Hey, welcome back to another Windows 10 Shots blog post. I hope you read my last post, Windows 10 Shots – Microsoft Edge Keyboard Shortcuts.
As I have mentioned in previous posts, with most shots, after about a handful, things will start to get a little hazy. But, with Windows 10 Shots (this new series of posts), the hope would be that the opposite would happen. That clarity and insight into the highly anticipated release would free your mind to great new features and power of Windows 10.
I have worked with a lot of Windows users over the years, and one thing I have noticed is that there are users who love to use the mouse and there are users who love to use the keyboard. Sure there are those in the middle, and I actually prefer to use the mouse most of the time, but you have to admit, when you watch someone who has the keyboard down to a science, windows, screens, emails, etc. are flashing all of the screen like a firework show. It can be confusing to those watching, but for the person who has become proficient with the keyboard, productivity is the name of the game.
This is the final post in a series dedicated to those who love to wield the keyboard like a sword and chop up all work or play tasks that dare to stand in their way.
I will attempt to keep this short by explaining as quickly has I can the shortcut we are going to use, what it does and a quick description with an occasional screen shot to drive it home. That being said, the General Window 10 and Microsoft Edge posts will have more content. So, let’s get typing …
Game Bar Keyboard Shortcuts
With Windows 10, you can now record games you play and share them with your friends online. Using the Xbox app, you can go back and review recordings, edit them and share them on the Xbox Live network.
Guess what? You can also use the Game bar to record the usage of other applications as well. Pretty slick. Check out the shortcuts to start recording and sharing.
NOTE: In the future, I will do a post on the Windows 10 Xbox app and the Game Bar, but for now, let’s just keep to the basics.
Action – Open Game Bar
Shortcut Key – Windows Key + G
Description: If you would like to open the Game Bar for a game, this combination will do it for you. For example, if you were playing the Windows 10 game, Jetpack Joyride, you would see something like this:
From the Game Bar, you can open the Xbox application, record the last 30 seconds, take a screenshot, start recording your game and adjust your settings.
If you start recording from the Game Bar, you will see the following:
The bar will shortly hide itself and you can bring it up again by hitting the shortcut again, Windows Key + G. If you want to stop it, you can hit the stop button on the Game Bar.
If you were to attempt to open the Game Bar on an application that it doesn’t recognize as a game, you will get prompted with the following.
If you select yes, it will register it as a game and you will be able to use the game DVR functionality with that application as well.
Action – Record Last 30 Seconds
Shortcut Key – Windows Key + Alt + G
Description: While playing a game, hitting this keyboard sequence, Windows Key + Alt + G, the last 30 seconds of game play will be recorded. You will see a popup on your screen when it has been captured.
NOTE: If there isn’t at least 30 seconds to capture, it will only capture the amount available. Notice in the screenshot above, there was only 22 seconds in the game at that point.
Action – Start/Stop Recording
Shortcut Key – Windows Key + Alt + R
Description: If you would like to start recording your game, you can simply press Windows Key + Alt + R. Once you hit this combination, you will see a counter on the top of the screen that looks like this:
This will show you how much you have currently recorded. If you would like to stop recording, just hit the keyboard shortcut again and the counter will go away.
Action – Take a Screenshot
Shortcut Key – Windows Key + Alt + Print Screen
Description: This probably doesn’t need much explanation. Hit Windows Key + Alt + Print Screen, and it will take a screenshot of the current games, save it to your Videos/Captures folder and then show you a little notification saying that the screenshot was saved.
Action – Show/Hide Recording Timer
Shortcut Key – Windows Key + Alt + T
Description: If you want to show or hide the recording time to see how much you have recorded up to this point, simply enter the combination Windows Key + Alt + T and you will see the current time recorded in the upper left part of your game.
Xbox Application
So, you might be asking, those who are new to Windows 10, “Where are my recorded snippets?” Well, that is a great question. By default, your video captures and screenshots will be saved to the following directory:
C:\Users\[username]\Videos\Captures
You can also view your captured videos in your Xbox Application in your Game DVR section.
Summary
So, all you keyboard crazies out there, I hope this post helps you by identifying the some of the keyboard shortcuts in Windows 10 that will help you navigate your desktops. This way, you can blaze a path of productivity using the most productive operating system in the world, Windows 10.
