How to screen record on Mac
Recording your Mac screen is simple. Recording your screen with audio, however, is a different story entirely. Recording your Mac screen with audio—the kind people actually want, with both your voice and your computer's sound—takes a virtual audio device, a Multi-Output Device configuration, and some patience. This is mostly Apple's fault. We'll explain why and walk through it.
The good news is that there's an easy workaround that avoids the complex daisychain: recording with Airtime Recorder. Yes, it's our tool, but it genuinely makes the entire process simpler.
This guide covers the Airtime approach, as well as both built-in methods (Cmd+Shift+5 and QuickTime), what to do about the audio problem, and where the built-in tools fall short. If you're not on a Mac, we have a cross-platform overview that covers Windows, iPhone, Android, and the browser too.
About Airtime
We make essential tools for video at work
MAY 8, 2026 • By Jeremy Brand Yuan
Your screen recording options on Mac
Three tools cover almost every use case. Here's the quick version of each.
The Screenshot toolbar (Cmd+Shift+5). Built into macOS Mojave and later, which is to say every Mac you're realistically using today. Records screen and microphone in one keystroke. Captures system audio? Not natively. The default if you just need to capture your screen.
QuickTime Player. Older Apple tool, also built in. Same screen and microphone capabilities as Cmd+Shift+5. Useful if Cmd+Shift+5 isn't behaving on your particular macOS version, or if you want QuickTime's lightweight editing afterward.
Airtime Recorder. Our screen recorder. Runs in any browser and as a desktop app for Mac and Windows. Records screen, microphone, and system audio in one step—no virtual audio device, no Multi-Output configuration—uploads to a sharable URL the moment you stop recording, and plays back in a viewer that adapts to whatever device the recipient is on (with double-click zoom for fine detail).
The rest of this guide walks through each of those, plus the system audio workaround for when you really want to use a built-in tool.
How to screen record on Mac with the Screenshot toolbar (Cmd+Shift+5)
The Screenshot toolbar is the modern default for Mac screen recording. It's built into macOS Mojave (2018) and later, and on a recent macOS version it's more capable than QuickTime for most uses. If you're just learning, this is where to start.
- Press Shift + Command + 5 to open the Screenshot toolbar. It appears at the bottom of your screen with controls for both screenshots and screen recordings.
- Choose your recording mode. From left to right in the recording controls: Record Entire Screen, Record Selected Window (macOS Tahoe 26 or later), or Record Selected Portion. Selected Portion lets you drag to define a rectangle.
- Click Options to set your preferences. Microphone (choose your input or leave off), Show Mouse Clicks (highlights clicks with a black circle—useful for tutorials), Timer (3 or 5 seconds before recording starts), Save Location (default is Desktop), and on macOS Tahoe 26+, Capture Format (SDR or HDR).
- Click Record. Or click into a window if you're using Record Selected Window.
- Click the Stop button in the menu bar to end the recording. Or press Command + Control + Esc.
- Click the thumbnail that appears in the corner to edit, or wait for the recording to save. Recordings save to your Desktop by default with a filename like Screen Recording 2026-01-15 at 12.30.45.mov.
That's the whole flow.
What's new in macOS Tahoe 26
Apple added two things worth knowing about. First, Record Selected Window mode—record a specific window without drawing a rectangle around it. Click the window after pressing Record, and that window is what gets captured. Cleaner than Selected Portion if you're recording one specific app.
Second, HDR capture support on Mac models that support it. SDR (the default) gives you the most compatible recording in H.264. HDR uses HEVC and captures wider color and brightness range, but plays back in fewer apps. SDR is the right answer unless you specifically know you want HDR.
How to screen record on Mac with QuickTime Player
QuickTime Player is the older alternative. It's been on macOS forever, predates the Screenshot toolbar, and on most recent macOS versions, opening it for a screen recording will actually launch the Screenshot toolbar instead.
You'd use it if Cmd+Shift+5 isn't working for some reason, you're on an older macOS, or you specifically want to use QuickTime's lightweight editing afterward.
- Open QuickTime Player from your Applications folder.
- Choose File → New Screen Recording (or press Control + Command + N).
- If the Screenshot toolbar appears, your Mac is using the modern toolbar—follow the steps in the previous section. If a separate Screen Recording window opens, continue here.
- Click the arrow next to the Record button to set your audio source and click options. Microphone (choose your input), Show Mouse Clicks in Recording.
- Click the Record button. Click anywhere to start recording the whole screen, or drag a selection and click Start Recording.
