There is no doubt that Windows 11 has a lot of work ahead in terms of interface, basic functions, and performance, but I am the first to acknowledge that it has some interesting elements. For example, if you've wondered how to record your screen in Windows 11, you should know that the Xbox Game Bar hasn't gone anywhere, and it also serves to monitor your PC, keeping a close eye on CPU, GPU, and memory usage.
The new hardware requirements were a mistake, the changes to its interface irritated many users, its overall performance leaves much to be desired on some computers, and official solutions arrive in drips. Windows 11 definitely needed an extension in its development time to remove sharp edges… but it's here, and we have to work with it one way or another. That means identifying and leveraging any positive aspect, which leads us directly to the Xbox Game Bar.
Recording the screen in Windows 11 with the Xbox Game Bar
That's right: the Xbox Game Bar remains in exactly the same place, and if you want to record your screen in Windows 11, it's your first option before installing external software. The good news is that you can record other programs besides games, but the bad news is that it only prioritizes the foreground. In other words, recording focuses on the active window. If you need a more complete recording mode, you might want to explore additional tools.
The keyboard shortcuts for controlling the Xbox Game Bar haven't changed: Win+Alt+R starts and stops recording, Win+Alt+M toggles the microphone, and Win+Alt+G lets you create a clip of the last 30 seconds if background recording is enabled.
How to use the Xbox Game Bar to monitor your PC
The benefits of the Xbox Game Bar don't end there. It may not have the advanced parameters of other dedicated applications, but its widget system is much more interesting than it seems. First, the Resources widget has a very pleasant interface, and it wouldn't be far-fetched to imagine it as a replacement for Task Manager in the future (with more functions, of course). And second, the Performance widget helps us visualize the usage of the processor, the graphics chip, system memory, and available video memory, in addition to counting FPS.
As if that weren't enough, in the widget's settings section you can manually control its transparency, plus the ability to pin the window to a specific section of the screen, and reduce its size. This turns the Performance widget into a minimalist yet effective hardware monitor, without relying on secondary software. Give it a try!
