TL;DR

  • Press Shift-Cmd-5 to open the macOS screenshot/recording toolbar, choose "Record Entire Screen" or "Record Selected Portion," then click Options to pick a microphone — but this captures mic audio only, not the sound your Mac is playing.
  • Recording internal/system audio (app sounds, music, video-call participants) requires a virtual audio device like BlackHole or Loopback, because macOS deliberately ships no native loopback. You merge BlackHole with your mic into an Aggregate Device in Audio MIDI Setup, then select it as the recording input.
  • QuickTime Player's "New Screen Recording" opens the exact same toolbar and produces the same .mov file — it has no real advantage over Shift-Cmd-5 on modern macOS.
  • Stop a recording by clicking the filled-square stop button in the menu bar, or with the keyboard shortcut Cmd-Ctrl-Esc.
  • The recording saves as a .mov. Convert it to .mp4 without re-uploading anything using Clipy's free browser-side video-to-mp4 tool.
  • Want to skip all the setup? Clipy's free browser-based screen recorder records your mic plus a Chrome tab's audio with no download, no account, and hands you a shareable link automatically.

The two things people mean by "audio" — and why it changes everything

Almost every failed Mac screen recording comes down to one misunderstanding: there are two completely different kinds of "audio," and macOS treats them very differently.

Microphone audio is your voice — captured through the built-in MacBook mic, a USB mic, or a headset. macOS can always record this. The Shift-Cmd-5 toolbar lets you pick a microphone with a single click, and most tutorials stop here.

Internal (system) audio is the sound your Mac itself plays back: app chimes, a YouTube video playing in the background, music, the voice of the other person on a video call when you're recording their screen. macOS routes this to your output (speakers or headphones) and deliberately does not expose a native loopback input that turns that output back into something a recorder can capture.

This is the crucial part: it is an architectural decision, not a hidden checkbox. No amount of clicking around the Recording Options panel will add system audio to your capture. If your goal is to record a screen demo with app sounds, or a browser-based call, the standard "just pick the microphone in Options" advice will leave you with silent system audio and a wasted take.

Keep this distinction in mind for the rest of the guide. Every method below is either a mic-only path, a system-audio path, or — in Clipy's case — a clever way around the loopback problem for browser tabs specifically.

Method 1 — Shift-Cmd-5: the fastest way to record your Mac screen (with mic)

The built-in screenshot and recording toolbar is the first thing most people reach for, and for mic-narrated recordings it is genuinely the quickest path. Here is the complete, accurate walkthrough:

  • Press Shift-Cmd-5 simultaneously. The screenshot/recording toolbar slides up from the bottom of the screen.
  • Choose your capture mode. The fourth and fifth icons are the recording controls: "Record Entire Screen" (a circle inside a filled rectangle) and "Record Selected Portion" (a circle inside a dotted rectangle). The first three icons are still-screenshot modes — ignore them for recording.
  • Click Options. This dropdown is where almost everything important lives:
    • Save to — Desktop (default), Documents, Clipboard, Mail, Messages, Preview, QuickTime Player, or Other Location.
    • Timer — None, 5 seconds, or 10 seconds before recording starts.
    • Show Floating Thumbnail — the little corner preview after you stop.
    • Remember Last Selection — keeps your crop region.
    • Show Mouse Clicks — highlights each click in the video (great for tutorials).
    • Microphone — None (silent), Built-in Microphone, or any connected/virtual input.
  • Set the Microphone to your desired input if you want a voiceover. The default is None, which is the single most common reason a recording comes out silent.
  • Click Record. For full-screen mode, recording begins immediately; for a selected portion, click inside the highlighted region to start.
  • Stop by clicking the filled-square button in the menu bar, or press Cmd-Ctrl-Esc.
  • The file saves as a .mov to your chosen location, or appears as a floating thumbnail you can click to open in QuickTime.

Honest limits. No system audio without a virtual audio device (covered below). No real editing beyond a trim in QuickTime. No automatic sharing — you have to upload the file yourself. And .mov files are large, so converting to .mp4 is usually the very next step. If you want to weigh the native toolbar against a hosted browser recorder, see how Clipy compares to built-in Mac recording.

Method 2 — QuickTime Player: same result, slightly different interface

QuickTime is the method people remember from older macOS versions, and "how to screen record on a MacBook with QuickTime" is still a heavily searched phrase. Here is the part nobody tells you: on modern macOS, it is functionally identical to Shift-Cmd-5.

  • Open QuickTime Player (Cmd-Space, type "QuickTime," Enter).
  • Choose File > New Screen Recording (or Ctrl-Cmd-N).
  • The very same Shift-Cmd-5 toolbar appears — same capture modes, same Options dropdown, same microphone picker, same stop mechanic. They are two entry points to one underlying system feature.

The one small difference: after you stop, QuickTime automatically opens the finished .mov in a player window, where you can use File > Export As to re-encode at 480p/720p/1080p. Note that this export still produces a .mov or .m4v container — not a true .mp4 — which matters for sharing (more on that below).

