How Do I Record My Screen on a Mac?

Quick Answer

Press Command + Shift + 5 on any modern Mac to open the screenshot and recording toolbar. Choose Record Entire Screen or Record Selected Portion, click Options to pick a microphone, then click Record. Stop the recording from the menu bar icon or with Command + Control + Esc.

For longer projects, open QuickTime Player and choose File, New Screen Recording. To capture system audio (the sound coming out of your Mac) you need a free helper like BlackHole or the built in audio loopback in macOS Sequoia and later.

Two built in tools, picked the right way

Apple ships two free screen recorders on every Mac and they overlap a lot. The right tool depends on how long you need to record and how much control you want.

Method 1: the Command Shift 5 toolbar

This is the fastest way to record on macOS Mojave or newer (every supported Mac in 2026 has it).

1. Press Command + Shift + 5. A small toolbar appears along the bottom of the screen.
2. Choose the fourth icon, Record Entire Screen, or the fifth icon, Record Selected Portion. The fifth option gives you a draggable rectangle.
3. Click Options. Pick your save location (Desktop, Documents, or QuickTime Player), choose a microphone if you want narration, and turn on Show Mouse Clicks if you are making a tutorial.
4. Click Record. If you chose a region, drag to frame it first.
5. To stop, click the small square stop icon in the menu bar near the clock, or press Command + Control + Esc.

The file lands as a .mov in the location you picked. You can trim the start and end in the Preview app or Photos without leaving macOS.

Method 2: QuickTime Player for longer recordings

1. Open Spotlight (Command + Space), type QuickTime Player, and hit Return.
2. In the menu bar, click File, then New Screen Recording. On newer macOS versions this just opens the Command + Shift + 5 toolbar; on older ones you get a dedicated recorder.
3. Click the small arrow next to the record button to choose a microphone and toggle mouse click highlighting.
4. Click record, choose your area, and start.
5. Stop with the menu bar icon or Command + Control + Esc, then save the file from the QuickTime window.

How to record system audio (the sound your Mac plays)

By default macOS does not let an app record the audio coming out of the speakers, only what the microphone hears. To capture clean system audio you need a virtual audio driver. The most popular free option is BlackHole from Existential Audio.

1. Download BlackHole 2ch from the BlackHole GitHub releases page and run the installer.
2. Open Audio MIDI Setup (Spotlight, type Audio MIDI Setup).
3. Click the plus button in the bottom left and choose Create Multi Output Device. Tick both your built in output and BlackHole 2ch.
4. In System Settings, Sound, set the Multi Output Device as the system output. You will still hear sound.
5. In the Command Shift 5 toolbar Options menu, choose BlackHole 2ch as the microphone source.

Now the recording captures whatever your Mac is playing. Switch back to your normal output when you finish.

Recording an iPhone screen from your Mac

QuickTime can record an iPhone or iPad screen too, which is useful for app demos.

1. Plug your iPhone into the Mac with a Lightning or USB C cable. Trust the computer if prompted.
2. Open QuickTime Player, click File, New Movie Recording.
3. Click the small arrow next to the red record button and choose your iPhone as both the camera and the microphone.
4. Click record and use the phone normally.

Tips for clean, professional looking screen recordings

• Hide desktop clutter with a clean wallpaper and clear notifications before you start.
• Turn on Do Not Disturb in Control Center so banner notifications do not interrupt the recording.
• Use a USB or condenser microphone instead of the built in mic for noticeably better narration audio.
• Record at the native screen resolution and shrink in editing rather than scaling up.
• If you make a mistake, pause, take a breath, repeat the line cleanly, and cut the mistake later. It is faster than restarting.
• Keep clips under 10 minutes when possible. Long single takes are harder to edit and share.

Editing and sharing your recording

For quick trims, open the .mov in QuickTime Player and choose Edit, Trim. Drag the yellow handles, click Trim, and save.

For more control, open the file in iMovie (free on every Mac). Drag the clip into the timeline, cut and rearrange, then export at 1080p or 4K. For YouTube or social, choose File, Share, File, and pick the resolution that matches the destination.

FAQs

Why is there no sound in my screen recording?

You probably forgot to pick a microphone in the Options menu before pressing Record. Microphone selection resets to None each time the toolbar reopens.

Where do my screen recordings save by default?

To the Desktop, unless you change Save to in the Options menu of the Command Shift 5 toolbar.

How long can I record?

There is no built in time limit. Your only constraint is free disk space. A 1080p recording is roughly 1 GB per 10 minutes.

Can I record just one app window?

Yes. Use Record Selected Portion and drag the box to exactly cover the app window. Snap closely to avoid grabbing the desktop background.

The takeaway

Press Command + Shift + 5 for almost everything. Switch to QuickTime for long sessions or iPhone mirroring. Add BlackHole when you need to capture system audio. That is the entire native macOS screen recording stack, all free.