NVIDIA ShadowPlay, AKA NVIDIA GeForce Experience, is one of the most popular game recorders in the market. With the program, game players can record their amazing moments and share gaming videos online.
However, this powerful gameplay recorder goes wrong sometimes. Quite a few ShadowPlay users are saying that their ShadowPlay is not recording audio. Some say it won’t record the in-game sound and others say it’s not recording the microphone sound.
The ShadowPlay not recording audio error ruins so many excellent gaming video by making silence. To help you fix the error and make ShadowPlay record normally, the tutorial will introduce 4 methods that actually work.
Fix ShadowPlay not recording game/microphone audio:
- Method 1 Modify the audio source
- Method 2 Set up your audio device properly
- Method 3 Update or reinstall GeForce Driver
- Method 4 Reinstall your ShadowPlay
- Workaround: Try a ShadowPlay Alternative
Warm Tip:
When you use Windows Media Player to play your ShadowPlay output, you may find out the playback is completely silent.
That’s because Windows Media Player lacks the ability to decode ShadowPlay videos with both mic and in-game sound. It cannot detect the audio track of these 2 different audio sources and it just chooses to play the video silently.
In your case, you can simply switch to another media player and preview the video.
Method 1 Modify the audio source (Not recording mic audio)
If you’re saying that your ShadowPlay only records the game audio and no microphone sound is included, that’s probably because your ShadowPlay cannot detect a correct microphone source for recording the audio.
To ensure ShadowPlay record the microphone sound on your computer, you need to set up a functional microphone source for it.
Here’s how to:
Launch ShadowPlay and go to Settings. Open the Audio tab and locate the Microphone option. There, choose a rightful microphone device for your ShadowPlay and then turn up the volume.
Click OK to confirm.
After that, ShadowPlay should be able to record your microphone sound along with the in-game audio.
Method 2 Set up your audio device properly (Not recording mic/game sound)
Do you plug in a headphone (a mic included) and an additional microphone device to your computer? When you do, your computer is installed with 2 different external microphone devices.
In this case, your ShadowPlay may not know which microphone device it should lock to and hence won’t record the microphone sound successfully.
Similarly, if you insert a headphone on your computer when there’s already a default audio output – a speaker on it, your ShadowPlay will try to catch the in-game audio from the default one which is your microphone though there’s no sound coming from it at all. As for your headphone, your ShadowPlay will not detect it and record the game audio from it.
It’s very easy to fix the 2 problems, you just need to set up one preferred device as the default input/output device on your computer and ShadowPlay will lock to this default device as well as record the sound from it.
Let’s see how to set up a default input/output device on your computer now.
On your desktop, right-click on the Speaker icon from the lower-right corner and select Sounds from the drop-down list. Then, go to the Recording tab, there, you can see all the devices on your computer that support recording.
For ShadowPlay not recording mic sound:
You need to locate one microphone device that you want it to be recorded. Right-click on it and choose Set as Default Communication Device. As for the other microphone device, right-click on it and choose Disable.
For ShadowPlay not recording game audio:
Locate your speaker and check if it’s the default output device. Right-click on it and disable it. Then, right-tap on your headphone device and choose Set as Default Device.
Click Apply to use the new settings.
In this way, your ShadowPlay knows which audio device it should capture sound from. You may use it to record your gameplay and see if it works.
Method 3 Update GeForce Driver (Not picking up mic/game audio)
As a ShadowPlay user, we all know if we use it to record gameplay we need to download an in-app driver named GeForce Driver. That driver is the key for us to make a video clip. So if you got a problem with catching sound, maybe, there’s something wrong with your GeForce Driver.
To fix the error, you can try to update your GeForce. Follow this:
On your GeForce Experience, go to Drivers, click CHECK FOR UPDATES to upgrade your GeForce to the latest version.
If you’re already using the latest version, you can reinstall it.
Still, on the Drivers interface, click Reinstall driver, then, choose EXPRESS INSTALLATION or CUSTOM INSTALLATION.
After you choose one installation mode, the software will start to reinstall the driver. Just wait for the completion.
When the upgrade or reinstallation is done, you may try to record a video, it should work just fine.
Method 4 Reinstall ShadowPlay(Not recording mic/game sound)
If your ShadowPlay is not recording audio after you made an update, maybe some bugs occur within the update and still exist on your ShadowPlay. The easiest way is to reinstall a new ShadowPlay on your computer.
Let’s begin by uninstalling it first. On your computer, click Start and go to Settings. Then, on the Windows Setting window, choose Apps.
Locate NVIDIA GeForce Experience from the list and click Uninstall. Wait for the process to complete.
Next, you need to download ShadowPlay and install it on your computer.
When the reinstallation is done, launch the program and start your gameplay recording.
ShadowPlay Alternative: Error remains, try another video recorder
If none of the previous methods get you out of the ShadowPlay not recording issue, you might find yourself an alternative to record your gameplay. Here, you can try Aiseesoft Screen Recorder.
As currently one of the most commonly used gameplay recorders, Aiseesoft Screen Recorder helps many game players and bloggers to create a perfect gaming video.
Programmed with excellent recording capacity, Aiseesoft Screen Recorder is able to record all on-screen activities along with system/microphone sound in lossless quality. Also, you can decide to record your in-game sound and mic sound simultaneously with one click.
Moreover, the program is designed to be lightweight, you don’t have to worry about having lags during the recording. It takes so a few of your CPU resources that it will never affect your gameplay performance.
Aiseesoft Screen Recorder offers multiple considerate features including hotkey activation, editing/trimming ability, adjustable configurations for recording, etc.
So, when ShadowPlay won’t record the mic sound or game audio, you can simply apply to Aiseesoft Screen Recorder for gameplay recording. It will give you a perfect video with the exact sound you prefer.
Now, you can download the program on your computer for free. Click the buttons below and have a go.
Conclusion:
Hopefully, the above 4 methods can help you fix your ShadowPlay not recording error and you can take advantage of it again. If not, just apply to an alternative to continue your gameplay recording, just like Aiseesoft Screen Recorder.