Many older Linux screen recorders were designed for X11 and may fail to capture the desktop correctly in a Wayland session. Depending on the tool and desktop environment, you might see a black screen, a missing capture option, or no recording at all.
Ubuntu, Fedora, and many other Linux distributions now use Wayland by default on supported desktop configurations. This guide covers eight Linux screen recorders, from OBS Studio and Kooha to GPU Screen Recorder and wf-recorder, and explains which desktop environments each one supports.
How Screen Recording Works on Wayland and X11
Understanding the difference between X11 and Wayland makes it easier to choose a compatible recorder.
On X11, applications can generally capture screen contents using traditional display-capture mechanisms. Wayland uses a more restrictive security model, so applications cannot ordinarily read the entire desktop directly.
Many Wayland recorders use xdg-desktop-portal to request screen-sharing access and let you select a monitor or window. The portal can then provide the captured video stream through PipeWire. The exact workflow depends on the desktop environment, compositor, portal implementation, and recorder.
Some tools use compositor-specific protocols instead. For example, wf-recorder is designed for compatible wlroots-based compositors such as Sway, rather than being a universal recorder for every Wayland desktop.
Before choosing a tool, check which session you’re running:
echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE
Output:
wayland
If the output is x11, you’re running an X11 session. That doesn’t guarantee that every recorder will work, but it helps you identify which capture methods are available.
Several recorders are distributed through Flathub. If you haven’t added the Flathub repository, you can do so with:
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://dl.flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
If this finally explained why your old recorder only captures a black screen, share it with someone who just upgraded to a Wayland desktop.
1. OBS Studio (Open Broadcaster Software)
Let’s start with the most capable optio, OBS Studio is a free, open-source recording and live-streaming application built around scenes, which combine your screen, webcam, images, and audio sources into customizable layouts.
OBS Studio 32.2 fixed an issue that could cause PipeWire to fail on NVIDIA GPUs. The release also updated the NVIDIA SDK, raising the minimum driver requirement to version 570 for the updated NVIDIA functionality.
If you’ve experienced capture problems on NVIDIA hardware, updating OBS and checking your driver version is a good first step.
On Ubuntu, you can install OBS Studio using its official PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:obsproject/obs-studio sudo apt update sudo apt install obs-studio
On Fedora, Rocky Linux, and other distributions with Flatpak support, you can install the Flathub package:
flatpak install flathub com.obsproject.Studio
OBS is particularly useful for recording software tutorials, capturing your desktop with narration, adding webcam footage, and streaming to platforms such as YouTube and Twitch.
2. GNOME’s Screen Recorder
For a quick screen recording, you may not need OBS at all. GNOME’s built-in screenshot and screencast tool lets you capture your entire screen or a selected region without installing a separate application.
Press Ctrl + Alt + Shift + R to start recording directly, or press Print Screen and switch to the screen-recording option. Select the area you want to capture, then start recording. Your recordings are saved in ~/Videos/Screencasts, typically in WebM format, depending on your GNOME version.
The built-in recorder is convenient for short demonstrations and quick troubleshooting clips. For narrated tutorials, webcam overlays, or more control over audio sources and recording quality, OBS Studio is the better choice.
If the recording option is missing, first check your GNOME version, desktop session, and available system updates. Avoid installing additional GStreamer packages as a blanket fix unless you’ve confirmed that a missing dependency is responsible for the problem.
3. KDE Plasma with Spectacle
KDE users have a built-in option too. Spectacle, the Plasma screenshot tool, can record a full screen, a window, or a selected region in supported Plasma Wayland sessions.
Open Spectacle and choose the screen-recording mode you need. You can also use a keyboard shortcut, but the defaults vary by Plasma version and configuration. Check Spectacle’s shortcut settings if a recording shortcut doesn’t work.
Older Plasma releases record video without built-in audio capture. Plasma 6.8 adds support for recording system audio, microphone input, or both, making Spectacle a more practical option for narrated tutorials and software demonstrations.
If you’re using an earlier Plasma release, or need more recording controls, consider OBS Studio or Kooha instead.
4. Kooha
If you want a lightweight recorder without the complexity of OBS, try Kooha. Its minimal interface makes it easy to start a recording without configuring a full production setup.
