How to Record and Share GTA VI Clips on Xbox Series X|S

Press the Share button on your Xbox controller once to take a screenshot, or hold it to save a clip of what just happened. Double-press it to see your recent captures and share them. Because the console can save what just happened, you can grab a moment after it happens. Everything you save can be trimmed, sent to the Xbox app on your phone and posted from there. This guide covers clips and screenshots. For live streaming, see how to stream GTA on Xbox Series X|S. On PlayStation, see our PS5 clips guide.

The Share button sits between the View and Menu buttons on the Xbox Wireless Controller that comes with Xbox Series X|S. Microsoft lists three default presses:

Press	What it does
One press	Takes a screenshot
Press and hold	Saves a clip of what just happened
Double press	Shows your recent captures, ready to share

Capture from the guide

You can also capture without the Share button, from the guide:

Last 30 seconds: press the Xbox button, then the X button.
A longer stretch: press the Xbox button, then the View button, and choose a length up to the last 2 minutes.
Screenshot: press the Xbox button, then the Y button. Microsoft notes the screenshot is taken at the moment you press the Xbox button, and pressing Y saves it.
Record from now: open the guide and select Capture & share > Start recording. Press the Xbox button and then X to stop.

Microsoft says a recording from now can last up to 10 minutes when saving to the console’s own storage, or up to 1 hour on external storage. The real limit depends on your clip resolution and free space.

Analysis For GTA 6, the 2-minute option is the one to remember. Chases and escapes often run past 30 seconds, and you can trim a long clip later. For a whole mission, start a recording before it begins.

Set up captures before launch

Press the Xbox button and go to Profile & system > Settings > Preferences > Capture & share. Microsoft’s video at the end of this guide walks through the same screen. The main options are:

Allow game captures: choose Captures by me or Captures by me or games. Don’t capture turns capturing off.
Record what happened: also on this screen, as Microsoft’s video shows.
Automatic uploads: send captures to the Xbox network, OneDrive or both.
Game clip resolution: pick the quality of your clips, including 4K options.
Capture location: save to the console or to an external drive.

For 4K captures, Microsoft says your TV output resolution has to be set to 4K first. If HDR is on for your TV, captures are saved in HDR too. Not announced Rockstar hasn’t said which resolutions GTA 6 outputs on Xbox Series X|S.

Microsoft’s capture page also says that saving and sharing screenshots on Xbox consoles requires Xbox Game Pass. Without a subscription, it says you can take screenshots on another home Xbox while someone with Game Pass is signed in. The page doesn’t say the same about video clips.

You can remap the Share button in the Xbox Accessories app, which comes installed on the console:

Press the Xbox button and go to My games & apps > See all > Apps > Xbox Accessories.
Select Configure under your controller, then pick a profile and select Edit (or New profile).
Choose Share button, press, Share button, hold or Share button, double-tap, then pick its new action under Map to. Options include Capture screenshot, Record what happened and Start recording.
Press the B button to save.

Analysis If you take more clips than screenshots, map a single press to Record what happened, so one tap saves the moment.

Find and trim your captures

Press the Xbox button and go to Capture & share > Recent captures. For older captures, select Show all.

To trim a clip, select it, then More actions (…) > Trim, and save. Microsoft notes that you can only edit a clip on the console that recorded it.

For bigger clean-ups, open the Captures app from My games & apps > See all > Apps > Captures and select Manage. From there you can delete captures, upload them to OneDrive or copy them to an external drive in bulk.

On Xbox

From Recent captures, select a capture and choose where it goes. Microsoft lists your profile’s activity feed and messages to friends.

From the console: pick a capture and choose Mobile. A notification lands in the Xbox app straight away.
From the phone: open the Xbox app, go to My Library > Captures and pick a clip or screenshot.

Select Share to send it to apps on your phone, such as Instagram, WhatsApp or Messenger, or Copy link to paste a link into a post. To keep a copy on the phone, select the capture and choose Save.

To a PC or a USB drive

In the Captures app, select Manage, pick your captures and choose Copy to external storage. Microsoft says the drive must be formatted as NTFS, and it can’t be the drive your games are installed on.

To record straight to a drive, plug in a USB 3.0 drive formatted as NTFS and change Capture location in Capture & share. Microsoft says captures saved this way can’t be shared on the Xbox network from the console, but you can edit them on a PC.

Keep your best clips safe

Microsoft sets these limits on uploads:

You can upload up to 10 GB of captures to the Xbox network. After that, you have to delete some to upload more.
Captures on the Xbox network may be deleted after 90 days. A warning icon shows which ones are due to go, and the Expiring soon filter in the Captures app lists them.
Captures uploaded to OneDrive aren’t deleted after 90 days. Every Microsoft account gets 5 GB of OneDrive storage for free.
Captures that are never uploaded stay on the console that made them.

To send future captures to OneDrive automatically, go to Capture & share > Automatic uploads > To OneDrive.

Some scenes may not record

Microsoft says some games turn off recording, and publishers can block certain parts of a game, for example to avoid spoilers. Time spent outside the game, such as on the Home screen, is also cut from a clip. Microsoft adds that clips can’t be captured while you stream with Remote Play, and that notifications can sometimes appear in a capture, so check before you post.

Not announced Rockstar hasn’t said whether GTA 6 blocks capture anywhere, such as during story cutscenes. If a clip comes out shorter than expected or with a gap, the game may be causing it, not your settings.

Common questions

Does GTA 6 have a photo mode?

Not announced Rockstar hasn’t confirmed a photo mode for GTA 6. Until it does, the Share button screenshot is the way to capture the game on Xbox. We will update this when the game is out.

Can I capture clips while my Xbox is offline?

Yes. Microsoft lists saving game clips and screenshots among the things you can do offline. It adds that offline storage for captures is limited, so go online every so often to sync.

Analysis You can, but think about spoilers. Many players will be working through the story for weeks after November 19. Keep story scenes out of titles and thumbnails, and say in the post that it has spoilers. Our YouTube channel guide has more on this.

An organizer in an Xbox family group can manage who can communicate with a child and how others can interact with their content. See our Xbox parental controls guide for GTA 6.

Do I need a capture card?

No, not for clips and screenshots. A capture card is for recording or streaming through a PC with more control. If that’s what you want, see the best capture cards and gear for streaming GTA.