How to Screen Record With Audio on Mac

Every Mac can record its screen without extra software, and include your voice from a microphone. Recording the sound the Mac itself plays, such as a video or a call, takes one more step. This guide covers both, following Apple’s Mac User Guide, plus how to turn the recording into a file that’s easy to share.

The short answer

1. Press Shift-Command-5 to open Screenshot.
2. Choose Record Entire Screen, Record a Window or Record Selected Portion.
3. Click Options, and under Microphone choose your microphone.
4. Click Record. To stop, click the stop button in the menu bar.

Recording your screen with the built-in Screenshot tool

1. Press Shift-Command-5 (or open Screenshot from Spotlight). A toolbar appears.
2. Pick what to record: the entire screen, a window, or a portion you select. For a portion, drag the frame to move it and drag its edges to resize it.
3. Click Options to choose:
   • Save to: where the recording goes, such as the Desktop, Documents or another folder.
   • Timer: a delay before recording starts.
   • Microphone: the microphone to record your voice. Choose None for no sound.
   • Show Mouse Clicks and pointer options, useful for tutorials.
4. Click Record. When you’re done, click the stop button in the menu bar.

A thumbnail appears briefly in the bottom-right corner if Show Floating Thumbnail is on; click it to trim or share the recording straight away.

Recording with QuickTime Player

In QuickTime Player, choose File › New Screen Recording. It opens the same Screenshot tools, so the options and steps are identical. Use whichever you find easier to remember.

Recording the sound your Mac plays

The Screenshot tool’s sound option is a microphone: it records what the microphone hears, such as your voice. It isn’t the same as the sound coming from apps, such as a video playing, music or the other people on a call. There are a few ways to include that:

• For something playing in a browser tab, use our in-browser screen recorder in Chrome or Edge: choose the tab and turn on the option to share its audio. Your microphone can be recorded at the same time.
• For any app’s sound, use a recording app that supports capturing system audio, typically together with a virtual audio device that routes the Mac’s output into the recording. Follow that app’s own setup instructions.
• As a simple fallback, play the sound through the speakers and let the microphone pick it up. The quality is lower and room noise is included, but it needs no setup.

Getting good sound

• Use headphones while recording your voice, so the microphone doesn’t also pick up the speakers.
• An external or headset microphone sounds clearer than the built-in one.
• Close notification-heavy apps or turn on a Focus mode so alerts don’t appear in the recording.

Sharing the recording

Mac screen recordings are saved as MOV files. They play on Macs and iPhones, but some Windows PCs, websites and apps prefer MP4. Convert with MOV to MP4, which usually takes seconds without any quality loss. To cut the start and end, use trim video, and if the file is too big to send, compress video can shrink it a lot.

Summary

Shift-Command-5 is the quickest way to record a Mac’s screen with your voice. For sound from a browser tab, use an in-browser recorder that can capture tab audio; for any app’s sound, use a dedicated recording app with system audio capture. Convert to MP4 when you share the recording with people outside the Apple world.