How to Record Your Screen on Mac with Audio (3 Methods)

Recording your Mac screen is easy. Recording your Mac screen with audio — especially system audio from apps, browsers, and games — is surprisingly tricky. macOS has historically made it difficult for apps to capture the sound output of other applications, and this limitation trips up nearly everyone the first time they try.

This guide walks through three methods, from the simplest to the most capable. Each handles audio differently, so the right choice depends on whether you need microphone audio, system audio, or both.

Method 1: macOS Screenshot toolbar (Cmd+Shift+5)

The fastest way to record your screen is the built-in macOS Screenshot toolbar. Press Cmd+Shift+5, choose "Record Entire Screen" or "Record Selected Portion," and click Record. When you're done, click the Stop button in the menu bar or press Cmd+Control+Esc.

For audio, click Options in the toolbar. You'll see a Microphone section where you can select your Mac's built-in microphone or any connected audio input. This captures your voice or external audio — but it does not capture system audio. If you're recording a tutorial and want viewers to hear the sounds coming from an application, this method won't work on its own.

This method is best for quick recordings where you're narrating over a screencast and the sounds from your Mac aren't important. The recordings save as .mov files at your screen's native resolution with decent quality and minimal file size.

Method 2: QuickTime Player

QuickTime Player offers screen recording through File > New Screen Recording. The functionality is almost identical to the Screenshot toolbar — you can record the full screen or a selected area, and you can select a microphone input for external audio.

Like the Screenshot toolbar, QuickTime doesn't capture system audio natively. However, you can work around this by installing a virtual audio driver like BlackHole (free, open-source). BlackHole creates a virtual audio device that routes your Mac's system audio to an input that QuickTime can record. Set up a Multi-Output Device in macOS Audio MIDI Setup that sends audio to both your speakers and BlackHole, then select BlackHole as QuickTime's audio input.

The BlackHole setup takes about 10 minutes the first time and works reliably once configured. The downside is that it's system-wide — all audio from every app gets routed through the same virtual device, so you can't easily isolate audio from a single application. If a notification sound plays during your recording, it's captured too.

Method 3: Montaj built-in screen recorder

Montaj includes a screen recorder that captures both system audio and microphone input without requiring any third-party virtual audio drivers. It uses Apple's ScreenCaptureKit framework, which was introduced in macOS 13 and provides direct access to system audio at the application level.

This means you can record audio from specific applications rather than capturing all system audio. If you're recording a browser tutorial, you capture the browser's audio without also capturing notification sounds or music from other apps. This granular control eliminates the most common audio problem in screen recordings.

The recording drops directly into Montaj's editing timeline, so you can immediately trim, add captions, insert chapter markers, or overlay your webcam footage. The free tier records at 1080p with both audio sources; Pro unlocks higher resolutions. There's no export or re-import step — the recording is ready to edit the moment you stop.

Setting up your audio before recording

Regardless of which method you choose, a few audio setup steps will dramatically improve your recording quality. If you're using a microphone, do a test recording and listen back. Check for background noise (fans, air conditioning, traffic), echo (hard surfaces reflecting your voice), and volume levels (too quiet is better than clipping).

Position your microphone 6 to 12 inches from your mouth for the best voice clarity. If you're using your Mac's built-in microphone, face the screen directly — the mic is designed to pick up sound from that direction. External microphones, even inexpensive USB ones, make a noticeable improvement over built-in mics.

For system audio, play a test sound before recording and verify it appears in your recording tool's audio meters. There's nothing worse than recording a 30-minute tutorial and discovering afterward that system audio wasn't captured. A 10-second test prevents this.

Common audio problems and fixes

Echo and room reverb are the most common audio issues in screen recordings. If your voice sounds hollow or distant, you're recording too far from the microphone or your room has hard, reflective surfaces. Move closer to the mic and add soft furnishings (curtains, carpet, even a blanket behind the mic) to dampen reflections.

Audio sync drift — where audio gradually goes out of sync with video — can happen with virtual audio devices or when recording at mismatched sample rates. Ensure your audio input and output are set to the same sample rate (typically 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz) in Audio MIDI Setup. ScreenCaptureKit-based recorders like Montaj handle this automatically.

If your system audio is too loud relative to your microphone, adjust the application volume before recording rather than trying to fix it in post. Reducing the browser or app volume to 50-70% while keeping your mic at normal level usually produces a good balance.

After recording: basic editing

Raw screen recordings almost always benefit from basic editing. At minimum, trim the start and end — those few seconds of fumbling to click Record and Stop look unprofessional. If your recording has errors or pauses, cut them out rather than leaving dead air.

For tutorial content, consider adding chapter markers or section titles so viewers can navigate. Zoom-in effects on specific UI elements help direct attention. And captions are increasingly expected — AI auto-captioning can generate them in seconds, making your content accessible to a wider audience.

If you recorded with Montaj, all of this editing happens in the same application with no export step. For QuickTime or Screenshot toolbar recordings, import the .mov file into your preferred editor. The recordings are standard H.264 files that every Mac editor can handle.