5 Ways to Screen Record on a Mac with Audio

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  • Record screen with audio in HD

  • Capture system sound and microphone

  • Draw on recordings

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Edited by Ben Jacklin
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Key takeaways

  • I found that the best method for you depends heavily on whether you need a quick, free solution or a professional setup with advanced controls.
  • Built-in options like QuickTime are great for basic tasks but require a simple workaround to capture system audio.
  • For most users looking for a perfect balance of simplicity and power, third-party apps like Movavi offer the most straightforward experience.
  • If you're streaming or creating complex recordings, OBS Studio is the ultimate free and powerful tool, despite a steeper learning curve.
  • Your choice should be based on your immediate needs: convenience, cost, or advanced feature set.

I’ve lost track of how many moments I’ve needed to capture my MacBook screen with audio, whether it’s a quick tutorial for a coworker, saving a great video call, or piecing together content for an online post. And if you’ve ever ended up with a flawless video but zero sound, you know the frustration.

That’s what pushed me to figure out how to screen record on Mac with audio the right way. Over the past few weeks, I tested every major method out there for 2024, running each program through real projects and living with their quirks as well as their hidden perks. After plenty of trial, error, and a few small victories, I’ve narrowed it all down to five standout options – ranging from dead-simple tools for quick grabs to full-on professional setups.

My top picks

Best for beginners and ease of use: Movavi Screen Recorder

If you’re just learning how to screen record audio on Mac, Movavi makes it effortless. One click starts a crisp capture of your screen, system sound, and mic, and you can trim the clip the moment you stop.

Best free built-in method: QuickTime Player + BlackHole

Apple’s own QuickTime paired with the free BlackHole driver is a classic for no-cost recording. After a quick one-time setup, you can reliably capture both screen and internal audio without spending a cent.

Best free option for advanced control: OBS Studio

For users who want deep control over scenes, layers, and audio mixing, OBS is unmatched. It’s ideal if you’re curious about pro-level streaming or need a fully customizable recorder.

Best for professional editing integration: ScreenFlow

This is the choice when you’re producing polished, share-ready videos. ScreenFlow captures every source and drops it straight into a powerful multi-track editor, letting you refine audio, add effects, and publish from the same workspace.

Best quick online tool: ScreenPal

Perfect for locked-down computers or quick demos, ScreenPal runs right in your browser. No downloads, no delays – just a fast, clean recording you can share instantly.

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Our goal is to provide you with only verified information. To ensure this, Movavi Content Team does the following:

  • When selecting products to include in our reviews, we research both demand and popularity.

  • The team tests all the products mentioned in this article.

  • When testing, we compare the key characteristics of the products, which include selecting capture area, schedule recording, showing keystrokes and mouse, and other significant features.

  • We study user reviews from popular review platforms and make use of this information when writing our product reviews.

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Best Ways to Record Screen with Audio on Mac

Method

Ease of use

Key features

My rating

Download

QuickTime Player + BlackHole

Medium (requires setup)

Free, built-in, records microphone and system audio simultaneously

★★★☆☆

Read More

Movavi Screen Recorder

Very Easy

User-friendly, direct system audio capture, basic editing tools

★★★★★

Download for Free

OBS Studio

Difficult

Completely free, highly customizable, ideal for streaming and advanced recording

★★★★☆

Read More

Before recording a screen, make sure to carefully select the area you want to capture and check audio settings to include both system and microphone sounds if necessary.

Ophélie Bellevita

How to screen record on a Mac with audio using QuickTime Player

1. QuickTime Player & BlackHole

Free screen recordings

Why I picked it: I chose this method because it's a strong free solution combining built-in macOS software with a free virtual audio driver. It proves you don't always need to download new software, just a clever free utility.

I started with QuickTime Player, which is pre-installed on every Mac. It's incredibly simple for recording your screen and microphone. However, by default, it cannot capture your Mac's internal audio, like music or video sound from a browser. To solve this, I used a free application called BlackHole. It creates a virtual audio device that routes your system sound to a place QuickTime can record it. In most setups you also create a multi-output device in Audio MIDI Setup so you can hear the audio while it’s recorded.

After installing BlackHole, the process is straightforward. I selected "BlackHole 2ch" as the microphone input in QuickTime's recording options. This tricks QuickTime into recording both my voice (if I want) and any sound playing on my Mac. It's a bit technical to set up, and macOS updates can occasionally require reconfiguration, but it works reliably once configured.

