How to screen record on Mac with audio

How to screen record on your Mac with audio: pick a display, a window or an area, add your mic, Mac sound and camera, and press Return.

To screen record on your Mac with audio, open the Capture Bar, choose what to record, pick a microphone and turn on Mac sound if you need it. Press Return and ScreenCameo counts down from 3, then records.

Open the Capture Bar #

The Capture Bar is a small glass bar at the bottom of the screen. Everything for a recording is in it, and it remembers what you used last.

1. Press Option+Shift+5. Or choose File → New Recording…, click the menu-bar icon → New Recording…, or click New Recording in Home.
2. The bar opens on the screen your pointer is on. Press D, W or A to switch between Display, Window and Area.
3. Read the summary line under the bar. It sums up what you’ll get, for example “Display · 3024 × 1964 · 60 fps · Mic · Mac sound off · Clean”.
4. Press Esc or click the × to close the bar without recording.

Record a display, a window or an area #

Pick a mode on the left of the bar. Each mode has its own options right next to it.

Display

1. Click Display to record a whole screen.
2. With more than one screen, click the button next to Display and pick one under Screen, or keep The screen under the pointer.
3. Turn on Leave Out the Menu Bar in the same menu to record without the menu bar.

Window

1. Click Window, then Record.
2. Move the pointer over the window you want. It lights up with its name. Click it, or press Return. Esc cancels.
3. To give it a standard size first, click Size before you record. Under Resize the window to, pick Keep its size, 1280 × 720, 1440 × 900, 1920 × 1080 or Fit 16:9 (the largest 16:9 that fits).
4. Turn on Centre It on the Screen to move the window to the middle.

Area

1. Click Area, then Record.
2. Drag a rectangle on the screen, or click a window to fit the area to it.
3. Pick a shape from the chips under the area: Free, 16:9, 9:16, 1:1 or 4:3. The editor then starts with that shape too.
4. Drag inside the area to move it, or drag a handle to resize it. Edges snap to windows and the screen. Hold Cmd while dragging to stop snapping.
5. Nudge it with the arrow keys: 1 point at a time, or 10 with Shift. Or type the width and height in pixels.
6. Press Return or click Record. Esc cancels.

An area must be at least 40 × 40 points. ScreenCameo remembers your last area, and the summary line shows its size. Each new selection starts as Free; a shape picked in the bar applies to that one selection.

Screen record with audio: Mac sound and your mic #

Your voice and your Mac’s sound are recorded separately, so you can set their volume apart in the editor. Pick both before you press Record.

1. Click the microphone button and pick a microphone, or No microphone.
2. Speak and check that the small bars next to it move.
3. Click Mac sound to record what your Mac plays, such as a video or an app’s sounds.
4. Leave Clean on (the sparkles) to keep desktop icons, the Dock and notifications out of the video. Nothing on your Mac changes; they’re only left out of the recording.

Add your camera #

1. Click the camera button (the video icon) and pick a camera, or No camera.
2. Your camera appears as a round bubble on screen. Drag it anywhere.
3. Scroll on the bubble, or point at it and click − or +, to resize it. It goes from 110 to 360 points.
4. Leave it in a corner. The editor starts with the camera in that same corner.

The bubble isn’t part of the screen recording. Your camera is saved on its own, so you can restyle it later. See camera.

Start, pause and mark a recording #

1. Click Record, or press Return.
2. During the countdown, press Return or Space to start right away, or Esc to cancel.
3. A pill sits at the top of the screen while you record. Drag it anywhere; it stays there next time.
4. Press Option+Shift+7, or click the pause button, to pause. The timer reads Paused. Do the same to resume.
5. Press Option+Shift+8, or click the flag, to mark a moment. A flag appears on the editor’s timeline.

Stop a screen recording on Mac #

There are four ways to stop. Each one saves the recording and opens it.

1. Click the red square with the timer at the left of the pill.
2. Or press Option+Shift+6, from any app.
3. Or click the ScreenCameo icon in the menu bar → Stop Recording.
4. Or right-click ScreenCameo in the Dock → Stop Recording.

What happens next is set in Settings (Cmd+Comma) → Recording → When you stop. Open the editor is the default. Show a quick card puts a small card in the screen corner instead.

Closing the card keeps the recording. You’ll find it in Home → Recordings.

Record with Last Setup #

Press Option+Shift+6 when you aren’t recording to skip the Capture Bar. ScreenCameo records straight away with the choices you used last. In Window or Area mode you still pick the window or drag the area.

Frame rate, countdown and defaults #

Open Settings (Cmd+Comma) → Recording. These are the choices new recordings start from.

The Capture Bar remembers what you used last. Reset to Defaults in its ⋯ menu goes back to your defaults. Factory Defaults in Settings goes back to the out-of-the-box choices.

Recover an interrupted recording #

If ScreenCameo quits while recording, from a crash or a power cut, it recovers the take the next time it opens. Everything up to the last couple of seconds is saved, and the recording opens in the editor.

If a recording stops on its own, for example when a display is unplugged or the disk is full, ScreenCameo opens what was saved and says why.

Shortcuts on this page#

See every shortcut

If something’s off#

Shift + Cmd + 5 opens Apple’s recorder

That’s macOS’s own shortcut. ScreenCameo uses Option+Shift+5. See troubleshooting.

There’s no sound from my Mac in the video

Turn on Mac sound in the Capture Bar before you record. It starts off, so notification sounds stay out.

My voice is missing

Check that a microphone is picked and its bars move. If a chip says “Microphone not allowed”, click Fix….

The window didn’t resize

Allow Accessibility when asked, or click Fix… on the “Accessibility needed to resize” chip. Some apps have a fixed window size.