Screen Record On Mac With Computer Audio

© VioletaStoimenova/Getty Images If you have a microphone set up on your computer, recording audio on Audacity is straightforward. VioletaStoimenova/Getty Images
  • Follow the steps below to record screen with audio on Mac with this alternative to QuickTime Player. If you are using a Windows computer, just download the Windows version and the steps are similar. Free download, install and launch this screen recorder on your Mac computer. In the home interface, select “Video Recorder” option.
  • How to Record a Screen with Sound on a Mac Using Movavi Screen Recorder An easier way to record video and audio on a Mac at the same time is to use a tool like Movavi Screen Recorder. The software was created with ease of use in mind, but the design does not let that get in the way of placing in a ton of great features.
  • To record on Audacity, you simply need to add a track and press the 'Record' button.
  • With a keyboard command, you can start recording on a new track automatically, without having to add one separately.
  • When you record in Audacity, the program will use whatever microphone you have it set to — this will be your computer's internal microphone by default.
  • By changing some settings, you can also use Audacity to record music, Zoom calls, and other sounds being played on your computer.
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One of the best app to record screen on Mac with internal audio is Screenflick. However, after installation, you need to set up a Screenflick extension. Foremost, download Screenflick mac screen recorder. Once done, provide it appropriate permissions and install the app.

All computers come with a native audio recording program, like Voice Memos for Macs or Sound Recorder for Windows PCs.

These programs allow you to record sound using the computer's internal microphone or an external microphone, and they usually allow for simple audio editing.

But if you're interested in a higher quality piece of recording software, you can't go wrong with Audacity. Audacity is free, easy to use, and contains a host of advanced features.

Most importantly: recording on Audacity can be as easy as a single click.

Once you've downloaded Audacity on your Mac or PC, here's how to record with it.

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How to record on Audacity with a microphone

1. Open Audacity and find the recording devices tab. This is near the top of the screen, right above where you'll be recording, and has a microphone icon to its left.

2. Once you've found it, click that tab to open a drop-down menu, showing all the recording devices currently connected to your computer. Select the one you want to record with — if you don't see your microphone, make sure it's properly connected to the computer, and is turned on and ready to record.

© William Antonelli/Business Insider Make sure your microphone is set up correctly. William Antonelli/Business Insider

3. Add a new track by clicking 'Tracks' at the top of the screen, then 'Add New,' and then picking what type of track you want. For most recordings, you're going to want to pick either Mono or Stereo.

© William Antonelli/Business Insider Stereo recordings are the standard for most projects. William Antonelli/Business Insider

4. Now, to start recording, click the recording button at the top of the screen — it's the button with the red circle on it. You'll start recording immediately, and you'll see an audiograph of your voice begin to appear in the blank track below.

You can also add a new track and start a new recording at the exact same time by pressing Shift + R.

Record System Audio On Mac

5. When you're finished recording, click the stop button — the button with the black square — to the right of the recording button.

Screen Record On Mac With Computer Audio Software

© William Antonelli/Business Insider All the playback controls are next to each other. William Antonelli/Business Insider

This is how to record external sound using a microphone. If you want to record audio that's playing from your computer — say, from a game or YouTube video — you'll have to put in a bit more work.

How to record sounds playing on your computer using Audacity

On a PC

1. Open Audacity, and in the dropdown menu under 'Audio Host,' choose 'Windows WASAPI.'

2. In the recording device drop-down, choose your computer's default speakers or headphones. Depending on your setup, you might also need to pick the option labeled 'Loopback.' This will differ depending on what sort of sound card your PC has.

3. Create a new track and then begin recording, then start the game, video, or whatever else you want to record.

On a Mac

Record system audio on mac

Unfortunately, there's no ready-made way to record computer audio using Audacity on a Mac. The easiest way to remedy this is to download a free add-on for Audacity — you can find a guide to these add-ons in the Audacity Wiki Manual.