Pros:

Cons:

How to screen record:

Step 1. Install the BlackHole software

Download and install BlackHole for macOS. The installer will come in a zip file that you'll need to extract before you can run the installer application. On newer versions of macOS, permissions behave differently than when Soundflower was created, so the installation will initially fail. It will get far enough into the process to add an option to your System Settings → Privacy & Security, though. After the installation fails, go to System Settings → Privacy & Security. You'll see a message that system software by developer Matt Ingalls was blocked from running. Press the Allow button and run the installer again. It will finish installing this time. If prompted to, restart your computer.

Step 2. Change your audio output device

BlackHole works by rerouting your audio. In order for it to do that, you'll need to set it as your audio output device. To perform this step, go back to the System Settings and open the Sound settings. Click on the Output tab to bring up a list of available sound output devices. You will see that BlackHole has been added to that list and that it has two entries, BlackHole (2 ch) and BlackHole (64 ch). The 64 channel version is for more advanced uses. Set your output to the 2 channel version.

Step 3. Adjust the settings

Open the QuickTime app and go to the File menu. From there, click on New Screen Recording. On current macOS, this opens the Screenshot toolbar instead of a separate window. Don't hit it quite yet. Look for Options in the Screenshot toolbar. Click on that and make sure that your Microphone is set to BlackHole (2 ch). BlackHole works by routing your audio output to the microphone input and tricking QuickTime into thinking it is recording from the microphone.

Step 4. Record the video

To begin the recording process, click the Record button in the QuickTime menu (or the Screenshot toolbar). A dialog may pop up asking you to give QuickTime permission to access the microphone. Agree to that. You may need to press the record button again afterward. It can sometimes take a while for the process to start, so be patient. When it starts, QuickTime will tell you to click a mouse button to record full screen or drag a box around the area you want to record. Once you do one of those, the recording will start

Step 5. Change your audio output device back

When you are done recording, press the Stop button. You are not done yet, though. You need to go back to System Settings one more time and set the sound output device back to the default value. Otherwise, you will not hear any sound coming out of your computer.

Don't forget to close unnecessary applications to prevent notification sounds from interrupting your screen recording. Additionally, putting your Mac in “Do Not Disturb” mode can help keep your video clean and distraction-free.

Joey Edits

Screen recording on a Mac with audio using Movavi Screen Recorder

2. Movavi Screen Recorder

Easy high-quality screen recordings with audio
Download for Free

Why I picked it: I included Movavi because it was, by far, the easiest third-party application I tested that could record system audio without any complex workarounds. It's perfect for when you just want to hit record and get a high-quality result.

Movavi Screen Recorder removes all the guesswork. I grabbed the download, fired it up, and right away I could decide – one click – whether to snag the system audio, my mic, or both. The layout is crisp and makes sense instantly. I didn't have to fiddle with audio drivers or sound settings, which was a huge relief after the QuickTime/BlackHole setup. And when you’re done, it’s got those small-but-great touches, like a cursor highlighter and quick trim tools so you can neaten the clip on the spot.

Pros:

Cons:

How to screen record:

Step 1. Download and install the program

Download Movavi Screen Recorder from the website and install the app following the on-screen instructions. Once you have finished installing the software, run it. After the program starts up, you'll see a widget appear on your screen that lets you control the recording process. On macOS Sonoma or Sequoia, the first time you record you’ll need to grant Movavi permission for Screen & System Audio Recording and Microphone in System Settings → Privacy & Security.

Download for Free

Step 2. Navigate to the program you want to record

Movavi Screen Recorder will record whatever is on your screen, so once you open the software that you plan on recording, be sure that no other application windows block the view of it while you are capturing your video.

Step 3. Click the screen recording button

On the widget that popped up when you opened Movavi Screen Recorder, look for the Screen Recording button. The icon with the picture of a movie camera on it will be that one for capturing video. Next to it is an icon of a still camera that can be used for taking static screenshots.

Step 4. Drag the box over the area you want to record

Once you press one of the screen capture buttons, you'll be presented with the option to click and drag a box over the area of the screen that you'd like to record. If you'd only like to record one window, you can drag it around that. You can also cover the whole screen if you'd prefer to get everything on your desktop in the video.

Step 5. Set audio and display options

When you are done positioning the box where you want it, you will see an additional set of controls pop up. One of them will be a red record button. Hold off on clicking that, as we still have some things to set up. Next to the record button are icons of a Microphone and a Speaker. This will determine whether the video will include external audio captured from the microphone or the internal sound, respectively. Set each of those according to your needs.

