How to screen record the Mac with Sound [Internal & external included]

Are you struggled with there's no sound in the screen recording of Mac? Do you want to record the Mac screen with internal and external sound? Find the answer in this article.

• Apple launched the QuickTime Player for Mac users to record the screen with audio from the built-in microphone, and shortcuts are available on macOS Mojave and later versions.
• To record the Mac screen with both internal and external sound, users, whether newbies or advanced users, need to resort to third-party tools like Appgeeker Screen Recorder.
• The OBS Studio serves as a reliable tool to record the Mac screen with sound for free, but the complex process makes it more suitable for professional users.

Review some quick ways to record the Mac screen with sound!

Do you like to record presentations or important meetings on your Mac computer? If yes, recording the Mac screen with sound may be a trouble for you since the inbuilt recorder QuickTime Player can't pick up the internal sound by default. Once recorded, you can only preview the video with the external audio from the microphone, and unable to edit the captured footage into how-to tutorials, instructional stuff, and much more.

Therefore, you might need clarification about whether you can record the Mac screen with both internal and external sound. Don't worry, you can launch a full-featured software such as AppGeeker Screen Recorder, OBS Studio, or simply use the built-in tools that Mac offers with limited functionalities. Whatever tool you choose to use, this article will offer you the simple guide to capturing the Mac screen with sound.

Table of Contents

• About Mac screen record with sound
• How to record Mac screen with external sound?
• How to record Mac screen with external and internal sound?

About Mac screen record with sound

When it comes to capturing the Mac screen with sound, you have two options. Either choose to record the system's sound or the microphone's voice. Also, you might like to capture both the internal and external sounds to create an audio mix. Let's briefly discuss the two types of audio sources.

External sound

External audio includes the sound from the microphones. If you connect the microphone to the computer, you have access to get the resource of external audio. All voices from the environment will be captured. Mac models are integrated with microphone; and according to the Apple official, users are served to record the screen with audio from microphone via the QuickTime Player.

Internal sound

Internal sound of Mac refers to the system's sound like pings of pop-ups or the notice for settings, and the audio playing on the Mac. The recording of Mac internal sound is a complex task. From the settings in the QuickTime Player, we can see the input of sound can only be set as the internal microphone to catch the sound from outside via the built-in microphone, which means the internal sound recording is not enabled by default when capturing the Mac screen. You have to choose the right third-party tool to do the job.

How to record Mac screen with external sound?

To screen record the Mac with sound, whether internal or external sound, various tools are available nowadays. However, using the default screen recorders for this purpose is always a top priority for users. If you want to record the sound from microphone only, Screenshot Toolbar or QuickTime Player is a good choice.

Screenshot Toolbar

Using the screenshot toolbar is a super simple way to Mac screen record with sound. It's a built-in shortcut option to take screenshots and record screens of the QuickTime Player. But it's only available for macOS Mojave and later versions.

1. Press Command + Shift + 5 on the keyboard to open the screenshot toolbar.

2. As the toolbar appears at the bottom of your screen, you will see multiple options. Select the Recording options from the available menu to record the Mac screen.

Note:

• Mac models are set to record the sound from microphone by default. If you find there's no voice in the recording, please re-open the Screenshot Toolbar and click Options > Microphone to change the microphone settings. If this doesn't work, please check if you have turned down the volume on your Mac.

3. To record all activities on the screen, enable the option Record Entire Screen. Alternatively, you can choose to Record Selected Portion. Drag the cut square to specify the area size you want to record.

4. Tap Record to instantly start capturing the Mac screen with sound, or move your camera-icon cursor and click anywhere to start capturing the whole screen activity.

5. When you've done with the screen recording, find and hit the Stop in the menu mar on the top-right area of the screen to end the recording. After that, you can preview the file and save the file with sound in where you like.

QuickTime Player

QuickTime Player is a pre-installed application for playing videos on Mac. It also features capturing screen footage on Mac and saves the recordings in the form of a .mov file. The tool is simple and easy to use for beginners. If you use the Mac with the operating system older than Mojave, you can use QuickTime Player to open the Screenshot Toolbar and record your Mac screen with external sound:

1. Click the Launchpad to open the QuickTime Player on your Mac.

2. Navigate to the top-left corner and choose File from the available menu.

3. At the next step, click New Screen Recording to create a new screen recording task on Mac. Then the Screenshot Toolbar with multiple options will appear.

