Gaming is a social activity that everyone can enjoy. Let’s Play videos and Twitch streams have massive audiences, and Microsoft wants everyone to get involved in this way of playing. It’s even gone as far as introducing a share button on the Xbox Series X pad.

This article will explain how to use the share feature of your Xbox Series X, including the different ways you can capture and how to show off your screenshots or videos.

Capturing Screenshots and Videos on Your Xbox Series X

Capturing gameplay on your console couldn’t be easier and it’s all down to the new share button on the controller, which has several functions.

Positioned below the Home button, the Share button allows you to capture screenshots or videos of whatever you’re playing at the time and dispense the results in several ways.

Xbox Series X Controller with Share Button Highlighted

Pressing the button once will instantly take a screenshot, whereas holding it will save the last thirty seconds of action.

Both of these methods are perfect for grabbing everything from last-corner overtakes and inch-perfect headshots, to grabbing a beautiful, long-distance view in an open-world title.

If you prefer, there’s another way to capture screenshots and videos.

Press the Home button on your pad to bring up the guide, head to the Capture and Share panel, and choose your function; record what happened, start recording, or save gameplay. If you choose to start recording, you’ll need to hop back into this menu to stop it again.

Capturing in any of these ways will save clips and screenshots to your console, before automatically uploading them to the cloud. You’ll get a pop-up notification when the upload is complete, and from there you’ll be able to share them in a couple of different ways.

Sharing Your Screenshots and Videos on Xbox Series X

The easiest way of sharing is directly through the dashboard on your Xbox Series X. To do this, you can double-tap the share button to bring up your recent captures, or you can follow these steps:

  1. Press the Home button on your pad to open up the guide.
  2. Head to the Capture and Share panel.

You can then choose to share your last capture or check your recent captures. Looking at your recent captures will show the last eight images and clips you took, but you can also open your entire capture gallery from here.

When you choose what to share, you’ll be able to choose between sending it to your activity feed, in a message, to Twitter, or you can open further options for sharing.

Sharing Panel on Xbox Series X

Image options include setting them as your system background, while videos will allow you to trim them down before sharing. You can also use this pop-up to delete from your console, from the cloud, or both.

Sharing Your Screenshots and Videos on the Xbox App

Because your captures automatically upload to the cloud, they’ll also be accessible for sharing through the Xbox app on your Android or iOS phone. The first thing you must do is make sure you have the app downloaded and that you’re logged in.

Download: Xbox App for Android | iOS (Free)

Once you’re set up on the app, any uploaded videos or images will appear under My Library > Captures. When you open up an image or video, you’ll be presented with several options; save, delete, and share.

Saving will download the capture to your phone’s gallery so that you can crop, cut, and edit before sharing. The Delete option will remove it from both the app and the cloud.

If you choose to share, you’ll be given all the usual social network options, as well as being able to share it with Xbox friends or your choice of messaging service.

When you choose to share, it will download the clip from your cloud saves (even if you’ve already saved it before), before sharing to your choice of app.

Change the Share Button Settings on a Series X Pad

By default, a single press of the share button will take a screenshot, while holding the button will save the last 30 seconds of gameplay.

Capture Settings Screen on Xbox Series X

If the default actions don’t work for you, or you want to change the length of videos, you can do this within capture settings. To adjust your capture settings, follow these steps:

  1. Press the Home button on your pad to bring up the guide.
  2. Head to the Capture and Share panel.
  3. Select Capture Settings.

In here, you’ll be able to change whether or not a game can automatically capture moments, the length of video captured when you save what just happened, and even the resolution of your videos. There’s also an option to change how the share button functions; just select button mapping.

When changing the share button’s function, you can also remap all the other buttons on your pad.

Things to Note About Capturing and Sharing

Screenshot of Assassin's Creed Valhalla Captured on Xbox Series X and Shared Via Xbox App on Android

There are a couple of things that are worth knowing before you start capturing. This process is only compatible with games, so you can’t grab snaps or clips from other apps and menus.

You may also find that some pictures and videos come out very dark, even if you share your captures to the Xbox app first. If this happens to you, it might be worth disabling HDR settings within the game, or on your TV. This will lower the quality of your captures, but it will also make everything easier to see.

It's not just purchased games you can take screenshots of, either. Games with Gold and Game Pass games also have this ability. If you don't have Game Pass yet, but you're thinking of subscribing, you might want to check out the best games to play on Xbox Game Pass.

Go Forth and Capture

how to play old xbox games on the xbox series x

Microsoft’s Xbox One always had simple ways to capture epic moments and crazy glitches alike. The addition of a dedicated button on the Xbox Series X pad makes everything that little bit easier.

You no longer have to open up a separate menu while playing to grab what’s on screen. Just like PlayStation, you can now just press one button to do it.

The variety of options when sharing is also incredibly convenient. The feature is used by traditional gamers who want to share unique moments with friends, along with streamers who want to show off their best battle royale kills.

Sharing is a real evolution of the Xbox ecosystem, and the Xbox Series X makes it easier for gamers to share their favorite in-game captures.