Movavi Screen Recorder has some options that make certain types of screencasts easier to follow for the viewers. It will allow you to show when the mouse is clicked, show the location of the mouse cursor as you move it around, and display any keystrokes that you make while you are recording the video. You'll find all of these settings in the options box near the one with the Record button on it.

Step 6. Record the video

You are now ready to record a video of your screen. Press the Record button to screen capture with audio on your Mac. The countdown timer will appear and let you know when the recording will start. After the recording has started, perform the actions you wish to capture. The recording will continue until you press the Stop button in the Movavi Screen Recorder interface.

Movavi Screen Recorder can record audio and video, as well as external audio through microphones and system sound, directly from your Mac. It is among the best and most flexible Mac screen recording applications.

Designsvalley

How to use the OBS Mac screen recorder with audio

3. OBS

Free screen recording and live streaming with audio

Why I picked it: OBS is here because it's the undisputed king of free, open-source recording and streaming software. I picked it for users who need maximum control and are willing to learn a slightly more complex interface.

OBS Studio is incredibly powerful. I used it to create scenes with multiple sources: my screen, a webcam overlay, background music, and microphone commentary. It gives you granular control over audio levels and video quality. The key to capturing system audio is adding "Audio Output Capture" as a source and selecting your Mac's speakers or a virtual device like BlackHole. While the learning curve is steeper, the payoff is a professional-grade setup for $0.

Pros:

Cons:

How to screen record:

Step 1. Download the program

Launch the installation file and follow the instructions to finish the installation process. Once you have installed the app, open it up to begin recording.

Review and grant permissions (required on macOS Sonoma/Sequoia): Before recording for the first time, open OBS → macOS menu bar → Review App Permissions. Make sure OBS has permission for Screen & System Audio Recording, Microphone, and any other requested items. If needed, go to System Settings → Privacy & Security to enable these permissions.

Step 2. Create a new profile (optional)

Creating an OBS profile makes it easy to switch between various recording setups. If you find that you are doing a lot of screencasts and want subtle, or extreme, differences between how they are laid out and captured, it is good to create a profile for each of them. To create a profile, go to the menu bar, click on Profile and click New. Give your new profile a descriptive name. Settings you change will be saved to this profile until you switch to a different one.

Step 3. Create a scene collection

Just like you'll probably want different profiles for different types of videos, you'll probably want a different collection of scenes as well. Now let's set up a new scene collection. From the menu, go to Scene Collection and click on New. Name your scene collection and click OK. Everything will be cleared, and you'll get a fresh canvas.

Step 4. Add images (optional)

To add an image for use as a background or display element of some sort, you can drag and drop the image directly onto your canvas. Once on the canvas, it can be dragged around to resize and position it. You can show and hide sources of all types by clicking the eye icon next to it in the Sources tab. This will come in handy if your image is initially covering up everything else when you first load it in.

Step 5. Configure your settings

You can add any type of source by clicking the plus button in the Sources tab and selecting the type of source you'd like to add from the pop-up menu that appears. There are many types of sources in OBS that are beyond the scope of this tutorial. For now, you just need to know that you can record your screen by adding a Display Capture source. If you prefer to record only one app window, choose Window Capture instead; make sure the screenshot used here matches the chosen source.

Look at the Controls menu on the bottom right of the screen. You'll see a Settings button near the bottom of that menu – here, you can adjust various recording parameters.

Step 6. Record the video

The same menu with the Settings button has the button to start recording. Click on Start Recording to start recording your video. The Start Recording button will change to a Stop Recording button while you are recording. When you are done recording, press that.

OBS Studio is a fantastic, free tool for versatile screen recording and streaming. It offers highly customizable video and audio settings, enabling professional-quality results when optimized correctly. Always check your system specs and adjust the output resolution for the best performance. For best practice, I recommend testing settings beforehand to ensure smooth recordings. With features like separate audio tracks for microphone and system audio, screen recording, and external camera input, OBS allows you to create full-fledged videos in one session, making it an invaluable resource for content creators!

EJ Tech

Quick summary

  1. If you want ease of use and don't mind paying, Movavi Screen Recorder is your best bet

    An easy tool for capturing your Mac screen with audio. The software includes a ton of great features. During the recording, you can use drawing tools to make annotations on your video.

    Download for Free

  2. If you need something right now and free, try QuickTime Player

    The built-in app has a screen recording feature and allows you to record audio using a third-party extension.

