How to record the screen on your Mac

You can use Screenshot or QuickTime player to make a video recording of the entire screen or just a selected portion of it.

Use the Screenshot app

1. Open the Screenshot app by pressing these three keys together: Shift, Command and 5.

2. You should see an onscreen toolbar with three controls for capturing a still image of your screen, followed by these two controls for recording a video of the screen:

   • Record Entire Screen

   • Record Selected Portion. You can adjust the selected portion by dragging its borders with your mouse or trackpad.

     

3. Before starting your recording, you can click Options in the toolbar to change the recording settings:

   • To record your voice or other audio with the screen recording, choose a microphone.

   • To see a black circle around your pointer when you click, choose Show Mouse Clicks.

   • To set a recording timer, choose the number of seconds to wait before recording begins after you’ve clicked Record.

   • To change where the recording will be saved after you’ve stopped recording, choose a different “Save to” location. By default, recordings will be saved to your desktop.

4. To begin recording, click the Record button in the Screenshot toolbar.

5. To stop recording, click the Stop button in the menu bar, or press Command-Control-Esc (Escape).

6. When you see a thumbnail of the recording in the corner of your screen, click it to edit the recording. Or wait for the recording to save to your desktop.

Find out more about using the Screenshot app

Use QuickTime Player

1. Open QuickTime Player from your Applications folder.

2. From the menu bar, choose File > New Screen Recording. Or press Control-Command-N.

   • If you see the onscreen controls described above, screen recording on your Mac is performed by the Screenshot app. Follow the steps in the previous section.

   • If you see the Screen Recording window described below, screen recording on your Mac is performed by QuickTime Player. Continue to the next step.

3. Before starting your recording, you can click the arrow next to the Record button to change the recording settings:

   

   • To record your voice or other audio with the screen recording, choose a microphone. To monitor that audio while recording, adjust the volume slider. If you get audio feedback, lower the volume or use headphones with a microphone.

   • To see a black circle around your pointer when you click, choose Show Mouse Clicks in Recording.

4. To start recording, click the Record button and then take one of these actions:

   • Click anywhere on the screen to start recording the entire screen.

   • Or drag to select an area to record, then click Start Recording within that area.

5. To stop recording, click the Stop button in the menu bar, or press Command-Control-Esc (Escape).

6. After you've stopped recording, QuickTime Player will open the recording automatically. You can now play, edit or share the recording.

Find out more about using QuickTime Player

Find out more

• When saving your recording automatically, your Mac will use the name ”Screen Recording [date] at [time].mov”.

• To cancel making a recording in the Screenshot app or QuickTime Player, press the Esc key before you click Record.

• You can open screen recordings with QuickTime Player, iMovie and other apps that can edit or view videos.

• Some apps may not let you record their windows.

• How to record the screen on your iPhone or iPad.