Kooha can record your microphone, desktop audio, or both simultaneously. It supports WebM, MP4, GIF, and Matroska formats, and lets you capture an entire monitor or a selected portion of the screen.
It doesn’t offer a dedicated single-window capture mode, so you can select a region around the window you want to demonstrate instead.
Install it from Flathub:
flatpak install flathub io.github.seadve.Kooha
Looking for a simple way to capture your voice and system audio on Wayland? Share this with a colleague who records tutorials or software demos.
Kooha’s listed features and formats are documented on Flathub. Actual capture support can still depend on your desktop environment and its screen-sharing portal.
5. vokoscreenNG
Kooha keeps things simple, but tutorial creators may want more control over their recordings. vokoscreenNG is a Qt-based screen recorder with webcam support, a countdown timer, a magnifier, and screenshot tools.
Recent versions have improved Wayland support through PipeWire, including audio recording and separate audio tracks. Newer releases also support conversion to formats such as MP4 and GIF. These capabilities vary by version, so check your installed release before relying on a specific feature.
On Ubuntu and Debian, install the distribution’s packaged version:
sudo apt update sudo apt install vokoscreen-ng
On Fedora, the package is commonly named vokoscreenNG:
sudo dnf install vokoscreenNG
If your distribution’s package is older, compare its version with the official vokoscreenNG release notes before assuming that it includes the latest Wayland, audio, or output-format improvements.
6. GPU Screen Recorder
Recording gameplay can add extra load to your system, especially when software encoding competes with a running game. GPU Screen Recorder is designed to minimize that overhead by using hardware video encoding, much like NVIDIA ShadowPlay on Windows. It supports AMD, Intel, and NVIDIA GPUs on both X11 and Wayland.
Its instant replay feature continuously maintains a short recording buffer and saves the footage when you request it, so you can capture an unexpected gaming moment without recording everything permanently.
Install the Flatpak system-wide:
flatpak install --system flathub com.dec05eba.gpu_screen_recorder
System-wide installation is particularly important when recording monitors on AMD or Intel hardware. Depending on your capture mode, you may also need to authorize a privileged helper the first time you record.
On Wayland, single-window capture is not supported in every configuration, and recordings may use a variable frame rate. If a video stutters in an older player or editor, try playing it in mpv or enabling constant-frame-rate recording where supported.
7. wf-recorder
If you use Sway or Hyprland, wf-recorder is a lightweight command-line screen recorder designed for compatible wlroots-based Wayland compositors.
On Ubuntu and Debian, install it with:
sudo apt update sudo apt install wf-recorder slurp
On Fedora, install it with:
sudo dnf install wf-recorder slurp
Start recording the desktop and include an audio source with -a:
wf-recorder -a -f ~/Videos/recording.mp4
Press Ctrl + C to stop recording. The audio source selected by the system determines what gets captured; recording both microphone and desktop audio together may require additional audio configuration.
To select a screen region interactively, use slurp:
wf-recorder -g "$(slurp)" -f ~/Videos/recording.mp4
wf-recorder is not a universal Wayland recorder. It relies on compositor protocols supported by wlroots-based environments, so it is not the right choice for a standard GNOME or KDE Plasma session.
8. SimpleScreenRecorder
If you’re running an X11 session on Xfce, MATE, or Cinnamon, SimpleScreenRecorder remains a capable option. It supports full-screen and region capture, audio recording, pause and resume, and live recording statistics.
SimpleScreenRecorder does not provide native Wayland desktop capture, so use a Wayland-compatible alternative if your session runs on Wayland.
On Ubuntu and Debian, install it from the distribution repositories:
sudo apt update sudo apt install simplescreenrecorder
On Fedora, the package is available from RPM Fusion Free. Enable the repository using the official RPM Fusion instructions, then install the recorder:
sudo dnf install simplescreenrecorder
For current Fedora releases, follow the official RPM Fusion setup guide rather than using an old, hard-coded repository installation URL.
If you’re still using one of these older recorders, share this list with your team so everyone can move to a tool that works on their desktop.
9. recordMyDesktop
recordMyDesktop is a lightweight screen recorder for Linux that provides both a command-line interface and a basic graphical interface. It lets users adjust video and audio quality and supports recording and encoding separately, making it useful for simple desktop capture tasks.
