In this instructable, I would like to show you how to record computer screen on a Windows PC. A screencast is worth a thousand words and pictures to demonstrate a problem or a process on a computer, especially if you want to make a video tutorial, demonstrate something wrong on your computer to a tech guy, or record a game playing session, etc.

Tools that you need:

A Windows computer;
A screen recording program. Here I use FonePaw Screen Recorder, which provides many features to make a decent screencast and works for all Windows versions from Windows XP to Windows 10;
A working microphone if you would like to record your voice in the recording;
A webcam if you would like to record your face and your computer doesn't have a built-in webcam. Nearly all laptops come with a built-in webcam.

Step 1: Install a Screen Recorder

To begin with, I downloaded FonePaw Screen Recorder on my computer and installed it. The installation is quite quick as the installation package is merely 2.2 MB in size.

Step 2: Select a Recording Region

On the recorder, toggle on the switch of Display. You can choose to record the full screen of the desktop or a specific area of the screen. For example, I made the recording frame around the YouTube video that I wanted to record.

Also, there are two advanced recording modes that I found interesting: one is to follow the mouse, which the recording region keeps moving following the mouse; the other is to lock screen and record, which record a specific window without capturing the activities of other windows.

Step 3: Enable Webcam, System Sound, Microphone(optional)

On the recorder, toggle on the switch of Display. You can choose to record the full screen of the desktop or a specific area of the screen. For example, I made the recording frame around the YouTube video that I wanted to record.

Also, there are two advanced recording modes that I found interesting: one is to follow the mouse, which the recording region keeps moving following the mouse; the other is to lock screen and record, which record a specific window without capturing the activities of other windows.

Step 4: Start Recording Computer Screen

Click Rec and the screen recording will begin. The recorder offers annotation tools(circle, brush, arrow, text, etc.), which I can add to my screencast to highlight whatever I want my audiences to notice. This is very useful if you are recording a screen video for teaching or demonstration.

There is a clock icon, which can set video length. For example, if you set the video length to 1 hour, the recorder will stop recording automatically after one hour.

Step 5: Save Screencast

Now I have recorded everything I need. I just clicked Stop button. The recording stopped and the video I just recorded started to play automatically. I clicked Save to save it on my computer.

Recording computer screen is easy with a professional screen recorder. The recorder that I am using has many options that can level up the screen recording game. For example, it can activate or stop recording with hotkeys, hide desktop icons or mouse cursor during recording, highlight mouse action and take a screenshot during the recording.

Of course, you can find many other screen recorders online to finish the job for you. Just select the one that best fit you need.