How to Record Audio While Screen Recording on a Mac

The catch: macOS won't record system audio by default

This is the single thing that trips up almost everyone. When you press Command + Shift + 5 to open the Screenshot toolbar and start a screen recording, macOS will happily capture your microphone - but it will not record the internal/system audio playing through your speakers. So the music in a video, the sound from a game, a Zoom call, or a YouTube clip you're demonstrating all come out completely silent in the saved file.

QuickTime Player has the exact same limitation. File → New Screen Recording lets you pick a microphone, but there is no option for "internal audio" anywhere in stock macOS. Apple leaves system-audio capture out for privacy and licensing reasons, which is why so many people end up with a perfect video and no sound.

Why this happens

macOS treats audio inputs (microphones) and outputs (speakers) as separate worlds. The screen recorder can only listen to an input device. Your system sound is an output, so there's simply no input for the recorder to grab. The fix is to create a virtual device that is both an output and an input at the same time - that way system sound flows out into it, and the recorder reads it back in.

The fix: a virtual audio driver

You need a small piece of software called a virtual audio driver. The two most popular:

• BlackHole - free and open source (from Existential Audio). It installs a silent virtual device called "BlackHole 2ch". This is the option we recommend to most people.
• Loopback - paid, by Rogue Amoeba. More polished with a visual routing interface, drag-and-drop sources, and per-app capture. Worth it if you do this regularly.

Either one solves the same problem: it gives macOS an audio device that can carry your system sound into the screen recorder.

Setting up BlackHole with a Multi-Output Device

After installing BlackHole, the key step is building a Multi-Output Devicein Audio MIDI Setup (Applications → Utilities → Audio MIDI Setup). A Multi-Output Device sends sound to two places at once - your real speakers (so you can still hear) and BlackHole (so it can be recorded). Without this step, switching your output to BlackHole alone would make your Mac go silent.

• Click the + at the bottom-left → Create Multi-Output Device.
• Tick both your built-in speakers / headphones and BlackHole 2ch.
• Set your real speakers as the Primary Device for clean clock sync.
• In System Settings → Sound → Output, choose the new Multi-Output Device.

Choosing the source in the Options menu

Now open the recorder with Command + Shift + 5 and click Options. Under the Microphone heading you'll now see "BlackHole 2ch" listed. Select it, and your recording will capture system audio. To grab your voice and system sound together, create an Aggregate Devicein Audio MIDI Setup that combines your microphone and BlackHole, then pick that Aggregate Device in the Options menu instead.

macOS Sequoia 15 and later: a built-in option

Good news if you're on a newer Mac. Starting with macOS Sequoia 15, Apple has begun adding native system-audio capture in some places - certain apps and the newer screen-recording flow now offer a "Microphone + System Audio" style choice without any virtual driver. It isn't everywhere yet, so if your version of the Command + Shift + 5 toolbar still only lists microphones, the BlackHole method above is still the reliable route. Always keep macOS updated via System Settings → General → Software Update so you get these features as they roll out.

Common problem: no sound in the recording

The most frequent complaint is opening the finished .mov and hearing nothing. Work through these in order:

• Wrong source selected: in Command + Shift + 5 → Options, the Microphone is probably still set to "None" or the built-in mic. Switch it to BlackHole or your Aggregate Device.
• Output not routed: System Settings → Sound → Output must be set to your Multi-Output Device, not plain speakers, or no sound reaches BlackHole.
• Volume at zero: a Multi-Output Device can't be volume-controlled with the keyboard keys - set app and system volume before you start.
• Device renamed or removed: if you deleted BlackHole from Audio MIDI Setup, recreate the Multi-Output Device from scratch.
• You can't hear yourself: that's normal - the Multi-Output Device sends to BlackHole silently; check the recording afterwards to confirm sound was captured.
• Hardware fault: if no app records any audio - even a normal mic - the issue may be the audio controller or speakers, not your setup. Our MacBook speaker and audio repair in Dubai can diagnose it.

If audio still won't work after a clean setup

A botched audio driver install, a corrupt Core Audio configuration, or a left-over virtual device from an old app can break sound system-wide - sometimes to the point where even Zoom or Music play nothing. A clean macOS reinstall clears these conflicts without touching your files. We handle macOS reinstall in Dubai if you'd rather not risk it, or run a full MacBook diagnostic to rule out a hardware fault. If recordings only stutter when the Mac is under load, it may be a performance issue - see our 10 fixes for a slow MacBook.

Quick recap

• Cmd-Shift-5 and QuickTime record the mic only - never system audio by default.
• Install BlackHole (free) or Loopback (paid) to add a virtual audio device.
• Build a Multi-Output Device in Audio MIDI Setup so you still hear your Mac.
• Select BlackHole - or an Aggregate Device for mic + system - in the Options menu.
• On macOS Sequoia 15+, watch for the new built-in system-audio option in some apps.