    Read More

  3. For full control and streaming, invest time in learning OBS

    A very robust solution for broadcasting streaming video, with a lot of great features for mixing and combining sources to create a professional look.

    Read More

How to screen record on a Mac with audio using ScreenFlow

4. ScreenFlow

  • Price

    $169

Why I picked it: ScreenFlow earns its spot because it’s the Mac app you reach for when you want video that looks like it belongs on a pro channel, not just in a quick Slack thread. It’s a recorder and an editing suite rolled into one, built for people who’d rather polish than patch.

The first time I hit record, it grabbed everything – screen, webcam, and mic – and laid each on its own track in a proper timeline. Editing felt less like cleanup and more like directing: I could zoom in on a cursor click, drop in annotations, and smooth out audio levels without breaking stride.

For anyone wondering how to screen record on Mac with sound, ScreenFlow makes the process straightforward. It can capture your Mac’s system audio, and while it does ask you to install Telestream’s lightweight audio driver the first time, the process is automatic and painless. The result is a production-ready workflow that just happens to start with a single red button.

Pros:

Cons:

How to screen record on a Mac with audio using ScreenPal

5. ScreenPal (formerly Screencast-O-Matic)

  • Price

    $4/mo

Why I picked it: I included ScreenPal when you want to skip installing anything. It can run right in your browser, making it handy on any Mac without admin rights.

I tested the web recorder – logged into the site, clicked record, gave permission – and it worked smoothly, capturing my screen, webcam, and mic (when using a paid plan). In the free version, though, system audio is locked, and recording time is capped. The free tier also embeds a watermark, so for clean, unrestricted video you’ll need to upgrade. Because it isn’t a heavy desktop tool, it’s ideal for quick demos you want to share fast – but it can struggle in longer sessions or under poor internet conditions.

Pros:

Cons:

QuickTime Player

CNET rating:

3/5
Read More
Bestseller
Movavi Screen Recorder

G2 rating:

4.5/5
Download for Free
OBS

TechRadar rating:

4/5
Read More

How to Pick the Right Way to Record Screen with Audio on Mac

After running every option through its paces, I’ve learned that the best tool really depends on what you’re trying to pull off – and how much tech fuss you can stand. A lot of readers first ask does Mac screen recording record audio at all. The short answer: yes, but the method you choose determines how easy—or polished—that recording will be.

If you just want to hit record and get something slick right away, Movavi Screen Recorder is the low-stress route. It costs a bit, but you’ll be done before your coffee cools.

Prefer to spend zero dollars and don’t mind a brief setup ritual? QuickTime Player plus the free BlackHole driver still nails the basics of screen recording Mac with audio with surprising reliability.

For gamers, streamers, or anyone who wants total command over audio and video, OBS Studio is the heavyweight champ. It’s free, endlessly customizable, and a little like learning a musical instrument – practice pays off.

Need studio polish with built-in effects and pro-level editing? ScreenFlow is the Mac-native production suite that earns its price tag if you care about every frame.

And when you’re stuck on a locked-down machine or just need to grab a one-off demo fast, ScreenPal can launch straight from your browser and save the day.

Different jobs, different tools – but with these picks, your next screen recording will start on the right foot.

Movavi Screen Recorder

The perfect way to record anything from your screen
Download for FreeAbout the Mac version

Disclaimer: Please be aware that Movavi Screen Recorder does not allow capture of copy-protected video and audio streams.

Movavi Screen Recorder

Frequently asked questions

How to screen record with sound on a Mac with QuickTime Player?

QuickTime Player doesn't natively support the recording of your computer's audio. It does, however, let you record your voice from the microphone while you are recording your screen. To capture your screen with audio, you’ll need to use the Soundflower plugin. You can see the detailed instructions by following the link below.

Why is there no sound when I capture my screen on a Mac?

If you are using QuickTime player to record the screen and audio at the same time on a Mac, then the answer above will apply to you. If you are using some other software and still not getting any audio, it's possible that the software cannot capture audio and video simultaneously. Try to use another app, like Movavi Screen Recorder.

How can I record my screen with audio?

One of the best ways to record your screen with audio is to use Movavi Screen Recorder.

  1. Download the app and launch it.
    Download Movavi Screen Recorder for Mac
    Download Movavi Screen Recorder for Windows

  2. Click Screen Recording and select the area you wish to capture.

  3. Activate the recording of system sounds.

  4. Click the REC button to start the recording and hit Stop when needed.

  5. Hit the Export button and click Save.

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