Screenshots and clips: how to record your best plays on console

Everyone who plays has had a moment no one would believe without seeing it: the last elimination of the match, an impossible jump, a funny bug. Today's consoles have dedicated buttons to save those moments, and many of them record what just happened even if you didn't press anything beforehand. You just need to know where the options are.

This guide shows how capture works on PS5 and Nintendo Switch, based on PlayStation's and Nintendo's support pages, and gathers tips for editing and sharing safely. Sources are at the end.

PS5: the Create button

On the DualSense controller, the Create button opens the create menu. According to PlayStation, it offers three options:

• Take Screenshot: saves the game image at that instant.
• Start New Recording: records up to 1 hour of gameplay, until you press Create again and choose to stop.
• Save Recent Gameplay: the console records continuously in the background, and you choose to save anything from the last 15 seconds up to the last hour.

In the same menu, capture options let you change the format and resolution of images and videos, include microphone and voice chat audio and, with a compatible display, record in 4K. In Settings, Captures and Broadcasts, you can switch the Create button to easy screenshot or easy video clip shortcuts, to save with one press, and turn on trophy auto-captures, which save an image or a video when you earn one.

PS5: where they go and how to send them to your phone

Captures go to the Media Gallery, opened from the games home screen, with tabs for all, favorites, trophies and albums. From there, you can share, favorite, edit, delete or open them in the Share Factory Studio app for more polished editing. With a USB device connected, you can also copy the capture to it.

To see them on your phone, the PS5 can upload captures automatically to the PlayStation App. The console must be linked to the app and stay in rest mode with the stay-connected-to-the-internet option turned on. PlayStation lists the limits:

• Captures stay available in the app for 14 days after they're created.
• Videos only upload if they're under 3 minutes and no higher than 1920x1080; 4K clips don't upload.
• Trophy auto-captures aren't included in the automatic upload.
• You don't need PlayStation Plus. In the app, you can download the capture to your phone or share it through another app.

Nintendo Switch and Switch 2: the Capture button

On Switch, the Capture button is on the left Joy-Con. To record a video in a compatible game, Nintendo says to hold the button: the console saves up to 30 seconds of what happened before you pressed it. On the original Switch, video capture requires system version 4.0.0 or later.

Videos and images go to the Album, in the HOME Menu. There you can:

• Trim a video: open it, choose the trim option, adjust the start and end and save. The edited video is saved as a new one, without deleting the original.
• Grab an image from a video: pause with the Y button, find the right frame and choose save as screenshot. On Switch 2, the right stick skims forward and back through the video.

Video recording only works in compatible games. PlayStation is similar: its support page warns that some content can't be captured and that certain scenes are left out of clips. If the button doesn't work at a given moment, that's probably why.

What about Xbox and PC?

Xbox and Windows also have their own capture tools, with shortcuts to save the last moments of play. Since Xbox's help pages change often and we couldn't check them for this article, we recommend looking at official Xbox support for the steps for your device.

Before you share: important precautions

• Ask before publishing other people's voices. PlayStation itself recommends asking voice chat participants for permission before including that audio in captures.
• Check what's on screen. Usernames, friends' messages, gift codes and account details may be in a corner of the image. Crop or blur before posting.
• Children should share only with an adult's help and on networks allowed for their age. Each console's parental controls can limit sharing.
• Respect the rules of each network and the game itself. Some parts, such as story scenes, may have recording restrictions, and some games ask you not to share content before launch.
• Don't ruin the surprise for others: mark clips that show a story's ending or a game secret as spoilers.

Tips for better clips

• Keep clips short. The best moments usually fit in a few seconds, and short videos are easier to send and watch.
• Trim the start and end. A few seconds before the play give context, but more than that loses the punch.
• Organize right away. Favoriting or adding to an album keeps the play from getting lost among hundreds of captures.
• Free up space now and then. High-resolution videos take up a lot of storage, so delete what you won't use or copy it to an external device.
• On PS5, if the video is going to your phone through the app, record at up to 1080p and under 3 minutes, or it won't upload automatically.

With these shortcuts, saving and showing off your best moments takes seconds, and with the right precautions you can share without exposing anyone.