How to Screen Record on a Mac With Audio (2026 Guide)

You can screen record on a Mac without extra apps, using the built-in toolbar that opens with Shift-Command-5. It captures the full screen or a region, records your microphone, and saves to your desktop. The catch: macOS won’t grab system audio on its own.

#How Do You Start a Screen Recording on Mac?

The fastest route is the keyboard. Apple’s screen recording guide confirms that pressing Shift-Command-5 opens the recording toolbar, which is the same Screenshot app you use for still captures, so one shortcut covers both jobs.

A small control bar appears near the bottom. Pick the whole-screen or selected-portion button, then click Record.

When we tried this on a MacBook Air running macOS Sequoia, the toolbar opened instantly.

To stop, click the small Stop button in the menu bar, or press Shift-Command-5 again and hit stop. Heavy recordings fill a drive quickly, so it pays to free up space on your Mac before a long session and watch storage as the file grows.

#Recording the Whole Screen or Just a Region

Whole-screen recording suits tutorials where the dock and menu bar matter. Click the full-screen button, then click anywhere to begin.

Region recording is the tidier option, and it’s the one we reach for most. Choose Record Selected Portion and a dotted rectangle appears, which you drag and resize to frame only the part you want, leaving everything outside the box out of the final file completely.

In our testing, a tight region clip produced a much smaller file than a full-screen capture of the same length.

That makes it the better pick for sharing over email or chat. You can also reposition the box by dragging from the middle, and the framing sticks until you change it again. Need still images rather than video? Our guide to take a screenshot on your Mac covers those shortcuts.

#Can You Record System and Microphone Audio?

Microphone audio is built right in. Open Options on the toolbar, pick a microphone under the Microphone heading, and your narration records alongside the video, which is exactly what you want for a spoken walkthrough.

System audio is the honest gap here.

The built-in tools capture your voice, but they don’t record the sound coming out of the Mac itself, like a video’s audio or a call. There’s no native toggle for it.

The fix is a free virtual audio driver. It routes system sound into a recordable input that then appears in the Options microphone list, and setup takes only a few minutes the first time. Handle that step before your demo, not after a silent playback.

#Using QuickTime Player for More Control

QuickTime Player offers a second path with the same engine underneath. Apple’s QuickTime Player screen recording guide states that you choose File, then New Screen Recording, which opens that same familiar toolbar one more time.

The Options menu does the heavy lifting.

It sets where the file saves, whether the pointer shows, and whether clicks get highlighted for viewers.

That one-window flow makes QuickTime ideal for record, trim, and export jobs. It also pairs nicely with Handoff between your Mac and iPhone when you want the finished clip on another device.

#Where Recordings Save and How to Trim Them

By default, recordings land on your desktop. According to Apple’s Mac screenshot and recording guide, the files begin with “Screen Recording” plus the date and time, and they save in the .mov format every time.

Want them somewhere else? Open the toolbar’s Options menu and pick a folder under Save to, such as Documents.

That choice sticks until you change it, which keeps your desktop tidy. Trimming is just as fast.

A thumbnail floats in the corner when a recording ends. Click it, drag the yellow handles to cut the start and finish, then click Done. If old clips pile up and drag performance down, it helps to clear the cache on your Mac.

#Quick Fixes When Screen Recording Won’t Work

Permissions trip people up most often. Go to System Settings, then Privacy & Security, then Screen & System Audio Recording, and confirm your recorder is allowed before you blame the app itself for a blank file.

Silent recording? Check the input first.

Reopen Options and confirm the right microphone is selected, because a connected headset can quietly steal the default and leave your clip without any narration at all. A quick restart clears most stuck-recorder states when the toolbar freezes mid-session.

When playback stutters, close heavy background apps and check free storage. For slowdowns tied to multitasking, our notes on Mac and iPad multitasking cover related fixes.

#Bottom Line

For most recordings, the Shift-Command-5 toolbar with a microphone selected is all you need, and QuickTime Player adds trim-and-export control in one window. Just go in knowing macOS records mic audio but not system audio by itself, so set up a virtual audio driver ahead of time when your demo needs the Mac’s own sound, rather than ending up with a silent clip.

#Frequently Asked Questions