Screenshots and recording

How to screen record on a Mac with audio, including internal sound

Updated 25 October 2026 · 3 min read

The Screenshot toolbar records your microphone but, before macOS 27, not the sound your Mac plays. Here is what each macOS version can do, the BlackHole workaround, and how Orrel records system audio and your voice together.

Recording your screen on a Mac is built in. Recording it with the sound your Mac is playing, such as a video call, a product demo with audio, or a game, has historically not been, and the answer depends on which version of macOS you run.

The Screenshot toolbar

Press ⇧⌘5. The toolbar offers Record Entire Screen and Record Selected Portion, and on macOS Tahoe 26 or later, Record Selected Window. Open Options to set:

• Save to. Desktop, Documents or another folder.
• Timer. A 5 or 10 second delay before recording starts.
• Microphone. Off by default. Choose your Mac's microphone or a headset to record your voice.
• Show Mouse Clicks. Draws a circle where you click.

Click Record, and stop with the button in the menu bar. Recordings are saved as MOV files. QuickTime Player's File › New Screen Recording uses the same controls.

Recording system audio

According to Apple's documentation, the Screenshot toolbar gained an Include System Audio option in macOS 27 Golden Gate. On that version or later, choose it under Options and the sound your apps play is recorded with the screen.

On macOS 26 and earlier, the built-in tools record a microphone only. The long-standing workaround is a virtual audio device:

1. Install a free virtual audio driver such as BlackHole.
2. Open Audio MIDI Setup, click + and create a Multi-Output Device that includes BlackHole and your speakers or headphones, so you can still hear the sound.
3. Set the Multi-Output Device as your Mac's output in System Settings › Sound.
4. In the Screenshot toolbar, choose BlackHole as the microphone.

It works, with drawbacks: you cannot change the volume with the keyboard while a Multi-Output Device is selected, you must switch your output back afterwards, and recording your voice as well needs an Aggregate Device on top.

Tips for a usable recording

• Record a window, not the screen. Smaller recordings, and notifications from other apps stay out of the frame.
• Turn on Do Not Disturb. A message preview in the corner of a recording is easy to miss until it has been sent.
• Use headphones with a microphone. Otherwise the microphone picks up the sound from your speakers twice.

How Orrel does it

Press ⌥⇧⌘5 and choose the whole screen, one window (picked with macOS's own window picker) or an area you drag out. Switch on system audio, the microphone or both. There is no driver to install and nothing to switch back afterwards.

• Pause and resume. Paused stretches are cut from the recording, not left as dead air.
• A countdown. Three seconds to get ready, and an option to show or hide the pointer.
• Sound that plays everywhere. System audio and your voice are mixed into one track at the end, because many players only play the first track of a file.
• Afterwards. Trim the start and end, make a GIF, compress it to send, copy it, or show it in Finder.

Recordings are MP4 files, H.264 for most screens and HEVC above 4K, saved to your capture folder.

Where Orrel stops

The microphone and click highlights need macOS 15 or later; on macOS 14 Orrel records system audio and the screen only. macOS records whole windows, not individual browser tabs. Orrel has no camera overlay, no cloud upload links and no editor beyond trimming; for tutorials with zooms and a webcam bubble, a dedicated recording app suits better. macOS asks for Screen Recording permission the first time, and Orrel uses it only when you capture or record.