However, recordMyDesktop is an older, X11-oriented tool that is not well suited to modern Wayland desktops. It also has limited output-format support, producing Theora video with Vorbis audio rather than offering the more widely used H.264 or H.265 encoding options available in many modern recorders.
10. Kazam Screencaster
Kazam is a simple screen-recording application for Linux that captures desktop activity and saves it as a video file. It can also record audio from input devices recognized by PulseAudio and provides a straightforward graphical interface for configuring recordings.
Its key features include:
- Video recording: Supports H.264 and VP8 video codecs, with MP4 and WebM output depending on the version.
- Audio capture: Records audio from supported PulseAudio input devices.
- Flexible capture options: Captures the full screen, a selected window, or a specific region.
- Simple interface: Includes recording controls, keyboard shortcuts, and a countdown timer.
Important Wayland limitation: The original Kazam release is primarily designed for X11 and may not work correctly in Wayland sessions. A separate fork, Kazam2, advertises Wayland support, but compatibility depends on the version, desktop environment, and installed capture components. If you use Wayland, check compatibility before choosing Kazam; alternatives such as OBS Studio, Kooha, or your desktop’s built-in recorder may be more suitable.
To install the original Kazam package on Debian, Ubuntu, or Linux Mint, run:
sudo apt update sudo apt install kazam
Package availability depends on your distribution release and enabled repositories. For other distributions, check the distribution’s package manager or the project’s documentation before installing.
11. VLC Media Player
VLC Media Player is a free, open-source, cross-platform media player available for Linux, Windows, and macOS. It supports a wide range of audio and video formats and includes desktop capture features that let you record your screen without installing a separate recording application.
VLC can capture desktop activity, set a recording frame rate, encode the captured video, and save it to a file. You can configure the output format and encoding options to suit your needs.
Important Limitation: VLC’s screen-recording workflow is less straightforward than that of dedicated recorders, and capture support can vary between builds. Although VLC has a Wayland screen-capture module, its availability and compatibility depend on how VLC was packaged and on the desktop environment.
If you need reliable screen and microphone recording, consider OBS Studio or another dedicated recorder.
To install VLC on Linux, run the appropriate command for your distribution:
sudo apt install vlc # Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint sudo dnf install vlc # Fedora (repository availability may vary) sudo pacman -S vlc # Arch Linux sudo zypper install vlc # openSUSE sudo emerge -a media-video/vlc # Gentoo sudo apk add vlc # Alpine Linux
Tips for Choosing a Linux Screen Recorder
The right screen recorder depends on your desktop environment, display session, and recording requirements. On GNOME or KDE Plasma, start with the built-in recorder for quick captures.
Audio support varies by desktop version, so check whether your recorder supports microphone and system audio. For a simple graphical tool, try Kooha; for advanced controls, multiple sources, and live streaming, choose OBS Studio.
If a recorder displays a black screen or fails to capture your desktop, first check whether it supports your session. Run echo "$XDG_SESSION_TYPE" to determine whether you’re using x11 or wayland.
On Wayland, verify that the application supports your compositor and that the desktop portal and PipeWire capture components are working. An X11-only recorder may require switching to an X11 session, but not every black-screen issue has the same cause.
If OBS Studio has black or frozen capture on an NVIDIA system, update to OBS Studio 32.2 or later and check the driver requirements for your NVIDIA encoding setup.
OBS 32.2 updated its NVIDIA SDK, raising the minimum supported driver to version 570 for the affected NVIDIA functionality, and also fixed a PipeWire issue affecting NVIDIA GPUs. These updates may help, but they do not guarantee a fix for every capture problem.
Conclusion
Choosing the right Linux screen recorder comes down to your desktop environment, display session, hardware, and recording needs. From GNOME and KDE Plasma’s built-in tools to OBS Studio, Kooha, and GPU Screen Recorder, each option offers a different balance of simplicity, audio support, performance, and control.
Before installing a recorder, check whether it supports your X11 or Wayland session and whether it can capture the microphone, system audio, or both. If you encounter a black screen or missing audio, verify the application’s compatibility and capture permissions before switching tools.
Which Linux screen recorder do you use? Are you running Wayland or X11? Share your setup and any black-screen, audio, or performance issues in the comments. Your experience could help other Linux users choose the right tool.
