Every Mac has a free, built-in screen recorder — no downloads, no watermarks, no time limits. Press Shift + Command (⌘) + 5 and it is already running. This guide covers the whole workflow: starting and stopping a recording, capturing your voice or the Mac’s own audio, finding the file afterward, trimming it, and shrinking the giant .mov files macOS produces.
The fast way: Shift + Command + 5
Press Shift + ⌘ + 5 on any Mac running macOS Mojave or newer and a small toolbar appears at the bottom of the screen. The five icons on the left are for still screenshots; the two icons that look like a filmstrip with a record dot are the recorders:
- Record Entire Screen — the pointer turns into a camera; click any screen to start.
- Record Selected Portion — drag the dashed box around the area you want, then click Record.
Before you hit Record, open the Options menu on the toolbar. This is where most people miss the important settings:
- Microphone — off by default. Select your built-in mic (or an external one) here if you want narration. If you skip this, your recording is silent.
- Save to — Desktop by default; you can pick Documents, Clipboard, or a specific folder.
- Timer — a 5- or 10-second countdown so you can set the stage before capture starts.
- Show Mouse Clicks — puts a black circle around the pointer each time you click. Turn it on for tutorials.
How to STOP a recording (the part everyone gets stuck on)
There is no giant stop button on screen while you record — that is deliberate, so it never appears in your video. You have three ways to stop:
- Click the small stop icon (a circle with a square inside) in the menu bar at the top-right of the screen.
- Press Command + Control + Esc.
- Press Shift + ⌘ + 5 again and click Stop in the toolbar.
After you stop, a floating thumbnail appears in the bottom-right corner for a few seconds. You can click it to trim immediately, or ignore it and the file saves on its own.
The QuickTime method (more control, same free tool)
QuickTime Player — already installed on every Mac — drives the same recording engine but adds a few tricks:
- Open QuickTime Player (Spotlight: press ⌘ + Space, type QuickTime).
- Choose File > New Screen Recording. The same Shift + ⌘ + 5 toolbar appears on modern macOS.
- Pick your screen area and microphone, then record.
QuickTime is also the tool for two jobs the toolbar cannot do: File > New Movie Recording captures your webcam, and if you plug in an iPhone or iPad with a cable, it appears as a camera source so you can record your iPhone’s screen from the Mac — handy for app demos.
Recording the Mac’s own audio (system sound)
Here is the honest limitation: macOS does not natively record internal audio — the Microphone menu only captures real microphones. If you record a video call or a game, you get the picture but not the sound the Mac is playing. Your options:
- The pragmatic route: turn the volume up and let the built-in mic pick it up. Quality is rough but zero setup.
- The proper route: install a free virtual audio driver such as BlackHole, set it as the output in a Multi-Output Device (Audio MIDI Setup), and choose it as the “microphone” in the recording options. This captures system audio cleanly.
- Paid tools like Loopback or Audio Hijack do the same with less fiddling, and apps like OBS (free) can mix mic + system audio for streaming-style recordings.
Where recordings save, and what they cost in storage
By default every recording lands on the Desktop as a .mov file named “Screen Recording [date] at [time].mov”. Two things to know:
- Files are big — a Retina-resolution recording can run 100–200 MB per minute. A near-full disk will make recordings fail silently, the same way it breaks screenshots.
- To shrink a finished clip: open it in QuickTime, choose File > Export As > 1080p (or 720p) — that alone often cuts the size by 70–80%. iMovie or HandBrake compress even harder.
Trimming without any editing app
You rarely need iMovie. Open the recording (double-click plays it in QuickTime), press ⌘ + T, drag the yellow handles to cut the dead air at the start and end, then Save. The floating thumbnail right after recording offers the same trim tool one click sooner.
If recording fails or the screen comes out black
Third-party recorders (OBS, Zoom, Loom) need Screen Recording permission: System Settings > Privacy & Security > Screen Recording — toggle the app on and relaunch it. The built-in toolbar never needs this, so if even Shift + ⌘ + 5 misbehaves, the shortcut may be disabled or the disk full — our screenshot troubleshooting guide walks the same fix list, and every step applies to recordings too.
FAQ
How do I record my screen on a Mac with sound?
Press Shift + ⌘ + 5, open Options, and choose a microphone before recording — that captures your voice. For the Mac’s internal audio you need a free virtual driver like BlackHole, because macOS cannot capture system sound by itself.
How long can I record my Mac’s screen?
There is no time limit. The only ceiling is free disk space — budget roughly 100–200 MB per minute at full Retina resolution, less after you export to 1080p.
Why is there no sound in my screen recording?
The Microphone option in the Shift + ⌘ + 5 toolbar defaults to None. macOS remembers the setting, so fix it once and future recordings keep it.
Can I record my screen on an older Mac?
The Shift + ⌘ + 5 toolbar needs macOS Mojave (2018) or newer. On anything older, QuickTime Player > File > New Screen Recording does the same job back to OS X 10.6.
Where did my screen recording go?
The Desktop, unless you changed “Save to” in Options. Search Finder for “Screen Recording” — the default filenames always start with those words.