- Click the Stop button in the menu bar to end. Or press Command + Control + Esc.
- QuickTime opens the recording automatically. From here you can play, trim (Edit → Trim), or share it.
That's QuickTime's screen recording flow. Simpler than the Screenshot toolbar but with fewer options.
How to screen record on Mac with audio
Mac audio capture is two different problems. Microphone audio works in any built-in tool. System audio—the sounds your computer is playing—doesn't work in any built-in tool, and Apple has been very clear that this is on purpose.
Microphone audio (the easy part)
Open the Screenshot toolbar (Cmd+Shift+5), click Options, and select your microphone under the Microphone heading. From this point, every screen recording you make will include your voice (or whatever the mic is hearing).
QuickTime works the same way. Open File → New Screen Recording, click the arrow next to the Record button, and choose your microphone.
This is fine for tutorials, narration, voice-overs, and anything where you're talking over what's on screen. It's also fine for recording video calls if everyone's voice comes through your microphone—Zoom, Google Meet, and Teams all do this by default.
System audio (the hard part)
Here's the macOS limitation: the operating system does not let you capture audio that another application is playing. If your screen recording involves a video, music, app sounds, or anything else being played out of your speakers (or headphones), that audio will not be in the recording.
This is a deliberate Apple choice, not a bug. macOS sandboxes audio capture for licensing and privacy reasons—the same protection that keeps malware from listening to your Spotify also keeps your screen recorder from capturing it.
There are two paths around it.
Path 1: A virtual audio device. Free tools like BlackHole (or paid alternatives like Loopback) create a fake audio output that screen recorders can listen to. You set up a Multi-Output Device in Audio MIDI Setup that routes your computer's audio to both your real speakers (so you can hear it) and the virtual device (so the recorder can capture it). Then you switch the recorder's audio source to the virtual device. It works. It also takes about ten minutes to set up the first time, breaks if you forget to switch your audio routing back, and—at least in BlackHole's free version—doesn't combine microphone and system audio into one input. Loopback ($99) does combine them, but you're now spending money on a workaround.
Path 2: Airtime Recorder. Captures screen, microphone, and system audio in a single step, on macOS, with no virtual audio device to install or configure. The audio problem we just spent this section explaining isn't your problem.
Most of our readers go with Path 2. If you specifically want the BlackHole setup, existential.audio has the full installation docs. The reasons to actually use a third-party tool—including but not limited to skipping the audio dance—are coming up next.
Where built-in tools fall short
The built-in Mac tools handle the common cases. If you're capturing a quick tutorial without audio, sending a one-off bug report, or grabbing a clip for a teammate, Cmd+Shift+5 will do the job.
But there are four specific places where Mac native tools fall short—and where Airtime Recorder is built around solving them.
Sharing friction. Native Mac recordings save as .mov files on your Desktop. To share one, you find the file, upload it somewhere (Drive, Dropbox, your work file-sharing tool), send a link, and hope the recipient can play .mov—which Windows users sometimes can't out of the box. Airtime Recorder uploads to a shareable URL automatically when you stop recording. No file management, no upload step, no format compatibility issues. Stop recording, copy link, paste link.
Watching across devices. A Mac .mov is a fixed-size file. Watching a recording made on a Retina display on a phone means tiny detail or pinch-to-zoom. Airtime Recorder playback adapts to the device viewing it—a recording made on your Mac watches well on someone else's phone, and vice versa.
Detail in the recording. Tutorials and demos often hinge on small things—a button, fine text, a UI element you're walking through, especially on a Retina display where everything is denser than the recipient's screen. Airtime Recorder lets viewers double-click any region of the recording to zoom in, examining details at their own pace. Once you've watched a recording where the audience can zoom into the part that matters, going back to a fixed-size video feels limiting.
Audio without the workaround. macOS doesn't capture system audio natively. The previous section walks through the BlackHole workaround—it works, but it's a workaround. Airtime Recorder captures screen, microphone, and system audio in one step. No BlackHole, no Multi-Output Device, no Audio MIDI Setup, no remembering to switch your audio routing back when you're done. If you record with system audio more than occasionally, this alone is reason enough.
Native Mac tools give you a video file. Airtime Recorder gives you a video file plus the four things above.
Airtime Recorder runs in your browser (no install) and as a desktop app for Mac. Recording, audio, sharing, viewer zoom, presenter overlay—one workflow, one link, one place.
