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Guide · Recording · Mac

How to screen record with audio on a Mac

A Mac screen recording picks up your microphone, but for years it couldn’t record the Mac’s own sound. Here’s what each built-in tool records on your macOS, what OBS adds, and how to get your voice and an app’s sound in one recording.

The short version

  • Before macOS 27, the Screenshot toolbar and QuickTime record a microphone only, so your Mac’s own sound is missing.
  • macOS 27 adds Include System Audio to the Screenshot toolbar. OBS captures app audio on macOS 13 and later.
  • To record your voice and one app, at levels you set, on any recent macOS, record a virtual mic that mixes the two.

The Screenshot toolbar

Press Shift-Command-5 and choose Record Entire Screen or Record Selected Portion. Click Options to pick the sound:

  • Microphone: choose a microphone, or None. On every recent macOS, this is how your voice gets in.
  • Include System Audio: on macOS 27 or later, this records your Mac’s own sound too. macOS 26 and earlier don’t have it.

System audio is everything your Mac plays, notifications included, and you can’t set its level against your voice while you record.

QuickTime Player

In QuickTime Player, choose File › New Screen Recording, which opens the same toolbar. QuickTime’s own screen recording takes a microphone only; Apple says to choose one to record your voice or other audio, and to use the volume slider to monitor it. For your Mac’s sound in QuickTime, choose a microphone that carries it, as below.

OBS Studio

On macOS 13 or later, OBS Studio 30 and later have a macOS Audio Capture source that records your whole Mac’s sound or a single app. Add it to a scene alongside a screen capture and your microphone, and set each level in OBS’s mixer. OBS 28 and 29 add audio to the macOS Screen Capture source instead. On older macOS, OBS needs a separate audio driver.

It’s free and powerful, and it’s a lot of app for a quick recording.

Record your voice and an app together

Every recorder on a Mac can take a microphone. A virtual microphone that mixes your real mic with the app you choose gets both into any recorder, on any recent macOS, with your levels set and no notifications.

Patch, which we make, does this. It mixes your mic and up to four apps into a virtual mic called Patch Mix, with a limiter so a loud moment doesn’t clip.

  1. Add your microphone and the app to Patch. Install Patch, add your microphone as a source, then add the app whose sound you want in the recording: a browser, a game, a music app, anything.
  2. Send both, and set the levels. Turn on Send for your microphone and the app, and set the app’s fader under your voice. Turn on Hear locally for the app so you hear it too.
  3. Go live. Click Go live in Patch, so Patch Mix is carrying your voice and the app.
  4. Choose Patch Mix as the recording microphone. Press Shift-Command-5, click Options, and under Microphone choose Patch Mix. QuickTime’s New Screen Recording opens the same toolbar.
  5. Record. Start the recording. It has your voice and the app’s sound, mixed, with no other Mac sounds.

In OBS, choose Patch Mix as the Mic/Auxiliary Audio device instead; don’t also add a macOS Audio Capture source for the same app, or it’s recorded twice. For live calls, see play music through your mic.

Questions

Why does my Mac screen recording have no sound?

Before macOS 27, the Screenshot toolbar and QuickTime record only a microphone, and the default is often None. Choose a microphone under Options. For your Mac’s own sound, use Include System Audio on macOS 27 or later, OBS, or a virtual mic such as Patch.

Can QuickTime record system audio?

No. QuickTime’s screen recording takes a microphone. Choose a virtual microphone that carries your Mac’s sound, such as Patch Mix, and QuickTime records that instead.

How do I record a Zoom or Teams call on a Mac?

Use the call app’s own recording where you can, and tell everyone you’re recording. The Screenshot toolbar with Include System Audio, on macOS 27 or later, records the call’s sound, and so does OBS’s macOS Audio Capture source.

Why can’t I record sound from some apps?

Some apps protect what they play. Streaming video apps in particular can block capture, so the recording has silence or a black window. That’s the app’s choice, and no recorder gets around it.

Do I need BlackHole to record system audio?

Not any more for most people. macOS 27’s Screenshot toolbar and OBS on macOS 13 or later both record your Mac’s sound directly. A driver or virtual mic helps when you want your voice and one app mixed at set levels in any recorder.