How to Screen Record on Mac

Press Shift-Command-5, choose Record Entire Screen or Record Selected Portion, and click Record. Want a webcam bubble, a tab’s sound or an MP4? Use the free recorder below, right in your browser.

Jump to the step-by-step guide

Online Screen Recorder

ReadyTurn on your camera, mic or screen below

Choose a recording source

Start a new scene from one source or combine screen and camera.

New scene

Turn on your camera or mic above

Screen recording on a Mac

Every Mac running macOS Mojave or later has a screen recorder built in. You open it with a keyboard shortcut or from QuickTime Player, record the whole screen or part of it, and add your voice from a microphone. What it can’t do is record the sound your Mac plays, such as a video or a call. This guide covers the built-in method step by step, how to get audio into a recording, and when a browser recorder is the faster choice.

How to screen record on Mac with Shift-Command-5

Open the screenshot toolbar

Press Shift-Command-5. A toolbar appears at the bottom of the screen with screenshot and screen recording buttons.
Choose what to record

Click Record Entire Screen, or click Record Selected Portion and drag the frame around the area you want.
Set the microphone and options

Click Options to choose a microphone (None records no sound), a 5- or 10-second timer, where to save, and whether to show mouse clicks.
Start recording

Click Record in the toolbar. With more than one display and Record Entire Screen selected, click the display you want to record.
Stop and find the file

Click the Stop button in the menu bar or press Command-Control-Esc. The recording is saved as a MOV file, on the desktop unless you chose another location.

Screen record with QuickTime Player

QuickTime Player is the older route, and on current macOS it opens the same toolbar. Open QuickTime Player from Applications, choose File > New Screen Recording, and carry on from step 2 above.

QuickTime is still handy afterwards. Open any recording and choose Edit > Trim to cut the start and end. You can also click the floating thumbnail that appears after you stop recording to trim or share the clip straight away.

How to screen record on Mac with audio

Your voice (microphone)

In the Shift-Command-5 toolbar, open Options and choose a microphone, such as your MacBook’s built-in mic or a USB or AirPods mic. The setting is remembered for next time.

Sound from your Mac (system audio)

The built-in tools don’t record system audio, which is the sound your Mac plays from apps, videos and calls. Recording it normally needs extra software, such as a virtual audio driver that routes your Mac’s output back in as an input.

Record a browser tab with its sound

If the sound you need is playing in a browser tab, recorder.video can capture it without extra software. In a Chromium-based browser such as Chrome or Edge, click Screen, choose the tab option in the picker, select the tab and keep Also share tab audio turned on. Your microphone records at the same time. Browsers on macOS can’t capture whole-screen system audio, so sound from other apps won’t be included.

Record your Mac screen in the browser

The online screen recorder at the top of this page works in modern browsers with nothing to install. It adds what the built-in tool lacks: a webcam bubble, pause and resume, a pen to draw on the recording, a teleprompter, trimming, and downloads as MP4, WebM or GIF. Recordings stay in your browser and aren’t uploaded.

Click Screen and choose your entire screen, a window or a browser tab. The first time, macOS asks you to allow your browser under System Settings > Privacy & Security > Screen & System Audio Recording (called Screen Recording on older versions). Allow it, then reopen the browser.
Keep your camera on for a face bubble, or switch the Camera button off. Check that the level meter on the mic button moves when you speak.
Press Record or R, pause with P, and stop when you’re done. Trim the scene and download it as MP4, WebM, audio only or a GIF of up to 20 seconds.

Troubleshooting Mac screen recordings

There’s no sound in the recording

Check that Options > Microphone isn’t set to None. The built-in tool never records system audio. In the browser, share a tab rather than a window or the whole screen, and keep tab audio on.

The video is black

Copy-protected video, which includes many streaming services, shows as black in screen recordings. That’s the protection working as intended, not a fault with the recorder.

Only the wallpaper is recorded, or sharing is blocked

macOS shows only the desktop, without app windows, to apps that don’t have screen recording permission. Open System Settings > Privacy & Security, turn on the app under Screen & System Audio Recording (or Screen Recording), then quit and reopen it.

Where are screen recordings saved on a Mac?

On the desktop by default, named “Screen Recording” with the date and time. Change it under Options > Save to. recorder.video keeps recordings in your browser until you download them, and downloads go to your browser’s download folder.

Which Mac screen recording method should you use?

Mac screen recording methods compared
Method	Best for	Audio	Webcam	File
Shift-Command-5	Quick clips with no setup	Microphone	No	MOV
QuickTime Player	The same recorder, plus trimming	Microphone	No	MOV
recorder.video	Tutorials, demos and video messages	Microphone and tab audio	Bubble, side by side or stacked	MP4, WebM, audio, GIF

For a quick clip of your screen, Shift-Command-5 is hard to beat. When you want your face in the corner, a tab’s sound, drawing or an MP4 to share, use the browser recorder.

Recording questions

What is the shortcut to screen record on a Mac?

Shift-Command-5 opens the screenshot toolbar, which has Record Entire Screen and Record Selected Portion buttons. Press Command-Control-Esc to stop a recording.

How do I screen record on a MacBook with sound?

For your voice, choose a microphone under Options in the Shift-Command-5 toolbar. The built-in tools can’t record the sound your Mac plays. To capture audio from a browser tab, record the tab with recorder.video in Chrome or Edge and keep tab audio on.

Can I screen record on a Mac with my webcam showing?

The built-in recorder doesn’t add a webcam overlay. recorder.video records your screen and camera together, with the camera as a movable bubble or side by side, and keeps each source as a separate track you can rearrange later.

Why is my Mac screen recording black?

Copy-protected video, such as many streaming services, records as black. If the whole recording shows only your wallpaper, the app needs screen recording permission in System Settings > Privacy & Security.

How do I trim a screen recording on a Mac?

Click the thumbnail that appears after recording and use the trim button, or open the file in QuickTime Player and choose Edit > Trim. In recorder.video, drag the yellow trim handles before you download.

How do I get an MP4 instead of a MOV?

The built-in recorder saves MOV files. recorder.video downloads MP4 directly in recent Chrome, Edge and Safari, so there’s nothing to convert.

Is there a time limit on Mac screen recordings?

The built-in recorder is limited by free disk space rather than a fixed time. recorder.video sets no limit either; it’s bounded by the storage your browser allows the site.

Can I add captions to a Mac screen recording?

The built-in Mac tools don’t make captions. recorder.video can: it transcribes the recording on your Mac with an AI speech model, lets you edit the text, and downloads an .srt or .vtt file or burns the captions into the video. Nothing is uploaded; the model (about 75 MB) downloads once on first use. Check the transcript before sharing, as automatic captions can make mistakes.