Mac keyboard shortcuts for screen recording
A short list. Most are about getting in and out of the Screenshot toolbar quickly.
- Open Screenshot toolbar (recording mode): Shift + Command + 5
- Stop recording: Command + Control + Esc
- Cancel before recording starts: Esc
- Take a screenshot of the entire screen: Shift + Command + 3
- Take a screenshot of a portion: Shift + Command + 4
- Take a screenshot of a window: Shift + Command + 4, then Spacebar
Common Mac screen recording problems (and how to fix them)
The usual suspects, and what to do about them.
My recording has no sound. Most common cause: microphone wasn't selected before recording. In the Screenshot toolbar, click Options before recording and pick your microphone. Second most common: you're trying to capture system audio (the sounds your computer is playing), and macOS doesn't do that natively. See the audio section above for the workaround—or use Airtime Recorder.
The Screenshot toolbar shortcut isn't working. If Shift + Command + 5 does nothing, three usual causes. (1) The shortcut is disabled in System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → Screenshots. Check that "Screenshot and recording options" is enabled. (2) Another app has hijacked the shortcut—rare but possible. (3) Your Mac is on macOS High Sierra or earlier, which predates the Screenshot toolbar. Use QuickTime instead.
Why can't I screen record certain apps? Some apps respect macOS's content protection more strictly. Apple TV, Netflix in Safari, certain streaming and DRM-protected content won't appear in your recording (you'll see a black square where the protected content is). This is intentional and not something you can override.
My recording is laggy or low quality. Three things to try. Lower the recording resolution if your tool allows. Free up disk space (recordings can get big, especially HDR). Close background apps competing for CPU—anything streaming or rendering is the usual culprit.
Where did my recording save? Default is your Desktop, with a filename like Screen Recording 2026-01-15 at 12.30.45.mov. You can change the default save location in the Screenshot toolbar's Options menu.
How do I trim a Mac screen recording? Open the recording in QuickTime Player, then choose Edit → Trim (or press Command + T). Drag the yellow handles to set the start and end points and click Trim. For more advanced editing, iMovie (free) or Final Cut Pro (paid) handle it well.
Frequently asked questions
Two built-in options. The Screenshot toolbar (press Shift + Command + 5) is the modern default and works on macOS Mojave (2018) and later. QuickTime Player is the older alternative, available on every Mac, useful as a backup. Both record screen and microphone audio. Neither captures system audio without help.
Shift + Command + 5 opens the Screenshot toolbar, which has both screenshot and recording controls. From there, click Record (or use the Record button in the toolbar) to start.
Microphone audio: click Options in the Screenshot toolbar before recording and pick your microphone. System audio (computer sounds): macOS doesn't capture this natively. The workaround involves a virtual audio device (BlackHole is the most-recommended free option). Or use Airtime Recorder, which captures both microphone and system audio in one step.
Yes, two of them. The Screenshot toolbar (Shift + Command + 5) on macOS Mojave and later, and QuickTime Player on every Mac. Both are free, pre-installed, and don't require any extra software.
Generally no. Apple TV and most streaming services use content protection that prevents screen recording—the protected video appears as a black square in the recording. This is intentional.
No fixed time limit. You'll hit practical limits based on your free disk space and Mac's performance. A 1080p recording averages about 1 GB per 5 minutes; HDR recordings are larger.
Up to 60 minutes per recording. For most use cases—tutorials, demos, async updates, walkthroughs—that's well above what you'll need in a single take.
In the Screenshot toolbar (Shift + Command + 5), click "Record Selected Portion" (the icon that looks like a dashed rectangle). Drag to define the area you want to record, then click Record.
By default, recordings save to your Desktop with a filename like Screen Recording 2026-01-15 at 12.30.45.mov. You can change the save location in the Screenshot toolbar's Options menu, where you'll see a "Save to" submenu.
Recording your Mac screen is straightforward as long as audio isn't part of the equation. When it is, you have a choice: deal with a virtual audio device and a Multi-Output configuration, or use a tool that doesn't make you.
Airtime Recorder is the second option, plus the three other places where native Mac tools fall short.
For Windows users, we have a Windows-specific guide. For the cross-platform overview covering iPhone, Android, and the browser, start here.
Ready to record your Mac screen the easy way? Try Airtime today.
Captures screen, microphone, and system audio in one step—no virtual audio device, no Multi-Output configuration. Stop recording, copy link, paste link. Works in any browser and as a desktop app for Mac and Windows.