bitrate math (Mbps × 60 ÷ 8) plus about 1 MB per minute for sound. Compact is plenty for clicking around apps. Choose High for games, animations and fast scrolling. Our screen recording quality guide has more on resolution and frame rate.

Saving and sharing a recording

The first time you record, Sleekshot asks Save recordings by default? Choose Save all recordings to keep every video in Videos\Sleekshot, or pick another folder. You can change this later in Settings → Video.

Copy to clipboard puts the MP4 on the clipboard as a file. Paste it into Slack, Telegram or an email with Ctrl + V, without digging through folders. If you lose track of a file, where screen recordings are saved lists the folders of every common recorder.

What it doesn't do (yet)

• MP4 only. There's no GIF export and no trimming. To cut a clip, open the MP4 in Clipchamp (it comes with Windows 11) or any video editor.
• One area at a time. Sleekshot records one selected area on one monitor, and you can't schedule a recording or start it on a delay.
• Windows only. Sleekshot for Mac takes screenshots but doesn't record video.
• Drawings stay where you put them. Undo with Ctrl + Z and draw again if you need to.

Comparing options? See our list of free screen recorders without a watermark, or download Sleekshot and make a ten-second test recording.