Mac

However, if you have a loopback cable — this is a headphone wire that has a 3.5 mm plug on each end — you can trick your Mac into recording itself, without downloading any extra software. Here's how.

1. Plug one end of the loopback cable into your Mac's headphone jack, and the other end into your Mac's microphone jack. If your Mac doesn't have a microphone jack, you're out of luck.

© Amazon A double-sided headphone cable will let you connect your audio jacks. Amazon

2. Open your System Preferences app by clicking the Apple logo in the top-left, and then selecting 'System Preferences...'.

3. Choose 'Sound,' then on the 'Output' tab, select 'Line Out.'

4. Click on the 'Input' tab, then select 'Line Input.'

5. Open Audacity, and make sure the recording device is set to 'Built-in Input' or a similar option.

6. Click 'Transport' at the top of the screen, hover your mouse over 'Transport Options,' and make sure that 'Software Playthrough' doesn't have a checkmark next to it. If it does, click it to remove the checkmark.

7. Create a new track, and start recording, then start up whatever audio you want to be recorded from your computer.

Related coverage from Tech Reference:

I’m trying to screen record my production sessions in Ableton Live 9 using Quicktime's screen record mode. The video recording works flawlessly, but the audio from my Komplete 6 interface is not being recorded.

It seems that many Mac users failed to record screen with audio by using QuickTime Player. Actually this built-in recorder on Mac can only record the audio through external speakers and built-in microphone. It’s not able to record the system sound.

Here in this article we will share how to record screen and audio at the same with QuickTime Player on Mac. If you want to record iPhone/iPad screen with QuickTime, it’s also possible. Keep reading to get the detailed guide.

Part 1. QuickTime Screen Recording with Audio on Mac

It’s easy and free to record video on Mac with QuickTime Player, but if you want to record the internal audio on Mac as well, to achieve this you need a way to route the audio playing to QuickTime and a free program called SoundFlower can do you a favor. It’s an extension to Mac devices that allows audio information to pass into other applications. So please follow the steps below to record Mac screen with internal audio by using QuickTime Player.

Record

Step 1. Download SoundFlower from https://soundflower.en.softonic.com/mac and set it up.

Step 2. After SoundFlower is installed successfully, restart your Mac computer to refresh all controls. Then go to system preferences and visit the sound tab. Click the sound output option and select SoundFlower (2ch) as your active output for the later QuickTime screen recording.

Step 3. Use Finder to find QuickTime Player and launch it to start screen recording on your Mac.

Step 4. Click File on the top menu bar and choose New Screen Recording.

Step 5. There is a drop-down button besides the red recording button, click it to select Soundflower option in order to record the system audio.

Step 6. Now you can start recording your Mac screen by simply hitting the red circle icon on the screen. You are allowed to record the full screen or drag your mouse to customize the area you want to record. Once the recording process is complete, you can click the stop button on the top of the menu to stop recording. Before you save the recorded video and give it a name, you are able to preview it to confirm whether it meets your demand.

Step 7. After you finish QuickTime screen recording on Mac, you need to disconnect Soundflower from audio input so that you can get back your audio on speakers. Just go to System Preferences and select sound settings, in output section select Internal Speakers as destination.

Part 2. Record Screen with QuickTime on Windows

Apple has once supported QuickTime Player for Windows computer for a period of time, but QuickTime is not officially available for Windows 10, as Apple stopped support for Windows back in January 2016. If you are using Windows 7 or Windows Vista, you can still install QuickTime Player 7.7.9 from the official download page(https://support.apple.com/kb/DL837?locale=en_US) of Apple QuickTime for Windows. As I have tried by myself, it’s not possible to install QuickTime Player on Windows 10. And we really do not recommend you to install QuickTime on your Windows computer any more, because it will make your PC become vulnerable, since Apple does not update QuickTime for Windows any more. If you want to record Windows computer screen, please refer to Part 3 for the best Quicktime Player alternative.