When should you prefer QuickTime over Shift-Cmd-5? Realistically, never — unless you are on macOS Mojave (10.14) or earlier, where the Shift-Cmd-5 toolbar did not yet exist and File > New Screen Recording was the only built-in option. For everyone on Catalina or later, the keyboard shortcut is faster. If you want a full feature-by-feature breakdown including hosting and sharing, here is a full side-by-side comparison of QuickTime vs Clipy.

How to record on Mac with audio that's coming from the system itself

This is the section most guides get wrong, so let's be precise about both why macOS behaves this way and how to actually fix it. If your goal is to screen record on a Mac with audio that includes app sounds, music, or another person's voice on a call, the steps below are the real answer — not a hidden toggle.

The why. macOS keeps audio input (microphones) and audio output (speakers and headphones) as separate worlds. There is no built-in "loopback" device that re-presents what's playing as a recordable input. This is unlike Windows, which historically exposed "Stereo Mix" and now offers WASAPI loopback. On a Mac, you have to insert a virtual audio device into the chain yourself.

The fix — BlackHole (free, open-source). BlackHole creates a virtual audio device that you can route system sound into and then record from. Here is the full setup:

  • Download BlackHole 2ch from Existential Audio (existential.audio). It's free; the 2-channel version is plenty for stereo.
  • Install it — run the .pkg, follow the prompts, and restart if asked.
  • Open Audio MIDI Setup (Applications > Utilities > Audio MIDI Setup).
  • Click the + button at the bottom-left and choose Create Aggregate Device.
  • In the right pane, check the sources you want combined:
    • BlackHole 2ch (the system-audio path)
    • Your built-in microphone, if you also want your voice on the same track
  • Rename it something memorable like "Screen Recording Aggregate."
  • Open System Settings > Sound > Output and set output to BlackHole 2ch. This routes all system audio through BlackHole so it can be captured.
  • Important caveat: while BlackHole is your output, you will hear nothing in your own speakers or headphones. To hear and record at the same time, go back to Audio MIDI Setup, click + > Create Multi-Output Device, and check both BlackHole 2ch and your real headphones/speakers. Set that Multi-Output Device as your system output instead.
  • Open the Shift-Cmd-5 toolbar, click Options, and under Microphone select your Screen Recording Aggregate device.
  • Record as normal. The capture now includes the system audio routed through BlackHole, plus your mic if you added it.
  • When you're done, switch System Output back to your normal speakers/headphones — otherwise you'll wonder why everything is silent later.

The paid shortcut — Loopback ($99, Rogue Amoeba). Loopback does the same routing with a friendly drag-and-wire GUI instead of Audio MIDI Setup. If you set this up regularly and the manual aggregate dance annoys you, it's worth the money.

Honest limit: this is non-trivial setup. For a one-off, push through it. For frequent internal-audio recording, either invest in Loopback / an audio control utility, or use a browser-tab recorder that sidesteps the whole problem (see the Clipy method below). For a step-by-step with screenshots, read our deep dive on recording internal audio and microphone together on a Mac.

How to stop (and restart) a screen recording on your Mac — every method

"How do I stop the recording?" is a top standalone search, and the answer depends on where you can see the controls. There are three reliable ways:

  • Menu-bar stop button. While any screen recording is running, a filled-square stop icon appears in the menu bar at the top of your screen. Click it to end the recording immediately; the .mov saves to your chosen location.
  • Keyboard shortcut. Press Cmd-Ctrl-Esc. This stops recordings started from either Shift-Cmd-5 or QuickTime.
  • Re-open the toolbar. Press Shift-Cmd-5 again while recording; the toolbar reappears with a Stop button.

If the stop button isn't visible: you're probably in a full-screen app that auto-hides the menu bar. Move your cursor to the very top edge of the display to reveal the menu bar, then click the stop button.

If the file doesn't appear after stopping: check the destination you set under Options (Desktop is the default). If you chose Clipboard, the video lives in your clipboard — paste it into a document or into QuickTime to save it as a file.

Can you restart or resume? The native tools have no pause/resume. You stop, then start a fresh recording. If pause/resume is essential to your workflow, you'll need a third-party app — or just record straight through and trim the dead air afterward.

Trimming your recording and converting .mov to .mp4

Two tasks follow almost every Mac screen recording: trimming the start and end, and converting the bulky .mov into a shareable .mp4.

Trimming in QuickTime.

  • Open the .mov in QuickTime Player.
  • Choose Edit > Trim (Cmd-T). Drag the yellow handles in the trim bar to set your start and end points.
  • Click Trim, then File > Save (overwrites) or File > Export As for a copy.

This is a genuine, destructive top-and-tail trim — not non-destructive editing. To cut from the middle, add titles, or stitch clips together, step up to iMovie (free), DaVinci Resolve (free), or ScreenFlow.

Converting .mov to .mp4. macOS records in the .mov container, usually with an H.264 or HEVC codec. .mov plays fine on a Mac but is larger than .mp4 and noticeably less friendly when you try to share it via Slack, attach it to Gmail, drop it into Google Drive for others, or embed it on the web. Worse, QuickTime's "Export As 1080p" re-encodes to .m4v or .mov, not a true .mp4 — so it doesn't actually solve the compatibility problem.

