Short answers.
No fine print.

Flashback is a local replay recorder for Windows 11. It continually keeps a short rolling buffer, then saves the previous seconds as an MP4 when you press your chosen global shortcut or click Save replay.

No. The replay buffer can run all the time and capture the desktop. When a recognized game is in the foreground on the display being recorded, Flashback uses its name and folder in windowed, borderless, or fullscreen mode. Other apps use the Desktop label.

No. The current public release keeps Discord sign-in, uploads, subscriptions, and share links disabled. Clips and temporary replay segments stay on your PC, and opening the Cloud tab makes no Cloud request.

When it opens, Flashback will prepare a browser-ready H.264/AAC copy only when needed, upload directly through short-lived permissions, and keep the original local clip untouched. Interrupted uploads are designed to resume safely.

That is the plan. A ready unlisted link is designed to include a clear poster, video metadata, and a browser-playable MP4. Public share links are not enabled in the current release.

No. Public account creation is closed while account recovery, moderation, deletion, and operational safeguards are completed. The app shows a coming-soon page instead of a Discord sign-in button.

Only a daily rotating anonymous presence token, used for an approximate count of participating devices seen in the last 30 minutes. It is not an account total and does not include clips, game names, hardware details, accounts, settings, or feature usage. You can turn it off in Settings under Privacy.

By default, clips go to your Videos\Flashback folder. If game organization is enabled, recognized games get their own subfolders and everything else goes to Desktop. Both the location and folder names are editable.

Automatic mode asks for Desktop Duplication first. If that path does not receive a real desktop frame, the session switches to Windows Graphics Capture, which can show a Windows capture indicator. Whether an indicator appears therefore depends on the effective path; Flashback does not promise a border-free session.

Flashback captures a selected display and does not inject code into a game. That keeps the capture path simple and away from anti-cheat-sensitive game hooks.

In the controlled 1080p Cyberpunk 2077 benchmark, Flashback 0.6.22 retained 140.92 average FPS and a 103.45 FPS 1% low against a 149.69 FPS recorder-off baseline. Its process averaged 0.59% normalized CPU and 238.9 MiB resident memory during that game workload. Usage still depends on the game, resolution, frame rate, bitrate, audio devices, and hardware.

Saved clips are MP4 files with AAC audio and hardware H.264 or HEVC video. Auto prefers verified hardware H.264 for Flashback's most-tested replay path and widest compatibility. Choose HEVC explicitly for better quality per bit when the PC can both record and play it locally; a failed HEVC start falls back safely. Smaller-file exports can use hardware AV1 independently. Flashback supports 720p, 1080p, 1440p, 4K UHD, or source resolution at 30, 60, 120, or 240 FPS when the hardware supports the combination.

Yes. System audio and an optional microphone use one mixed track by default. Separate-track mode builds the normal audible mix plus editable desktop-sound and microphone tracks. A single compact menu can leave out Discord, Spotify, or the active browser family from both the saved mix and desktop track. Flashback refreshes safely instead of silently saving the excluded app if its process tree changes, and its audio timeline corrects device-clock gaps that can occur with virtual cables.

Yes. Startup, quiet notification-area launch, and close-to-tray behavior are separate settings. Ghost Mode hides the main window, mutes Flashback, and disables its Discord Rich Presence while keeping a quiet tray icon available so you can reopen or quit the app.

Only a bounded rolling list of selected key and mouse-button states while the overlay and replay buffer are enabled. A saved clip keeps its matching timeline in private local metadata so the clean master stays untouched and the editor can add or remove the overlay later. The timeline is never uploaded automatically.

Yes. Choose Pulse, Soft chime, Prism, or Minimal, or drop an MP3 onto the Custom control. Flashback validates custom sounds and keeps a local copy, so moving the original file does not break them.

Yes. Click Edit on a clip or open the Editor tab and drag in a video. The local editor builds its storyboard only while you use it, lets you set exact start and end points, previews the selection, and saves beside the original or to a folder you choose.

The current 1440p 60 FPS Quality preset uses a tuned 21 Mbps target instead of the original 30 Mbps. It keeps the resolution and frame rate while avoiding needless file size. Settings shows an immediate size estimate, and trimmed clips are capped to a source-aware bitrate so editing does not inflate them.

Yes. The screenshot shortcut is separate from Save replay and accepts a single key or Ctrl, Alt, Shift, and Win combinations. Screenshots save as PNG files using the same game-aware folders and editable naming rules as clips.

Yes. You can change the desktop label and folder, add custom game-name rules, and build filenames with game, process, date, time, timestamp, and duration tokens.

Open a recognized game, then enable its compact profile in Video settings. You can give that exact executable its own quality preset and replay length. Shared hosts such as Java also require the recognized game name, and invalid or ambiguous matches safely keep your global settings.

The limit applies only to saved captures, not the temporary rolling buffer. After a new clip is saved, Flashback removes the oldest saved captures only if the library is over the budget you chose. Storage Review is read-only, and Unlimited disables automatic removal completely.

Yes. Appearance settings include an optional two-pixel window outline with bright presets and a custom color picker. It is off by default and changes only the Flashback window.

Yes. Choose Custom at the bottom of Replay length, then enter an exact duration from 15 seconds through 24 hours using hours, minutes, and seconds. Flashback keeps the rolling buffer in bounded segments even for long durations.

It is optional. One shortcut press saves your normal replay length; a quick double press saves the longer duration you selected. With the setting off, the existing one-press shortcut remains immediate and unchanged.

Flashback uses a pinned transition publisher for update authenticity, but that certificate does not yet have public CA reputation. Windows can still show Unknown Publisher or SmartScreen. The exact SHA-256 checksum and signature state are published below.

Not currently. Flashback uses Windows capture, audio, tray, startup, and hardware-encoding APIs and presently targets 64-bit Windows 11.

Yes. Click the shortcut control in Settings and press a single key or any Ctrl, Alt, Shift, or Win combination. Flashback checks with Windows before saving it, so a reserved or already-used shortcut cannot replace your working one.

Flashback checks the signed official feed once when you actually open its window, then shows a quiet notice beside Check for updates if a release is available. It does not poll while running only in the tray and never downloads without a click. Current releases verify signed metadata, the whole package, and the pinned publisher before handoff; verified partial downloads resume after an interruption, and a signed installer repair appears if the normal handoff cannot finish. If you are on 0.6.72 or earlier, use the Update repair page and run the current installer once. Clips and settings stay in place.

Flashback 0.7.35 is free to download and local capture does not require an account. Cloud pricing will be published only when the service is ready to open.