How to Record Audio on Windows 10

Dave Johnson has been writing about tech since 1990. He's the author of over 2 dozen books and his writing has appeared in Wired, PCWorld, Business Insider, and many other publications.

What to Know

• Start > open Windows Voice Recorder > select the Record icon.
• Or, use Audacity. Configure the audio inputs to record sound from the computer and select the Record icon.
• When you're done, go to File >Save >Save as WAV to save the finished audio.

This article explains how to record audio on Windows 10. The instructions apply to all Windows 10 laptops and PCs.

How to Record Computer Audio With Windows Voice Recorder

Windows Voice Recorder is a simple but effective program that comes pre-installed with Windows and can be used to record audio directly from your computer's microphone. It also has a rudimentary editor you can use to trim unwanted bits from the start and end of the recording.

1. If you don’t have a microphone built into your computer, connect one before you start Windows Voice Recorder.

In the Windows Settings search box, type Sound and press Enter. In the search results, select Sound Settings.

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In the Input section, use the input device drop-down menu to choose your microphone, then close the Settings window.

Select the Record icon on the left side of the screen to begin recording.

In some versions of Voice Recorder, the Record icon may shift to the middle of the window when you first open it or if you haven't previously made any voice recordings. Once you have created recordings, the Record icon appears on the left side of the screen.

While you’re recording, you can select the Pause icon to temporarily hold recording, then select Pause a second time to continue, recording to the same file.

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If you want to trim the start and end of the audio, select the Trim icon at the bottom of the window.

Drag the start and end bars until you've edited the audio. Select the Play icon to hear your revised start and end points. When you're satisfied, select the Save icon and choose if you want to save the current file or create a new copy.

Record on Windows 10 Using Audacity

There are many third-party audio recording programs for Windows, but Audacity is a powerful one that’s free and open source. It’s used by many creative professionals, including podcasters, to make voice recordings and other kinds of audio.

Before you download and use Audacity, be sure to review its privacy policy to ensure you’re comfortable with its terms.

You can easily use Audacity to make, edit, and publish audio files recorded by microphone, in much the same way as you can record audio in Windows Voice Recorder. We demonstrate how to use the program to record internal audio from another program on your PC.

If you're capturing audio being played by another program, be aware of the possibility of copyright infringement regarding recording and reusing that audio. If the audio is copyrighted, and you record and reuse it, you could be breaking the law, which has serious consequences.

1. If you don’t already have Audacity installed on your computer, install Audacity, then open it.

First, configure the audio inputs so Audacity can record sound from the computer. Select the Audio host drop-down menu at the top left of the window and choose Windows WASAPI. It allows Audacity to "hear" audio from other apps.

Select the Audio input drop-down menu to the right of the Audio host menu, then select the speakers or headphones you're currently using to hear audio on the computer, with "loopback" in parenthesis. This ensures the audio being captured is the only audio you can hear coming from the computer.

When you're ready, select the Record icon in the Audacity toolbar.

Select the Play icon to hear the audio you just recorded.

To record your screen on Windows 10, turn on the Windows Game Bar. Then press Windows+G and select Record.

Use a free streaming audio recorder like Streamosaur or Aktiv. Such apps export files in various audio formats.

There are a few ways to record calls using Audacity. The easiest is to use a VoIP recorder and insert the file into Audacity.

The easiest way to record audio from Discord is to use the Craig chatbot. You might need to change your microphone settings by going to Settings > App Settings > Voice & Video.