You are recording a tutorial with OBS. Halfway through, you switch to a window that has your personal chat open — and the recording catches it. Screen recordings are less forgiving than live calls: once captured, the moment is saved and re-watchable.

Here is how to hide a window from screen recordings on Windows, so private content never ends up in the file.

Why recordings leak windows

OBS, Loom, ShareX, and Xbox Game Bar record whatever they are pointed at. When the capture is set to "display capture" (full desktop), every visible window is recorded — chat apps, password managers, email previews, everything.

Recording is worse than a live share in one way: you cannot claim it was a "glitch" later. The file is the record, and it can be reviewed frame by frame.

What does not work

• Minimizing the window. It only hides the window from your own view; a full-desktop capture still records what is on screen, and pop-ups over your work get captured.
• Closing the app. You lose the very thing you might need to show seconds later.
• Editing the video afterwards. It costs hours, and someone may have already seen the unedited version.
• Blur filters in the recorder. Few recorders support per-window blur, and the raw capture is still written to disk.

What actually works: window capture exclusion

Windows has a built-in mechanism that lets a window declare itself excluded from all capture. Once flagged, the window does not appear in any recording or share that goes through the standard capture path — OBS, Loom, ShareX, Teams, Zoom — while it stays fully visible and usable on your own monitor.

The catch: only the application that owns the window can set that flag, and most apps do not offer it. HideMyShare sets the flag on the app's behalf, so the chosen window simply disappears from the recording while you keep working normally.

Step by step (about 30 seconds)

1. Install HideMyShare and open it before you start recording (Windows 10 version 2004 or later, Windows 11 supported).
2. Select the window to hide — a chat app, email client, password manager, or anything else — from the presets or the live window list.
3. Start your OBS, Loom, or ShareX recording as usual.

The protected window will not appear in the recording. Windows you open later are detected and protected automatically within about a second.

Does it work with every recorder?

Yes, as long as the recorder captures through the normal Windows path — that includes OBS Studio, Loom, ShareX, Xbox Game Bar, GeForce Experience, and the recorders built into Zoom, Teams, and Meet.

Two things it is not: it does not blur the window (it removes it from the capture entirely), and it does not hide it from someone looking at your physical screen.

FAQ

Will the recording show an empty gap where the window was? No. The surrounding content fills the space, exactly as if the window were not there.

Can I still interact with the hidden window while recording? Yes. It stays fully interactive on your screen. You can use it during the recording — it just will not be captured.

Does this work for live streaming too? Yes. The same exclusion applies to OBS live streams and any capture-based stream.

Will viewers know something was hidden? The recording looks like a normal desktop without that window. Nothing marks the spot.

Is HideMyShare a modification of OBS or the recorder? No. It is a standalone Windows tool and does not modify any recording software.

Try it

HideMyShare offers a free 7-day trial with every feature unlocked — no account required. A lifetime license costs $46.00 (launch offer), with a 7-day money-back guarantee.

→ Download HideMyShare