4. Then the process is the same as using Screenshot Toolbar above, you can select to record the whole screen or a selected part. Moreover, you can modify the default settings of microphone and mouse clicks when recording.

5. When finishes, hit the Stop button in the upper right corner to terminate the recording.

QuickTime Player (Screenshot Toolbar) is the simplest free way to record the Mac screen with sound. Users don't need to download any extra software but can only capture the external sound from microphone. To screen record Mac with both internal and external sound, users must resort to professional third-party recorders.

How to record Mac screen with external and internal sound?

Since built-in tools fail to capture the Mac screen with internal sound, the third-party software must be installed to record both system and microphone audio. Below are two of the most used tools for your reference.

AppGeeker Screen Recorder

An all-in-one tool that enables users to capture all their screen progress with sound is the AppGeeker Screen Recorder. No matter you want to record the online class or the meeting on the screen, or try to make a tutorial with the webcam, it has all the modern options you need to customize and make your recordings stand out. Also, the recorder captures mouse clicks and optimizes sound effects for a wonderful output.

With all these excellent functions, recording the Mac screen with sound using AppGeeker Screen Recorder is just a matter of a few clicks as using the built-in QuickTime Player.

1. Launch the AppGeeker Screen Recorder

First, download the tool. Then open and run the Screen Recorder on your Mac computer.

2. Choose Video Recorder

As you open the app, you will see different options on the interface. Appgeeker Screen Recorder also allows users to record audio only on the computer. To record the Mac screen with sound, select Video Recorder to record the Mac screen.

3. Select the Recording Settings

Select and adjust the recording parameters. Choose Full or Custom to set the screen display when recording. Then turn on or off the Microphone and System sound due to your demands to determine the effect of the screen recording on your Mac.

4. Start Recording

Later, hit the REC icon to start capturing the Mac screen with sound. During the recording process, you can add shapes, text, and drawings using the built-in options in the tool to optimize the viewing experience.

5. Stop Recording

Click the Stop icon to stop the recording when you're done. You can preview the recorded video for confirmation. Use the Clip option or Re-Record to start again if you're not satisfied with the recorded track. Then click Save to output the video on your Mac. If you want to record the streaming online meeting or courses, we suggest you to adjust the tool and record the streaming in advance in case you miss some important details.

OBS Studio

OBS Studio is one of the favorite third-party tools to screen record the Mac and Windows with sound. Whether you want to explain gameplay, make a tutorial, or do a podcast, the OBS Studio can do wonders. It has interesting editing tools to give you a customized experience.

1. After downloading and installing the OBS Studio from the official website, you may be prompted to select the usage of the tool. Choose the option that suits your situation the most and continue.

2. Then add the recording source by clicking the Add button in Source. Here, choose Display Capture to allow the OBS Studio to screen record all activities on the Mac.

3. Next to the Source is Audio Mixer where you can adjust the volume on your Mac. By default, both internal and external audio from your Mac will be captured. You can adjust the volume or just mute the audio by moving the volume bar or checking the mute box to fit your recording.

4. Once you are done with these settings, click the Start recording button. Then the recording effect will be showed in real-time on the interface. You just need to make your own tutorial or open the application you want to record with sound on your Mac.

5. After recording, back to the OBS Studio and click on Stop recording. There would be a note at the bottom of the screen to tell you the output path of the recording. You can navigate to the output folder directly and check the recording.

Compared to Appgeeker Screen Recorder, the OBS Studio is complex for novices. It demands users spend more time learning how to record screen with the OBS Studio to get a pleasant user experience. In addition, users can't adjust advanced settings like frame rate or bitrate, nor edit the recording via the tool to control the output quality. Though it is developed for screen recording and streaming, it still has limitations when recording.

Conclusion

In this article, we have reviewed some of the simplest ways to screen record the Mac with sound. Default tools like QuickTime Player and Screenshot tools are good options for ordinary recording operations on Mac. However, users need to move towards some third-party tools for advanced-level screen recording.

With a professional tool like AppGeeker Screen Recorder, capturing screen with internal and external audio on Mac is no longer a problem. You can use the available custom options to create a perfect work.