How to Screen Record on Mac (Built-In, With Audio)

Your Mac has a full-featured screen recorder built right in. You do not need OBS, Loom, or any paid app for most recording jobs.

There are two ways to reach it: the Screenshot toolbar (Shift+Command+5) and QuickTime Player. Both are free, always present, and work on every Mac running macOS Mojave or later.

Quick answer

Press Shift+Command+5. Choose Record Entire Screen or Record Selected Portion at the bottom of the toolbar, then click Record. Press Shift+Command+5 again (or click the stop icon in the menu bar) to finish. Your .mov file lands on the Desktop.

That covers 90% of use cases. The rest of this article handles audio, portion recording, QuickTime, where files go, trimming, and what to do when something goes wrong.

Record with the Screenshot toolbar (Shift+Command+5)

The Screenshot toolbar is the fastest way to start a recording. Here is what each control does:

1. Press Shift+Command+5 on your keyboard. A floating toolbar appears at the bottom of the screen.
2. The toolbar has six tools. The first two capture still screenshots (whole screen, window). The remaining four control recording or selection:
   • Record Entire Screen (filled circle): captures everything on the display.
   • Record Selected Portion (dotted rectangle): lets you drag a recording area.
   • Record Selected Window: records a single window you click.
   • Screenshot of Selection is a still-capture tool, not a recording option.
3. Click the Options button to set:
   • Save to: Desktop, Documents, Clipboard, Mail, Messages, or any folder you choose.
   • Timer: None, 5 seconds, or 10 seconds. Use a countdown when you need to set up a window before recording starts.
   • Microphone: None (silent) or a connected mic for voice narration.
   • Show Mouse Clicks: adds a grey circle around the cursor on each click. Useful for tutorials.
4. Click Record (or wait out the timer).
5. To stop: click the stop icon (square) in the menu bar, or press Shift+Command+5 and click Stop Recording.

The recording appears as a thumbnail in the bottom-right corner of your screen for a few seconds. Click it to preview and trim before saving, or let it fade to save automatically to your chosen location.

Record with QuickTime Player

QuickTime Player is a solid alternative, especially if you need to record an iPhone or iPad screen over a cable.

1. Open QuickTime Player (find it in /Applications/ or search with Spotlight, Command+Space).
2. From the menu bar choose File > New Screen Recording.
3. The same Screenshot toolbar from the previous section opens. Follow steps 3-5 above.

For iPhone or iPad recording:

1. Connect your device with a USB cable.
2. Open QuickTime Player, then File > New Movie Recording.
3. Click the small arrow next to the record button and select your iPhone or iPad as the Camera source.
4. Click the red record button. Your device screen appears in the QuickTime window and is captured to your Mac.

QuickTime saves recordings as .mov files. You can trim them immediately in QuickTime (Edit > Trim) without any other software.

Record your screen with sound

This is where most guides stop short, so here is the honest breakdown:

To record mic audio: Open the Options menu in the toolbar and select your microphone under the Microphone section before starting the recording. If you have a headset plugged in, choose that. Otherwise, select the built-in microphone.

To record system audio: Apple does not expose system audio capture to third-party tools through a standard API. Apps like BlackHole (free, open source) or Loopback install a virtual audio device that routes system sound through your microphone input, making it capturable. Once installed, you select that virtual device as your mic source. This is the only reliable method.

Record just part of the screen or a single window

Portion of the screen:

1. Press Shift+Command+5.
2. Select Record Selected Portion (the dotted rectangle icon).
3. A dotted selection box appears. Drag the handles to resize it to exactly the area you want.
4. Click Record. Only the selected portion is captured.

Single window:

1. Press Shift+Command+5.
2. Select Record Selected Window.
3. Click the window you want to capture. Only that window is recorded.

Where are Mac screen recordings saved?

By default, recordings save to your Desktop as .mov files named with the date and time (for example, Screen Recording 2026-09-19 at 10.30.45.mov).

To change the save location before you start:

1. Open the Screenshot toolbar with Shift+Command+5.
2. Click Options.
3. Under Save to, choose a folder or click Other Location to browse to any directory.

If you cannot find a recording:

• Check the Desktop and your Documents folder first.
• Open Finder and search for "Screen Recording" to find .mov files by name.
• If you chose Clipboard as the destination, the file is not saved to disk. It is in your clipboard and can only be pasted into apps that accept video.

Trim, convert, and share the recording

Trim in QuickTime:

1. Open the recording in QuickTime Player (double-click the .mov on your Desktop).
2. Go to Edit > Trim (or press Command+T).
3. Drag the yellow handles on the timeline to set your start and end points.
4. Click Trim, then File > Save to save the trimmed version.

Convert MOV to MP4:

macOS records in .mov (H.264 video). Most platforms and devices play .mov natively, but if you need .mp4:

1. Open the .mov in QuickTime Player.
2. Choose File > Export As > 1080p (or 4K if available).
3. QuickTime exports an .mp4 file in H.264.

Alternatively, open the file in iMovie for more control over the export format and quality.

Reduce file size:

• Screen recordings of mostly static content (slides, desktop UI) compress very well. A 5-minute recording is often under 50 MB.
• Recordings of video playback compress less. Use the 720p export if file size matters.
• Speeding up your Mac by closing unnecessary background apps also reduces frame drops in recordings.

Screen recording not working on Mac

This section covers the three most common failures. Ranking pages mostly skip this, which is the main gap this article addresses.

Screen & System Audio Recording permission missing or greyed out:

1. Open System Settings (macOS Ventura and later) or System Preferences (macOS Monterey and earlier).
2. Go to Privacy & Security > Screen & System Audio Recording.
3. Find the app you are using (Screenshot, QuickTime Player, or a third-party app) and enable the toggle.
4. If the app is not listed, open it first, then return to this screen.
5. Restart the app after granting permission. Changes do not take effect until the app relaunches.

Recording file is black or shows a grey screen:

• This almost always means Screen & System Audio Recording permission was not granted. Follow the steps above.
• Some DRM-protected apps (streaming video, certain payment screens) intentionally block capture. The recording will show a black frame for those windows, regardless of permissions.

No audio in the recording:

• Check that you selected a microphone in the Options menu before starting the recording.
• Go to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Microphone and confirm the recording app has microphone access.
• If you selected a microphone and still get silence, try switching to the built-in microphone and test again.

Recording stops immediately:

• Your startup disk may be nearly full. macOS requires free space to write a recording. Check Apple menu > About This Mac > Storage and free up space if needed.

When built-in is not enough

The built-in tools cover most use cases: tutorials, bug reports, gameplay clips, and video calls. There are a few things they cannot do:

• System audio capture without a third-party virtual driver (BlackHole, Loopback).
• Webcam overlay (picture-in-picture of your face during a screen recording).
• Direct upload to YouTube or cloud services from the recording app.
• Annotations drawn live on screen during recording.

If you need any of these, apps like OBS Studio (free), ScreenFlow, or Screencast are worth considering. But for a plain screen recording with narration, the built-in toolbar is fast, reliable, and already on your Mac.

For more ways to get more out of your Mac, see hidden Mac features most users miss.

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