The cleanest path is to convert your .mov to .mp4 right in the browser — no upload, no account. The conversion runs entirely client-side, so nothing leaves your machine and there's no slow upload-then-download round trip. That matters a lot for large screen recordings, where a cloud converter would spend minutes just uploading. If you do this regularly, bookmark Clipy's free .mov to .mp4 converter — it's one of the fastest ways to make a Mac recording universally shareable.

Recording with your voice over the screen — mic tips for Mac

If you're making a tutorial, walkthrough, or async update, the narration is half the value. A few practical points the toolbar won't tell you:

  • The built-in MacBook mic is acceptable but picks up keyboard clatter and fan noise. A USB or Bluetooth headset mic dramatically lowers ambient noise — the single biggest quality upgrade you can make.
  • Before committing to a long take, confirm your mic is actually selected and at a sensible level. Run a quick check first — test your mic before you record with Clipy's free mic test, which runs in the browser with no signup. If you're also adding a facecam, the one-page mic and webcam check verifies both at once, and a standalone webcam test confirms the camera on its own.
  • In Shift-Cmd-5 > Options > Microphone, macOS lists every connected input. A plugged-in USB mic usually shows up here automatically — if it doesn't, reconnect it before opening the toolbar.
  • You can't adjust input level inside the native toolbar. Set it in System Settings > Sound > Input before you start.
  • Reduce noise: close tabs playing audio, enable a Focus / Do Not Disturb mode so notifications don't chime mid-recording, and record somewhere with less fan or AC hum.
  • The mic is recorded on its own track in the .mov. The native tools do not mix it with system audio unless you're using the BlackHole Aggregate Device described earlier — so if you want both your voice and app sound in one file, that aggregate setup is mandatory.

One more habit worth building: do a 10-second test take before any important recording. Record yourself saying a sentence, stop, and play it back. You will catch a muted mic, the wrong input device, a too-quiet level, or a background hum before you've sunk twenty minutes into a take that turns out to be silent. It costs almost nothing and saves the single most common reshoot.

Everything above is the right answer when you specifically need a local .mov file and full control over the system-audio chain. But be honest about the cost: between picking the right microphone, wiring up BlackHole and an Aggregate Device, remembering to swap your output to a Multi-Output Device so you can still hear, and then converting the result to .mp4 before you can share it, a "quick screen recording" can easily become a fifteen-minute project.

For a large share of real-world recordings — a bug repro, a product walkthrough, an async update for a teammate, a how-to for a customer — most of that machinery is overhead you don't need. That's the gap Clipy's free browser-based screen recorder is built to close. It runs in your browser with no download and no account, records your microphone alongside a Chrome tab's audio, and hands you a shareable link the moment you stop — no manual upload, no .mov-to-.mp4 conversion step, no virtual-audio plumbing.

The honest scope: the browser recorder captures tab audio (the sound playing inside the Chrome tab you share) plus your mic — not arbitrary, system-wide internal audio from every app on your Mac. For the most common screen-recording jobs that's exactly what you want, because the thing you're demoing is usually a web app, a dashboard, a video, or a call running in a tab anyway. If you genuinely need to capture sound from a native desktop app that isn't in a browser tab, the BlackHole route above is still the correct tool, and the Clipy desktop app for Mac is the option to look at when you want the convenience of Clipy without being confined to a single tab.

A simple rule of thumb:

  • Recording a web app, a tab, a browser call, or a YouTube/web video with narration? Use the browser recorder — zero setup, instant link.
  • Recording a native macOS app and you need a local file with full system audio? Use Shift-Cmd-5 plus the BlackHole + Aggregate Device chain, then convert with the video-to-mp4 tool.
  • Want the no-setup convenience but beyond a single tab? Look at Clipy for Mac.

Putting it all together

Recording your Mac screen with audio isn't hard once you understand the one thing that trips everyone up: macOS treats mic audio and system audio as two separate problems. For a quick mic-narrated recording, Shift-Cmd-5 is the fastest native path — just remember the Microphone dropdown defaults to None. QuickTime's New Screen Recording is the same toolbar with a slightly nicer post-recording editor, and it's only the better choice on Mojave-era macOS. For true internal/system audio, you'll route sound through BlackHole into an Aggregate Device (and a Multi-Output Device so you can still hear yourself), or pay for Loopback to skip the manual wiring. After recording, trim in QuickTime and convert the heavy .mov to a shareable .mp4 in the browser with Clipy's client-side converter.

And if all of that sounds like more steps than the recording itself deserves, that's a fair reaction — it usually is. When you're recording something that lives in a browser tab, the free Clipy screen recorder collapses the whole sequence into: open the page, pick the tab and your mic, record, get a link. Before any recording that matters, do a quick mic test (or the combined mic and webcam check if you're adding a facecam) so your first take is also your last. Pick the path that matches the job, and you'll never ship a silent screen recording again.