How to Record Audio on Windows

Here's how to record audio on Windows: open Sound Recorder from the Start menu, press Ctrl+R, and press Esc when you're done. It's free, it's Microsoft's own app, and it records through your microphone.

That last part catches people out. Sound Recorder hears the room, not the sound playing inside your PC. To record a webinar or a video, you need Audacity, which is also free.

Dana trains new staff at a dental supply firm in Columbus. Last month she opened Sound Recorder, played a vendor webinar through her laptop speakers and left it running for an hour. The file had the webinar, faintly, plus her keyboard and the office printer. With Audacity set to record the PC's own output, her next take had only the webinar. (Dana is an illustration, not a real customer.)

Below: the steps for Windows 11 and Windows 10, checked on Microsoft's and Audacity's support pages on November 9, 2026, then a table of fixes for when a recording comes out silent.

Which app to use to record audio on a PC

Start with what you want to capture. All four options here are free.

For a Zoom or Teams call, use the meeting's own recording first: see how to record a Zoom meeting and how to record a Teams meeting.

How to record audio on Windows 11 with Sound Recorder

Microsoft's Sound Recorder FAQ gives these steps:

1. Open Sound Recorder from the Start menu. The first time, allow microphone access when you're asked.
2. Select Start recording, or press Ctrl+R.
3. Select Pause, or press the Space bar, to stop for a moment. Select the button again to carry on.
4. Select Stop recording, or press Esc, to save it.

Your recording appears in the list on the left. Right-click it to Rename, Share or Delete it.

Choose the microphone

Open Settings > System > Sound. Under Input, pick your device, then use the Input volume slider. On Windows 11, Microsoft's microphone guide also has a Start test button under the device, so you can check it first.

Find the file and change the format

Microsoft says recordings are kept within the app, and that uninstalling it deletes them. Copy anything that matters somewhere safe.

To get the file, right-click a recording and choose Show in folder (Thurrott's Windows 11 guide). Guides place it in Documents > Sound recordings. Microsoft's FAQ doesn't list a folder or formats, so these come from independent guides. As of November 2026, Beebom lists MP3, M4A, WAV, FLAC and WMA in the app's Settings, under the three-dot menu.

Press Mark during a recording to flag a key moment. Microsoft's June 2026 release notes say markers are off for WAV files, because WAV can't store them.

Thurrott also says Sound Recorder lost the trim tool the older app had. Need to cut the start or end? Our free audio trimmer does it in your browser, and the file isn't uploaded.

Watch the three-hour limit

Microsoft caps each Sound Recorder file at three hours. In one Microsoft Q&A thread, a user recorded for about four hours while the app kept showing that it was recording. The saved file stopped at three hours, and the last hour was gone.

So on a long day, stop and start a new recording before the three-hour mark. Tom, a county planner in Oregon, records a five-hour public hearing this way: he starts a new file at every break, so no single file gets close to the limit. (Tom is an illustration, not a real customer.)

How to record audio on Windows 10

On Windows 10, the same job is done by an app called Voice Recorder. Microsoft's help link for it now opens the Windows 11 page, so these steps come from a Southern New Hampshire University guide updated in December 2024.

1. Type Voice Recorder in the search box and open it.
2. Select Record, or press Ctrl+R.
3. Select Pause to halt and resume, and Add a Marker to flag a key point.
4. Select Stop. Each session can run for about 2 hours 59 minutes.

Recordings save as .m4a files in Documents > Sound recordings. Open See more, then Open file location, to jump there. Windows 10's app can also Trim: drag the handles, then choose Update original or Save a copy.

To choose a mic, open Settings > System > Sound and use Choose your input device.

Microsoft ended Windows 10 support on October 14, 2025. Your PC keeps working, but it no longer gets security or feature updates.

How to record audio on a PC: microphone vs system audio

• Microphone audio is sound in the room: your voice, the people around you, the fan.
• System audio is sound your PC plays: a video, a webinar, a music track. It stays inside the computer, so recording it doesn't need a mic at all.

