How to record your Mac screen with audio

"Audio" in a screen recording means two different things, and the distinction is why many Mac recordings come out silent.

• Microphone audio is your voice, narrating.
• System audio is the sound your Mac plays, such as app sounds, alerts, video and music playback, and the other side of a call.

What the built-in recorder captures

In macOS 26, the Screenshot toolbar (Shift-Command-5) and QuickTime record your microphone, but not system audio. If you record a video playing in your browser, the picture is captured and the sound is not, and there is no built-in setting to change this. In macOS 27 or later, the toolbar's Options menu has an Include System Audio choice that captures it, according to Apple's How to record the screen on Mac as of September 2026.

Before macOS 27, capturing system audio takes an audio driver or a recording app that captures it. A common workaround is installing a virtual audio device (such as BlackHole) and routing output through it. It works, but it means installing a driver, reconfiguring your sound output before and after each recording, and mixing your mic in separately.

Recording both with Screen Recording

Screen Recording captures system audio and your microphone at the same time, with no driver setup.

1. Start a recording of the full screen, a window, or an area you draw.
2. Both audio sources record automatically, on separate tracks.
3. In the editor, adjust either track independently. Lower the app audio under your narration, or mute your mic and keep the system sound.
4. Your narration is also transcribed on your Mac as you record, so you can edit the video by editing the transcript and captions are generated for you.

Separate tracks matter in practice. When mic and system audio are mixed into one track at record time, a notification chime over your narration is permanent. On separate tracks, you can lower it with one volume adjustment.

Checklist for a recording with usable audio

• Pick the right microphone before you start, because built-in mics pick up keyboard noise.
• Silence notifications. Recording apps cannot remove a chime from a mixed track. Screen Recording keeps tracks separate, so a chime on the system track can be lowered afterward.
• Do a five-second test recording and play it back before a long take.
• Keep levels moderate, because clipped audio cannot be repaired afterward.

Screen Recording is free and adds no watermark, and the person you share a video with needs no account. See pricing.