Xbox One – How to Capture Gameplay Clips

The Xbox One console makes it simple for you to capture clips of your gameplay. There are 2 different methods for capturing clips. You can retroactively capture up to the last 5 minutes of gameplay, or you can set your Xbox to record up to the next 10 minutes of game play. 

Here’s how each method works: 

Capture Clips from Recent Action

You’ve just done something amazing on your favorite Xbox One game and you wished you’d recorded it to show your buddies. Good news! Xbox One is constantly recording your gameplay. There is a limit of how long you can go back and capture, but the good news is that you’ve got plenty of time to capture that amazing moment. 

By default Xbox One is set to capture the last 30 seconds of your gameplay. However, you can go into your ‘Capture Settings’ menu and set your Xbox to record longer or shorter clips. Your options are 15 seconds, 30 seconds, 45 seconds, 1 minute, 2 minutes and 5 minutes. For clips up to 2 minutes long you can capture 1080p quality. If you set it to 5 minutes the quality is reduced to 720p. 

There are 2 methods to do this. The first method is a quick capture method, which is the best way to capture a moment without too much interruption to your gameplay. 

  1. Hit the ‘Xbox’ button
  2. Hit the ‘X’ button. 

Boom! You’ve just captured your clip. Again, by default this is 30 seconds, but you can change the quick capture method to the different timeframes mentioned above. 

The second method allows you to select a timeframe other than your default. Let’s say your default is set to 30 seconds, but you’ve just had an amazing stretch of 2 minutes of gameplay. Here’s what you do: 

  1. Hit the ‘Xbox’ button
  2. Hit the ‘Menu’ button to bring up ‘Capture options’
  3. Select the timeframe you wish to capture 

Piece of cake, right? This method does take a touch longer than the quick capture method. However, if you’re playing online and didn’t have a chance to capture your awesome moment this method does allow you to capture longer clips than the 30 second default. So as long as your awesome moment was within the last few minutes, you’ll still be able to retrieve it. 

Set Xbox One to Record Gameplay

If you’re looking to capture longer clips, up to 10 minutes, you’ll have to set your Xbox One to ‘Record from now’. Here are the steps to do this: 

  1. Press the ‘Xbox’ button on the controller. 
  2. Press the ‘View’ button (Overlapping squares located above the Dpad just left of center)
  3. Select ‘Record from now’. 

That’s it! Your Xbox will now record up to the next 10 minutes of your gameplay and store it in your clips gallery. Keep in mind, you will need enough space on your Xbox to store the clip. Your Xbox will warn you if you’ve run out of space. 

Accessing Your Recorded Gameplay on Xbox One

Once you’ve recorded a clip you can access it in the ‘Manage Captures menu. 

  1. Press the ‘View’ Button
  2. Select ‘Manage Captures’
  3. Press the ‘A’ Button

Now you’ll see a list of clips you’ve captured. Your Xbox allows you to filter these clips a few different ways. The first filter allows you to select if you want to view clips that are on your Xbox or just clips that you’ve uploaded to Xbox live. The second option allows you to filter for Video, Screenshots or Everything. The last filter allows you to filter by All games, or by specific games that you’ve captured clips from. 

Getting Your Clips on to Your Computer

Now that you’ve captured some awesome clips of your gameplay, you may want to share them on social media or move them to your computer. There are a couple of ways you can do this. If you have a Microsoft OneDrive account you can upload your clips to your OneDrive and then access them from your computer. The other option is to move them to an external storage device, such as a USB hard drive or USB thumb drive. Simply plug in your USB device to enable this option, select the clips you wish to move and wait for them to transfer to your device. 

It’s worth noting that there are 2 ways you can view your clips. You can view them as tiles or you can select to view them in a list. For moving multiple clips to OneDrive, Xbox Live or your USB device, you’ll find it much easier to view as a list. This allows you to select multiple clips at once before moving them to your desired location.