Sound Recorder uses the microphone. If you hold a laptop up to a speaker, you'll get a thin copy with the room mixed in. For a clean copy, record the PC's output directly, as below.

Record PC audio with Audacity

Audacity is free and open source, and the download page lists version 4.0.2 for Windows as of November 2026. The Audacity support team gives these steps for recording desktop audio:

1. Click Audio Setup and set the Host to Windows WASAPI.
2. Under recording device, choose the output you're listening through. Its name ends in (loopback).
3. Turn off input monitoring, which causes echoes.
4. Start playing the audio, then press Record.
5. Press Stop, then choose File > Export Audio and pick MP3 or WAV.

Audacity's loopback records everything the PC plays, including notification sounds, so silence them first. It also can't start if no sound is playing, which is why playback comes first.

Some sound cards offer a Stereo Mix input that does the same job. Audacity's manual explains how to turn it on in the Windows Sound panel's Recording tab. It can't capture sound going out over HDMI or through USB or wireless headphones, so WASAPI loopback is the simpler choice.

The manual also warns that copyright or website restrictions may stop you recording some material, so check first.

Recording both your voice and the PC

• OBS Studio is free and open source. Its quick start guide says it captures desktop audio and the microphone by default.
• Snipping Tool on Windows 11 opens its recorder with Windows key + Shift + R. Microsoft announced optional PC audio and microphone recording in 2023, but users on Microsoft Q&A report mixed results with system audio, so test it first.

Both give you a video file. Our free screen recording to MP3 converter pulls out just the sound.

Why your Windows recording is silent: a fix table

We built this from Microsoft's microphone guide and Audacity's documentation.

Our free microphone test checks your mic in the browser, before anything important starts.

How much space a recording takes: a worked example

Here's the arithmetic for a three-hour recording at common settings. The settings are examples, not a promise of what your copy of Sound Recorder uses.

• WAV (44,100 Hz, 16-bit, stereo): 44,100 samples × 2 bytes × 2 channels is 176,400 bytes a second. That's about 635 MB an hour, or about 1.9 GB for three hours.
• MP3 at 128 kbps: 16,000 bytes a second is about 58 MB an hour, or about 173 MB for three hours.

For speech, MP3 or M4A is plenty. Choose WAV only if you plan to edit the audio heavily.

Turn a Windows recording into text and notes

• A file on your PC: our free audio to text tool needs a free ParrotNotes account and takes files up to 10 minutes.
• Typing by voice instead: see dictation on Windows 11. For the other options, see our guide to voice to text software for Windows.
• In-person meetings and long conversations: this is where a phone helps.

We'll be straightforward: there's no ParrotNotes app for Windows. It runs on iPhone, Android and Mac, so on a PC it's a phone-beside-the-laptop setup. ParrotNotes records the room and turns each recording into a transcript, a summary and action items. Recording works offline, and transcription runs once you're online.

As of November 2026, the free plan gives you 100 minutes of recording a month, up to 30 minutes per recording, a summary on every recording, AI insights on 5 recordings a month and 3 file imports a month. Pro is $19.99 a month, or $14.99 a month billed yearly, for 3,000 minutes a month and recordings up to 3 hours (ParrotNotes pricing).

Back to Dana. She now keeps Audacity for webinars and sets her phone on the table for live training sessions. Download ParrotNotes free if you'd like notes from your next room recording too.

Recording other people: ask first

Recording a conversation with other people can bring consent laws into play. In the US, some states let one person in the conversation consent, while others require everyone's consent. Our list of one-party consent states shows which is which, and rules differ outside the US.

The easy habit: say you're recording before you press Record, and never record someone secretly. This is general information, not legal advice.

Conclusion

How to record audio on Windows comes down to one question: where's the sound coming from?

• The room: Sound Recorder on Windows 11, Voice Recorder on Windows 10. Press Ctrl+R to start.
• The PC: Audacity with Windows WASAPI and the (loopback) device.
• Both: OBS Studio, or Snipping Tool after a test.

On another device, see how to record audio on a Mac, how to record audio on Android or how to record audio on iPhone. And if you want the summary without replaying the file, try ParrotNotes free on your phone.