How to screen record gameplay on Mac with sound - 4 options
Take a video recording on a Mac or MacBook while you're playing games with these approved solid screen recorders: gameplay, game audio, webcam.
Ella Garcia Updated on Feb 20, 2023 3:53 PM
You'll get a few gameplay capture solutions by means of the best game recording software for Mac, in an attempt to stream, share or save after making game videos recorded on your own.
- To record gameplay on Mac with sound, open QuickTime, click File > New Screen Recording, choose a microphone for capturing your voice and audio, and then hit the red Record button.
- You're able to record your Mac screen with keyboard by pressing Shift + Command + 5 to activate macOS Screenshot Toolbar for gameplay recording on your display.
- AppGeeker Screen Recorder is an stable game recorder for Mac, with which you can record a video of gaming process and/ or game audio, microphone audio, your webcam.
Here's what you need to know when capturing gameplay on Mac, along with some screen recorders worth considering.
Why not share your epic gaming highlights with pals by recording your gameplay? Mac game recording is relatively common, and any gamer might even discover a love for creating gameplay video and end up streaming games online. If you're going to record gameplay on Mac, how do you get started and which recording software should you use.
You have a massive selection of game capture tools for macOS and this guide pulls together some of the best ones for you. You can use the built-in QuickTime or Screenshot Toolbar to record your Mac screen for gaming in HD quality, as well as some third-party services in case you need more controls on the gameplay moments and audio you wish to record while gaming.
Tip: If you're a Windows user and want to record video gameplay to get the exciting moments captured, then be sure to check out AppGeeker's guide to record gameplay on PC. See also our roundup of the best ways to screen record on Windows 10.
Jump to the key section to achieve your recording goals with the right software:
The built-in game recorder – macOS QuickTime
You Mac or MacBook comes with a simple free screen recorder tool called QuickTime Player that lets you capture anything that you're seeing on the screen, so you will not need to use any other third-party apps.
Despite its well-known media player, the New Screen Recording feature potentially works great in macOS and enables you to record while you're playing games in MOV video file (AAC, H.264). Also, if you use New Movie Recording mode, you can create recordings of gameplay and actions on your Mac's display with accompanying voice and your face for narration and commentary.
In case your Mac is on a macOS version higher than macOS Mojave, skip to the next part.
Step 1. Open QuickTime Player from your Mac's application folder, then select File > New Screen Recording in the menu bar.
QuickTime Player gives you obvious options that you can take to record gameplay on Mac with sound.
Step 2. To record yourself speaking over the gameplay footage simultaneously while recording the screen, click the triangle next to the red Record button, following by choosing Internal Microphone under Microphone section.
Drag the volume slider to adjust how loud your gameplay recording is from the screen recording window.
Step 3. Open your game you want to record on your Mac.
Step 4. Click Record button. Then choose the screen area to be captured and the recording begins automatically:
- Click anywhere on the game screen to capture the entire footage.
- Or drag your mouse to select a certain portion within the game, then click Start Recording.
Step 4. Talk yourself closer into the connected microphone. You will get your voice and gameplay to record on Mac.
Step 5. When you finish recording, hit the Stop button in the menu bar, or press Command + Control + Esc. After that, QuickTime opens your new game recording for instant viewing.
Quick Tip:
- To save your video recording of gameplay, click File > Save from the menu bar.
- If you'd like to record your face and game at the same time, you'll need to choose File > New Movie Recording to trigger webcam recording, and then select File > Float on top so your camera window will be on top of any other application anywhere on your screen. After that, repeat the process to record yourself playing video games with your face and audio.
- To have your recorded gameplay video without lag, you need to export the recording in medium quality after the recording is finished. Click File > Export As, then choose 720p or 480p. This will sacrifice a little visual quality.
Don't Miss: How to Record Screen And Audio with QuickTime
Screenshot toolbar becomes available on macOS Mojave 10.14 or later, so confirm that you're running the newer macOS on your computer.
For Mac gameplay recording affair, press Shift + Command + 5 to start Screenshot toolbar. From the menu, you will get two screen recording icons marked with a dot: Record Entire Screen, Record Selected Portion.
In newer Mac, you will be guided to Screenshot toolbar menu if you use File > New Screen Recording within QuickTime Player.
After you select what to capture, click Options and click to enable Your Mac's Microphone to capture your voice while gaming on the Mac machine. You can also configure recording settings from the menu.
Screenshot toolbar starts capturing your gameplay video screen as soon as you hit the Record button.