Screen Record On Mac With Computer Audio Without

Part 3. The Best Screen Recording Alternative to QuickTime

As you have seen, to record screen with audio by using QuickTime Player, you have to perform few settings prior to recording as well as after recording, it’d be time-wasting and inconvenient. What’s more, since Apple discontinued QuickTime Player on Windows, it’s not possible and safe to record screen with QuickTime on Windows computer any more. So it’s necessary to get a QuickTime alternative to record screen with audio on Mac and Windows computer in an easier way. Vidmore Screen Recorder is a convenient and easy-to-use screen recording tool that allows you to capture any part of your computer screen, record HD video and audio, as well as take screenshots any time you like, on both Mac and Windows computer.

  1. Capture any screen any time you want. No matter you want to record computer screen, gameplay, webcam videos, online lectures, favorite music, or just a screenshot, you can achieve your purpose easily with this QuickTime alternative.
  2. Record any audio on your computer, system sound and your voice from microphone are both supported.
  3. Record full screen or select the area you want to record at ease.
  4. Add text, arrows, and shapes to your recording or screenshot with its real-time drawing feature.
  5. Set the task name, starting time and ending time as well as duration to make a scheduled recording.

Follow the steps below to record screen with audio on Mac with this alternative to QuickTime Player. If you are using a Windows computer, just download the Windows version and the steps are similar.

Step 1. Free download, install and launch this screen recorder on your Mac computer.

Step 2. In the home interface, select “Video Recorder” option.

Step 3. Then you can set the recording area as per your need, you also need to choose to record your Mac system sound or audio from your microphone.

Tips: For recording area, you can record the full screen by clicking “Full”, or clicking “Custom” to select either “Fixed region” or “Select region/window”.

Note: To customize the recording area, you should open the window you want to capture, then you can select the exact recording area.

As for audio settings, if you want to save online movies such as video from YouTube, you should turn on “System Sound” and turn off “Microphone”. For creating a video tutorial with your narration, you should turn on “Microphone”, whether to turn on system sound is at your demand.

Step 4. After all the settings are done, just click the “REC” button to start recording. During recording, you are able to use the edit button to edit the screen. You are also allowed to pause recording by click the Pauses button, and you can preview the recorded video after clicking the Stop button. By clicking the “Save” button, you can export and save the recorded video on your Mac.

Part 4. Record iPhone screen with QuickTime

It’s also possible to record iPhone or iPad screen with QuickTime Player on Mac. Even though Apple users are able to record iPhone screen on iOS 11 and later with its screen recording function, but some people would not like to have the obvious red bar at the top of the screen when they are recording iPhone/iPad screen. One solution to avoid this is to record the screen on a different device, to keep the iPhone or iPad’s display normal and free of visual clues that this is a recorded video. To record iPhone screen with QuickTime, follow the steps below.

Record system audio on mac

Audacity Record Computer Audio Mac

Step 1. Connect your iPhone or iPad with your Mac computer by using a USB cable.

Step 2. Run QuickTime Player on Mac and establish connection between your iPhone and QuickTime.

Step 3. Go to File and select New Movie Recording from the drop-down menu.

Screen record on mac with computer audio without

Record Macbook Screen With Audio

Step 4. Now click the drop-down button besides the red circle icon to select your iPhone as microphone and camera options.

Screen Record On Mac With Computer Audio Free

Step 5. After all settings are made well, click the red record button to start recording your iPhone screen.

Step 6. Once the recording is complete, click the stop button and preview the recorded video. You can also edit the recorded video with QuickTime Player and save it to your device as you like.

Conclusion:

Mac Record Sound From Computer

If you only need to record an easy video on your Mac and don’t mind the complicated process to install an extension in order to record the system audio on your Mac, you can use the free and built-in QuickTime Player as the recording tool. It would also be a good tool to record iPhone or iPad screen. But if you want to record a perfect video with audio without too much operation, Vidmore Screen Recorder should be a better choice.