Nvidia ShadowPlay Not Recording – How to Fix It

NVIDIA ShadowPlay is definitely one of the top features in GeForce experience that enables users to record, share and even stream high-quality gameplay and capture screenshots. Its hardware-accelerated screen recording feature also makes using the record/stream feature smooth without much penalty to the game’s FPS.

The application, however, is not entirely flawless. Most NVIDIA GeForce Experience users have reported that the ShadowPlay does not record gameplay when pressing the recordbutton. This can happen due to a lot of reasons. It could be due to the incorrect ShadowPlay settings or the PC not giving particular permission to the application. 

Besides this, not setting a specific in-game setting could also cause ShadowPlay to face issues when recording gameplay. This article explains a few solutions that might fix the recording issue with NVIDIA’s ShadowPlay.

What Causes Recording Issue in NVIDIA ShadowPlay?

Before we get into the solution, let us look at a few reasons that might be causing the recording issue. One reason is running NVIDIA GeForce Experience on a lower-end PC. 

Recording/Streaming screens usually require a certain CPU usage, physical memory, and graphical memory. However, recording graphics-intensive games may require intensive graphic memory to run the game and record them. This can be a problem if the PC has low system specifications.

Fix NVIDIA ShadowPlay Not Recording Problem

First, make sure that your system meets the minimum NVIDIA GeForce Experience requirement. ShadowPlay may not record or even run if it does not meet the system requirement. In this case, you will need to upgrade your hardware first before using ShadowPlay.

If your PC meets the system requirement and you still cannot record your screen, you can follow the solutions explained below to fix the recording issue with ShadowPlay.

Restart NVIDIA Streamer Service

Several services need to be running when running GeForce Experience. These services include NVIDIA Streamer Service, NVIDIA Backend, NVIDIA Capture Server, and many more. Recording and streaming also require a particular service named streamer service that needs to function. 

To check if NVIDIA Streamer Service is running,

1. Press the Windows + R key to open Run.
2. Type services.msc to open Services.
3. Search for NVIDIA Streamer Service and double-click on it
   
4. In the general tab, make sure that the service status indicates that it is Running.
   
5. If the Service status indicates Stopped, click on Start to run the service.

Update GeForce Experience

In older versions of GeForce Experience, you need to enable multiple settings in GeForce for it to record your screen. These settings include Desktop Capture, Share options, Privacy control, and many more.

However, these settings are not available in newer versions as these settings should always be enabled by default for ShadowPlay to record videos. Therefore, try updating GeForce Experience to the latest version to see if it fixes the issue with ShadowPlay.

1. Press the Windows + R key to open Run.
2. Type appwiz.cpl and press Enter to open Programs and features.
3. Click on NVIDIA GeForce Experience and select Uninstall.
   
4. Download NVIDIA GeForce Experience.
   
5. Install the application and try recording using NVIDIA shadowPlay

If you do not want to update GeForce Experience, make sure that you keep Desktop Capture, Share options, and Privacy control to Enabled.

Enable In-Game Overlay

Enabling in-game overlay allows you to run ShadowPlay even when GeForce Experience runs in the background. ShadowPlay will not run if you have disabled the in-game overlay, and hence ShadowPlay will not record. 

1. Open GeForce Experience.
2. Click on Settings, then select General.
3. Toggle the In-game overlay to On.
   
4. Launch a game and check if the shortcut keys record your gameplay.

Run the Game in Fullscreen Mode

GeForce Experience will automatically detect games once you open them. If GeForce Experience does not detect a game, ShadowPlay may run into an error when recording gameplay. You need to ensure that the game runs full screen.

1. Open the game and go to its Settings.
2. Search for settings named, Graphics, Display, or Advanced Graphics.
3. Here, set Display mode to Fullscreen.
   
4. Try running ShadowPlay to record your gameplay.

Logout of Twitch

If you have connected GeForce Experience with your Twitch account, you can easily broadcast your gameplay all around the world. However, users in many Q/A forums have reported that connecting GeForce with Twitch interferes with ShadowPlay when recording the screen.

To fix this, you can try disconnecting your GeForce Experience from your Twitch Account.

1. Open GeForce Experience
2. Click on the gear icon to open Settings.
3. Select General.
4. Under In-game Overlay, select Settings.
   
5. Click on Connect.
   
6. Make sure that Twitch is not linked with GeForce Experience.
   

Check Keyboard Shortcuts

By default, Alt + F10 saves the last 5 minutes of the record, and Alt + F9 toggles manual recording. ShadowPlay will not record if you have changed these default shortcut keys. To set your keyboard shortcuts, 

1. Open GeForce Experience
2. Click on the gear icon to open Settings.
3. Click on General.
4. Under In-game Overlay, then select Settings.
   
5. Select Keyboard shortcuts.
   
6. Here, select the desired keyboard shortcut according to your choice.
   
7. If you want default shortcuts, click on Reset to defaults.