A lightweight, focused screen recorder for Windows
Window · Full screen · Region · Audio only — your recordings stay on your machine
English · 简体中文
- Four capture modes — full screen (pick a display), window, region, or audio only (M4A)
- Two audio sources — system audio and microphone, switched independently
- Hardware-accelerated encoding — H.264 by default, HEVC optional, with automatic fallback when the device cannot encode it
- Countdown and cursor — 1–60 second countdown (Esc cancels), optional cursor capture
- Floating control bar — always on top, showing the recording state and elapsed time; pause, resume, stop, drag it anywhere
- Recording library — thumbnails, duration, size and media information; rename, delete to the Recycle Bin, or reveal in File Explorer
- Global hotkeys and tray — hotkeys are customizable and unregistered while recording so they cannot clash; closing the window can minimize to the tray
- Bilingual UI — English / Simplified Chinese, following the system language or set manually
- Recordings stay local — files are written to the folder you choose and are never uploaded
Recommended: Microsoft Store — signed by Microsoft and updated automatically.
Prefer a standalone package? Get it from Releases:
| Channel | |
|---|---|
| Installer (recommended) | DawnCapture-<version>-x64-setup.exe — double-click to install |
| Portable | DawnCapture-<version>-x64-portable.zip — unzip and run |
The standalone installer is not code-signed, so the first run may trigger a SmartScreen prompt ("More info" → "Run anyway"); with Smart App Control enabled, Windows 11 blocks it outright. The Store build has neither problem: Microsoft signs it and keeps it up to date.
Windows 10 2004 (10.0.19041) or later, x64 / ARM64.
Requires the .NET 10 SDK. run.ps1 cleans, builds and launches; distribute.ps1 packages the distribution channels (run it with no arguments for help).
./run.ps1
dotnet build DawnCapture.csproj -c Debug -p:Platform=x64
./distribute.ps1The version number is defined in one place, Directory.Build.props; the assembly, both manifests, the installer and the artefact file names are all derived from it.
| What | Where |
|---|---|
| Recordings | %USERPROFILE%\Videos\DawnCapture (configurable in settings) |
| Settings and library | %LocalAppData%\DawnCapture |
| Logs (kept 14 days) | %LocalAppData%\DawnCapture\logs |
In the Microsoft Store build, Windows redirects the settings, library and logs into the package's own folder instead. The privacy policy lists that path; recordings go to the folder above in either case.
MIT © 2026 SHAO Liming
Third-party notices in THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.md, privacy policy in PRIVACY-POLICY.md.