When you're ready, click the Record button in the Screenshot toolbar menu. Footage displaying on the gameplay and your microphone voice should be recorded as expected.
All-in-one gaming recording software for Mac – AppGeeker Game Recorder
While there're obvious benefits to using macOS's built-in screen recorder, there are still reasons you may need to look elsewhere for solid video recording software.
To capture a video of gameplay on Mac without game and recording lag, you could try using the stable Screen Recorder. It's lightweight yet powerful that gives the capability to record the computer screen, webcam, microphone voice, and audio while gaming in the window and edit the gaming recording later.
During recording games you're playing, you're allowed to add annotation with texts, and draw highlights to show off your game skills and display game activities in real-time to the audience. Moreover, the application is able to record your gameplay smoothly up to 60fps in 1920*1080 full HD without any lag on a less powerful machine.
1. Launch Screen Recorder on your Mac or MacBook.
2. Choose Video Recorder from the main screen.
3. To capture the whole screen of the game window, click "Full" and the entire screen will be highlighted. If you want to record partial screen, choose "Custom" instead and then drag to select the specific area.
4. To take a game screen recording with your face, turn on the toggle for "Camera."
5. If you need to record the in-game audio, switch on "System Sound." To voice-over the video as you're playing to explain what's going on, turn on "Microphone" as well.
Tip: For more gaming recording configurations like output path and output format & quality, you can make changes or tweaks in the Preferences window after you click the gear icon located right above the "Microphone."
6. Click the big REC button to comfortably start recording what's happening in the game on Mac with no lagging issues.
7. Hit red Stop button to end the game recording. You'll get a preview window to play the recorded game video, and trim the recording without grabbing another third-party application. Click Save button at the bottom and your recording will be immediately accessible at your desired video format on Mac's system.
Enjoy your recorded game clip!
Free screen recording for games – OBS Studio
OBS Studio is an open-source and free video recording software that enables you quickly record your screen and sound on your computer, and share recorded video on social media platforms.
It features with Game Capture feature which relied on SyphonInject to work, making it really simple for you to record your gameplays on the Mac to create stunning game videos, along with customizable video and mic settings — though it's a little complicated for beginners.
Note: Since macOS 10.14 (Mojave), SyphonInject will no longer work on macOS, meaning that Game Capture cannot be used, So if you prefer to use OBS to capture your games for streaming, go and choose Window Capture or Display Capture as video source instead of Game Capture.
How to Record Gameplay Using OBS Studio:
- Get OBS installed for your Mac machine, and then run it.
- Open your favorite game that you're going to capture.
- Add a source for your game video. In Sources section at the bottom, click "+" symbol and choose "Window Capture" or "Display Capture."
- Set up audio device in Audio Mixer section. In macOS 13 Ventura or later, you can capture the desktop audio and your mic; If you have an older macOS, you need an extra app to capture game audio.
- When everything is ready, click Start Recording in Controls section.
- To stop recording, return to OBS screen and hit Stop Recording button. The game recording video will be saved in an MKV file by default.
FAQ: How to record gameplay on Mac with sound?
Case: How do you record game audio in QuickTime Player? When recording gameplay for YouTube channel (or for other purposes) while playing games, I've been having problem with QuickTime's New Screen Recording. It's not recording the game audio.
Read Next: How to Record a YouTube Video on a Mac
Solution: It seems that you can't get the game screen recordings to record what the audio on the game is. You will need an extra app like Soundflower to make QuickTime New Screen Recording function record game audio.
Remember that QuickTime can only record one audio source (either microphone or desktop audio) in the screen recording. If you need to capture game footage as well as game audio and your own voice at the same time, consider trying AppGeeker Screen Recorder mentioned above.
Before you access QuickTime and start a game recording, download and install Soundflower on the Mac computer. Then, go to System Preferences (or System Settings since macOS Ventura 13) > Sound, and set the macOS sound output to Soundflower (2ch).
- Run your game on Mac.
- In QuickTime screen, click File and then choose New Screen Recording.
- When the dialog with screen recording controls opens, click the inverted triangle icon and select Soundflower (2ch) in the Microphone section as the sound output source.
- If your Mac computer has been updated to macOS Mojave or earlier, Screenshot toolbar should open where you can click on Options and then check the routed Soundflower (2ch) system audio.
- Click the Record button and click anywhere on the game window to start recording.
- When done, hit Stop button on the menu bar to end the video recording. You can now hear the game audio in the playback.
