Honestly, most people overcomplicate things when they try to figure out how to record on a Macbook. They start looking for expensive third-party subscriptions or complex DAW software that looks like the cockpit of a 747. You don't need that. macOS is actually pretty generous with built-in tools, but they’re tucked away in places that aren't exactly intuitive if you're new to the ecosystem. Whether you’re trying to capture a quick "how-to" for a colleague, record a podcast, or grab a snippet of a Zoom call you're about to miss, the tools are already sitting in your Applications folder.
It’s weirdly simple.
Apple has two main paths for this: Screenshot (the app formerly known as Grab) and QuickTime Player. Most users stick to the keyboard shortcut Command + Shift + 5 because it’s fast. But there are nuances to getting the audio right, especially if you want to record the system sound—the audio coming out of your speakers—rather than just your voice through the built-in mic. That’s where things usually get messy for people.
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The Quickest Way to Record Your Screen
If you just need to capture your screen right now, stop digging through menus. Press Command + Shift + 5. A small floating toolbar will pop up at the bottom of your display. It’s got icons that look like little windows with circles in the corner.
Those are your recording buttons.
One captures the entire screen. The other lets you drag a box around a specific area. This is huge if you have a messy desktop and don't want the whole world seeing your 400 unsorted PDF icons. Once you’ve picked your area, click "Options." This is the most important part because it dictates where the file goes. By default, it saves to the Desktop. If you're doing a long recording, that file is going to be massive. Maybe save it to your Documents or an external drive instead.
There’s a "Timer" feature here too. Use it. It gives you a 5 or 10-second buffer to minimize your windows or get your notes ready before the red dot starts glowing.
What about the audio?
Here is the catch. In that same "Options" menu, you’ll see a list under "Microphone." If you select "Built-in Microphone," the Mac will record your voice. It will also technically record the sound coming out of your speakers, but it’ll sound like garbage because it’s a microphone picking up a speaker. It’s echoey. It’s thin.
Apple, for privacy and copyright reasons, doesn't natively allow you to record "System Audio" (the internal sound of the computer) through the Screenshot tool without a bit of a workaround. If you need to record a YouTube video’s sound or a game’s audio while you play, you’re going to need a virtual audio driver like BlackHole or Loopback. BlackHole is open-source and basically creates a "fake" speaker that the Mac can then "hear" as an input. It’s the industry standard for Mac users who don't want to spend $100 on Rogue Amoeba’s (admittedly excellent) Loopback software.
Using QuickTime Player for More Control
QuickTime feels like a relic from 2005, but it’s actually a powerhouse for anyone learning how to record on a Macbook.
Open it. Go to File > New Screen Recording.
If you’re on a newer version of macOS, it just triggers the same Command + Shift + 5 menu we talked about earlier. However, QuickTime is better for Audio Only recordings or Movie Recordings (using your webcam).
If you select New Movie Recording, a window opens showing your face. Look for the tiny arrow next to the red record button. This is where you can change the quality from "High" to "Maximum." Warning: "Maximum" uses Apple ProRes, which is an uncompressed format. A ten-minute video could easily be 10GB. Unless you’re editing a professional film, stick to "High."
One cool trick? If you plug your iPhone or iPad into your Mac via a USB cable, you can actually use QuickTime to record the iPhone's screen. You just select the iPhone as the camera source in the QuickTime menu. It’s the cleanest way to make app tutorials or record mobile gameplay without dealing with the clunky iOS screen recorder.
The Audio Problem Nobody Talks About
We need to talk about the "M-series" chips (M1, M2, M3).
The hardware is incredible, but the way it handles microphones is different than the old Intel Macs. If you’re using an external USB mic, like a Blue Yeti or a Shure MV7, your Mac might try to be "smart" and apply background noise cancellation automatically.
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Go to System Settings > Sound.
Check your input levels. If you see the "Voice Isolation" mode turned on in your Control Center (the icon that looks like two toggle switches in the top right of your menu bar), it might be clipping your audio if you start laughing or playing music. For a natural-sounding recording, sometimes you want "Standard" mode.
Also, please, for the love of everything, use headphones. If you are recording a screen capture that involves a video call or any playback, and you aren't wearing headphones, the mic will pick up the sound from your speakers and create a feedback loop that sounds like a demon screaming in a hallway.
Making it Look Professional
A raw screen recording usually looks amateur. There are tiny things you can do to make it look like you spent hours on it.
- Clean your desktop. Either hide the icons or use an app like HiddenMe.
- Change your wallpaper. A bright, busy wallpaper makes text hard to read in a video. Go with something neutral.
- Check your resolution. If you have a 14-inch or 16-inch MacBook Pro, your screen resolution is weird. When you record full screen and upload it to YouTube, you’ll get black bars on the sides because it’s not a standard 16:9 ratio. You might want to resize your recording window to 1920x1080 if you’re planning on sharing it professionally.
Advanced Routing with Audio MIDI Setup
If you’ve installed something like BlackHole to capture your internal audio, you have to configure it in a utility called Audio MIDI Setup. It’s in your Applications > Utilities folder.
You’ll want to create a "Multi-Output Device."
This allows the sound to go to your headphones and to the recording software at the same time. If you don't do this, you'll be able to record the sound, but you won't be able to hear it while you're recording. It’s a very common point of frustration. You check the boxes for your Headphones and the virtual driver (BlackHole), and then in your Screen Recording options, you select that "Multi-Output Device" as your speaker.
Editing the Mess
Once you hit "Stop" (the little circle in the menu bar at the top of your screen), a thumbnail appears in the bottom right. Click it.
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You don't need Premiere Pro. You don't even need iMovie.
The "Trim" tool is right there in the preview window. Drag the yellow handles to cut out the awkward silence at the beginning where you were clearing your throat or the end where you were hunting for the stop button. Hit "Done" and you've got a clean clip.
If you do need more, iMovie is free and already on your Mac. It’s surprisingly capable for basic "Picture-in-Picture" effects—where you have the screen recording as the main video and a little bubble of your face from the webcam in the corner.
Actionable Next Steps
Don't just read this and forget it.
- Run a 10-second test. Press
Command + Shift + 5, record yourself saying "test," and play it back. - Verify your storage. High-resolution screen recordings can fill up a 256GB SSD faster than you’d think. Check your "About This Mac" storage tab before doing a marathon session.
- Download BlackHole 2ch if you need internal audio. It's free and solves 90% of the "why can't I hear my computer in the video?" complaints.
- Check your permissions. Go to
System Settings > Privacy & Security > Screen Recording. Make sure the app you’re using (QuickTime or your browser) is actually allowed to see your screen. Since macOS Catalina, this has been a major security hurdle that trips up most users.
Recording on a Mac is basically a superpower once you stop fighting the defaults. The hardware is built for it; you just have to know which buttons to push.