The simplest way to record your Mac’s screen is to use CleanShot X. The app allows you to choose how to record your screen captures — as a GIF or an MP4. Moreover, you can include audio from your device’s Mac when recording or even try out the app’s experimental feature of recording computer audio.
All you have to do is click on the CleanShot X icon in your menu bar and then select Record Screen and press Space to begin recording your current window. You can also set up a shortcut for screen recording.
In CleanShot X, you have the option to add your camera feed to the recording, as well as show clicks and cursor and highlight keystrokes in your recording. Additionally, you can enable Do Not Disturb while recording in the app’s screen record settings before you begin.
Ways to Screen Record on MacBook
Keyboard Shortcuts
To screen record on Mac using keyboard shortcuts, you need to make sure your MacBook is updated and you’re using macOS Mojave or a newer system.
- To begin recording your screen, press Shift-Command (⌘) – 5. You’ll see the options to record your entire screen or a portion of your screen. You can choose to capture a screenshot of your entire MacBook screen or a portion of your screen.
- screen record toolbar on a MacBook
- Customization Options – Once the recording menu pops up, you’ll also have a number of options to select from to customize your MacBook screen recording settings.
- screen record options on a MacBook
- Saving location (desktop, documents, mail, messages, etc…)
- Time (none, 5 seconds, and 10 seconds)
- Microphone (none or built-in-microphone)
- Other options (mouse clicks, floating thumbnail, and remember last selection)
- Once you have finished selecting your settings, you can click anywhere on your screen to start recording or you can click the record button.
- To stop screen recording on Mac, you can either click the stop button or you can use the keyboard shortcut Command – Control – Esc.
- Stop screen record button on MacBook
- Lastly, you can trim your recorded video. When you finish recording, you’ll see a video ‘thumbnail’ appear in the bottom right corner of your screen. When you click this thumbnail, you’ll see options to trim off the start or end of the video. Then, you’ll be to share and save your video screen capture wherever you’d like on your device.
QuickTime Screen Recording
The second way to screen record on Mac is to use QuickTime Player, which comes automatically pre-installed on all MacBooks, both MacBook Pro and MacBook Air.
- Open up the QuickTime Player application. To do this, click on ‘Finder’, then ‘Applications’, and scroll until you find QuickTime Player.
- Click on ‘file’ in the menu bar, and then press ‘new screen recording’.
- Quicktime player file tab
- Once you click on ‘new screen recording’, you’ll see the same menu as described in method #1 above. You’ll be able to follow the same steps outlined above to capture your screen on Mac with QuickTime screen recording and stop QuickTime screen recording when you’re finished.
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Alternative Ways to Record on MacBook
Do you want to know how to screen record or record video on Mac without Quicktime? There are a number of different screen recording applications available to use on a MacBook. We list 4 Mac screen recorder options to screen record on MacBook below. You can learn how to screen record on Mac for each MacBook recorder on their respective website.
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Best Screen Recorders for Mac
Droplr
Features
Link Sharing – When you finish creating your screen record on Mac, your video is automatically uploaded to the cloud and into your Droplr dashboard. You then have a short link that links to your video that you can share with anyone, anywhere.
Mac Record Screen and Audio – With Droplr, you can screen record on Mac with sound.
Mouse Clicks – When MacBook screen recording with Droplr, turn on ‘highlighted mouse clicks’ to help guide the viewer’s eyes when creating a demo or how-to.
Privacy Settings – Users can also customize and change the privacy settings of their drops. Droplr’s privacy settings include public, private, and teams. You can also change ‘self-destruct’ settings and set up drop passwords. Protect your video screen capture on Mac.
Integrations – Droplr has a number of different integrations to use with the Mac screen recorder. These include Slack, Intercom, Photoshop, Sketch, and more. Integrating all of your tools into one space can help save time and create a more productive routine.
iOS app – Droplr also offers an app for iPhone and iPad, so you can share your screen recordings between devices.
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Movavi
Features
File Formatting – Movavi allows users to save their Mac screen recordings in a couple of different file formats.
Video Editing – Movavi comes with a variety of editing tools for Mac screen recording software including trimming, audio mixing, and more.
Keystrokes – Users can also turn on keystroke recording which shows how you’re using your keyboard during a screen recording.
OBS Studio
Features
Advanced Editing – OBS Studio comes with advanced editing features and is not for beginners. With OBS, you can trim videos, add text and photos to recordings, and more.
Audio Mixing – OBS also comes with advanced audio mixing tools that let you customize audio settings, filters, and more.
Free Download – OBS Studio is also a completely free application for users to download and use on Mac or Windows. It is the best screen recorder on Mac for free.
How to Screen Record with Sound on Mac via QuickTime
You must be familiar with this tool if you have used Mac for some time. QuickTime Player is a free screen logger for Macs that helps you record the activities on your screen. When you need to record sound on your Mac screen, you can raise the volume of your speakers, and QuickTime can then record sound from your computer's microphone. It’s definitely the universal way when you want to record your screen with audio conveniently.
However, you have a limited choice of audio sources, you can only find the words "Worked in Microphone" and "None." You can watch the following steps to handle it.
- Launch QuickTime Player to start the screen recording process.
- Click "File" and then choose "New Screen Recording" among the options to open a screen recorder.
- Save the Recording
- When the screen recording bar appears, you can click "Options" to set the preferences, such as microphone, cursor, saving location and timer.
- According to your situation, you can choose "record the entire screen" or "a selected portion", then you can click "Record" to begin recording your Mac screen.
How to Record Screen on Mac with Internal Audio Directly
As you can see in the table at the very beginning, normally, you cannot screen record on Mac with internal audio if you just use the built-in recording tools. For those who specially need to record the system sound, it’s usually more recommended to use a third-party tool.
VideoSolo Screen Recorder is a simple but powerful tool to record mac screen. It’s easy to use and can perfectly fulfill most of the recording needs. With simple clicks, you can customize the recording area, record video with full voice and webcam, set up hotkeys, and add annotations to your recordings. Besides, there is a variety of output formats for you to choose. It is bound to be helpful if you want to record high-quality videos on your Mac. And you will see a detailed instructions in the later part.
