Whether you are creating a software tutorial, demonstrating a bug to IT support, or saving a webinar, recording your Mac’s screen is incredibly useful. While many users turn to expensive third-party applications, macOS has a powerful screen recording tool built directly into the system via QuickTime Player.
In this guide, we will show you how to capture high-quality video of your Mac’s screen, and crucially, how to ensure your microphone audio is recorded alongside it.
How to Open the Screen Recording Tool
There are two primary ways to launch the screen recording interface in macOS:
- The Keyboard Shortcut (Fastest): Press Command + Shift + 5 on your keyboard simultaneously. This will instantly bring up the screen recording toolbar at the bottom of your screen.
- Using QuickTime Player: Open Finder, navigate to the Applications folder, and double-click QuickTime Player. Then, look at the menu bar at the very top of your screen, click File, and select New Screen Recording.
How to Enable Audio Recording (Microphone)
By default, macOS screen recordings are completely silent. If you want to narrate your video or explain what you are doing, you must manually select an audio source before you hit record.
- With the recording toolbar open at the bottom of your screen, click the Options button.
- A popup menu will appear. Look for the section labelled Microphone.
- Select your preferred audio input. If you don’t have an external microphone plugged in, select Built-in Microphone to use your Mac’s internal mic.
Note: This method records your voice. It does not record internal system audio (like the sound of a YouTube video playing on your screen). Capturing internal system audio requires a third-party virtual audio cable tool like BlackHole.
Choosing the Recording Area
Before recording, you must decide how much of your screen you want to capture. On the toolbar, you will see two video-recording icons (they have small “record” dots on them):
- Record Entire Screen: Click the icon showing a solid window. When you click this, simply click anywhere on your screen to immediately begin recording everything visible on your monitor.
- Record Selected Portion: Click the icon showing a dotted-line window. A resizable box will appear on your screen. Click and drag the corners of this box to frame the exact area (like a specific browser tab) you want to record, then click the Record button on the toolbar.
How to Stop the Recording and Save the File
Once you are finished demonstrating your task, you need to stop the recording securely so the video file can compile.
Look at the very top right of your Mac’s menu bar (near the Wi-Fi and battery icons). You will see a small, circular Stop button (a square inside a circle). Click this icon to end the recording instantly.
Alternatively, you can press Command + Control + Esc on your keyboard to stop recording.
A thumbnail of the video will briefly appear in the bottom-right corner of your screen. By default, macOS automatically saves the final `.mov` video file directly to your Desktop, labeled with the date and time of the recording. You can now share, edit, or upload this file as needed.
