How can I capture an MS Paint window in OBS Studio?

Question

I am trying to record Microsoft Paint using OBS Studio 31.0.1 in Windows 11. However, when I add a Window Capture for the Paint window it shows up as a black box. If I click to focus the Paint window my mouse cursor gets captured, but it leaves a trailing effect behind that doesn't get cleared from the screen. If I use Game Capture the paint canvas will get captured but not the rest of Paint's UI.

Other applications like GIMP, Google Chrome, or various games record in OBS without issue. I've also reproduced this issue on 3 different computers.

How can I capture an MS Paint window with OBS Studio?

Answer 1

Right click the window capture for Paint, select properties, then change the capture method to "Windows 10 (1903 and up)".

Thanks to Andrew Morton for suggesting I try a different capture method.

Answer 2

One workaround is to record the entire screen with Display Capture then crop it to only show MS Paint.

First, add a Display Capture source for the display with your MS Paint window. While holding Alt, drag the edges of your source in the preview window to crop it until only the paint window is shown. (You can also crop by right clicking the source and selecting Transform>Edit Transform).

Note that you will need to readjust your crop if the Paint window is moved or resized. Any windows or notifications that go in front of the Paint window will also be captured.