How to Screen Record on a Mac

macOS has a screen recorder built in — press Shift + Cmd + 5 and you're recording in seconds. For a quick capture, that's all you need. But if you want to zoom into the action, add captions, cut out mistakes, or export a clip that's ready to share, a dedicated recorder-and-editor will save you a second round of work. Below are three ways to record your Mac screen, from the fastest to the most capable.

Method 1 — The built-in shortcut (Shift + Cmd + 5)

Every Mac on macOS Mojave or later has a screen-recording toolbar built in. It's the quickest way to capture your screen.

1. Press Shift + Cmd + 5. A control bar appears near the bottom of the screen.
2. Choose Record Entire Screen or Record Selected Portion. For a selection, drag to frame the area you want.
3. Click Options to pick your microphone, set a countdown timer, and choose where the file is saved.
4. Click Record. To stop, click the ■ button in the menu bar, or press Cmd + Ctrl + Esc.

By default your recording is saved to the Desktop as a .mov file.

Record your screen with audio

In the Options menu, choose your input under Microphone to narrate while you record. One thing worth knowing: macOS records your microphone, but it can't capture your Mac's internal (system) audio on its own — the sound coming from apps, browser tabs or video calls. If the recording needs that sound, use a recorder that captures system audio natively (Method 3), or set up a separate virtual-audio device. If you just need your own voice, the microphone option is all it takes — the details are in how to record your Mac screen with audio.

Where recordings are saved, and how to stop

Recordings go to the Desktop by default; change this under Options → Save to. To stop, use the ■ button in the menu bar or press Cmd + Ctrl + Esc.

Method 2 — QuickTime Player

QuickTime Player comes preinstalled and can record your screen too — handy if you prefer a window-based workflow.

1. Open QuickTime Player.
2. Choose File → New Screen Recording.
3. Click the arrow next to the record button to select your microphone.
4. Click record, then click once for the whole screen or drag to record a portion.
5. When you're done, stop from the menu bar, then choose File → Export As to save.

QuickTime is dependable for a plain capture, but like the shortcut it doesn't add zoom, captions or effects, and editing is limited to basic trimming.

Method 3 — ScreenTailor (record and edit in one app)

The built-in tools are great at capturing. But most screen recordings need a second step — zooming into the important part, adding captions, cutting the dead air, redoing the bit where you fumbled. That's where a built-in editor pays off — capture and edit without switching apps.

ScreenTailor is a native macOS app that records and edits in one place:

• Region capture with aspect-ratio presets and pixel-exact sizing
• Zoom & emphasis — spotlight the cursor, magnify details, add arrows and glow to guide the eye
• Captions — five fonts with shadow, stroke and background, readable over any footage
• Effects — blur sensitive areas, plus fade, mosaic, glitch and more, baked into the export
• Checkpoint Recording — drop a checkpoint mid-take and re-record just the clip you flubbed, instead of starting over
• Clean MP4 export that plays and uploads everywhere — QuickTime, VLC, the web and social platforms
• System audio — record the sound your Mac plays (apps, tabs, calls), no virtual audio driver
• Microphone narration with pause and resume any time — recorded as a separate track you can balance against the system audio

A typical flow: press the global shortcut, drag a region, record with pause/resume, then add zoom, captions and effects on the timeline and export.

Here's the part people like: every editing tool is free. ScreenTailor is free to use — record and edit as much as you want, up to 5 minutes per recording, with a small watermark on export. When you need longer recordings and a watermark-free export, start the 14-day Pro trial, then keep it with a one-time Lifetime license at $39 (Yearly and Monthly plans are available too).

Which method should you use?

Here's a quick recap of the three methods above, so you can pick the one that fits.

For a quick grab, Shift + Cmd + 5 is unbeatable. When the recording needs to look polished — a tutorial, a product demo, a bug report someone else will watch — record it in ScreenTailor so capturing and editing happen in one pass.

Going deeper: recording on a laptop has its own tricks (screen record on a MacBook), and so do recording just part of the screen, zooming in on a recording and adding captions.

Frequently asked questions