How to Record a Call on Windows 11 (Both Sides, With Audio)

To record a call on Windows 11, use the calling app's own recorder if it has one. If not, Xbox Game Bar or Snipping Tool records it as a video with sound, while Sound Recorder hears only your microphone. For a transcript, Reline records your mic and your PC's audio. Tell the other person before you start.

A call on a PC has two audio sources. Your microphone hears you. The other person comes out of your speakers or headset as system audio. A tool that records only the microphone gets your voice clearly and the other person as a faint echo from the speakers, or not at all with a headset on. So before a call that matters, make a 30-second test call and play it back.

Start here: the app's recorder captures both sides with no setup on your PC. Business phone apps usually have one, but your plan and admin decide who can use it. Consumer calling apps mostly have none.

Game Bar comes with Windows 11 and also works on Windows 10. It records the app in front of you, with sound. You get a video and no transcript, so a long voice call makes a far bigger file than audio would.

1. Press Windows key + G to open Game Bar, open Settings, go to Capturing and set the audio to All, so all computer sounds are recorded, not only the game.
2. Click into the calling app so it is the app in front.
3. Press Windows key + Alt + R to start recording, and Windows key + Alt + M to switch your microphone on or off during the recording.
4. Press Windows key + Alt + R again to stop. Microsoft saves the MP4 in the Captures folder inside your Videos folder.

Open Snipping Tool, select Record, then New (or press Windows key + Shift + R), drag over the calling app's window and select Start; select Stop when you are done. Microsoft added optional PC audio and microphone recording to Snipping Tool in version 11.2307.44.0, so update the app from the Microsoft Store and check that both audio options are on before you start. Here too you get a video with no transcript.

Sound Recorder comes with Windows 11, and many people try it first. Microsoft's FAQ describes microphone access, up to three hours per recording file, and recordings stored within the app, which are deleted if you uninstall it. It mentions no system audio and no transcript. That suits a voice memo, not a call: you get your own voice, and the other person only if your speakers are loud enough for the microphone to pick them up.

• OBS Studio: by default it captures your desktop audio and microphone, so both sides land in one video file. Set it up and test it before a real call. There is no transcript.
• Audacity: on Windows, set the host to Windows WASAPI and choose your output device marked (loopback) as the recording device. That records what your PC plays, so the other person but not your microphone. You get audio only, with no transcript.

The full steps for both are in our Discord guide, further down.

Phone Link lets you make and take calls from your Android phone or iPhone on your PC, over Bluetooth. Microsoft's pages describe no recording option and do not say how the call audio reaches Windows, so do not assume a recorder can hear it. Microsoft's troubleshooting page also says Phone Link does not currently relay a call to a Bluetooth headset, so the headset setup further down does not cover a Bluetooth headset on these calls.

Reline cannot record a call happening on a separate mobile phone, and there is no Reline mobile app. Putting the phone on speaker next to your PC records a room, not a call: both voices reach the microphone, so the Me vs Other labels cannot separate you from the other side, and the far voice is only as clear as the phone speaker. For a cellular call, first check whether your phone has its own recorder.

If you want notes rather than a video: Reline is the tool we make, so weigh our view accordingly. Its Windows desktop app captures your microphone and everything your default output device plays, locally, then gives you a live transcript, an AI summary and the kept audio. No bot joins the call, and none could join a WhatsApp or Signal call anyway.

1. Download the Reline app for Windows and sign in. You can start on the Free plan, which includes 10 hours of transcription.
2. Allow the microphone: in Windows 11, open Settings, Privacy & security, Microphone, and turn on "Let desktop apps access your microphone".
3. Set the sound: make your headset the Windows default output and keep the calling app on that same device (see the note below).
4. Place or answer the call and ask whether you may record for notes. Once you hear a yes, press Record in Reline. The live transcript starts as people talk, in 60+ languages with automatic language detection.
5. Stop when you hang up. You get the transcript, an AI summary next to it, and the kept audio, with a play button on every transcript line.

Speaker names: the transcript is labeled Me vs Other (your microphone vs the call audio), and Reline does not read names from the calling app. In a group call, open Who is on the other side beside the record button and choose Separate speakers (beta): Reline numbers each voice on the call side (an estimate), and you click a voice to name it yourself.

Cannot install anything on a work PC? Reline also runs in Chrome. It hears your microphone at once, and if the call plays in a browser tab, you share that tab with its audio to capture the other side.

Each guide has the exact steps and limits for one app. Meetings have their own guides.

• No video: Reline keeps audio and a transcript, not a screen recording. For the picture of a video call, use Game Bar, Snipping Tool or OBS.
• It records the whole default output, not one app, so other sounds on your PC are captured too.
• It does not record a call on a separate mobile phone, and there is no mobile app.
• It does not take a recording you already made: Reline transcribes live while it records and has no audio or video upload. An MP4 from Game Bar needs a tool that transcribes files.
• No speaker names from the calling app: the beta Separate speakers option only numbers voices for you to name.
• No on-device AI: transcription, summaries and storage run in the cloud. Only the capture is local.
• It does not detect WhatsApp, Phone Link or most other calling apps on its own, so you press Record yourself.

A recorder on your PC adds nothing to the call. Game Bar, Snipping Tool, Sound Recorder, OBS, Audacity and Reline play no announcement and show no notice, so the notice is on you. Several US states, California among them, require every party to agree before a call is recorded, and in the EU you need a lawful basis under the GDPR and should say why you record. Rules differ by country and state, so check the rules where everyone on the call is. The simple habit: say at the start of the call that you are recording for notes, and stop if someone objects.

• Microsoft Support, "Use a screen reader to record your screen with Xbox Game Bar": support.microsoft.com
• Microsoft Support, "Use Snipping Tool to capture screenshots": support.microsoft.com
• Windows Insider Blog, Snipping Tool 11.2307.44.0 (31 August 2023): blogs.windows.com
• Microsoft Support, "Sound Recorder app for Windows: FAQ": support.microsoft.com
• Microsoft Support, "Turn on app permissions for your microphone in Windows": support.microsoft.com
• Microsoft Support, "Make and receive phone calls from your PC" and "Setting up calls in the Phone Link": support.microsoft.com
• Microsoft Support, "Troubleshooting calls in the Phone Link": support.microsoft.com
• Microsoft Support, "Surface sound, volume, and audio accessories": support.microsoft.com
• Microsoft Support, "Transcribe your recordings": support.microsoft.com
• Microsoft Learn, "Overview- Recording and transcription for Teams meetings, events, and calls": learn.microsoft.com
• Zoom Support, "Managing Zoom Phone ad hoc recording settings" (KB0082050): support.zoom.com
• RingCentral Support, "Recording phone calls in the RingCentral app" and "Automatic call recording FAQs": support.ringcentral.com
• Aircall Help Center, "Configuring Numbers: Activating call recording": support.aircall.io
• Google Voice Help, "Record calls" (115083): support.google.com
• OBS Studio, "Quick Start Guide": obsproject.com
• Audacity Support, "Recording desktop audio": support.audacityteam.org
• Granola Help Center, "Transcription issues": docs.granola.ai
• Fireflies Help, "Getting Started with the Fireflies Desktop App": fireflies-knowledge-base.help.usepylon.com