Guides / Recording with QuickTime, OBS, Audacity and GarageBand

How to record audio with QuickTime Player on a Mac

Tested on macOS 26.4.1 (Tahoe), Apple M3 Max, 3 Sept 2026. Updated 2026-09-03.

You can record audio in QuickTime Player with File > New Audio Recording. It captures a microphone or any Core Audio input (built-in mic, USB mic, audio interface), not the sound the Mac is playing. Two quality settings exist: High (44.1 kHz AAC) and Maximum (44.1 kHz, 24-bit Linear PCM). Save with File > Save; the result is an .m4a file. For system audio you need a different tool.

How do I record audio on a Mac with QuickTime Player?

QuickTime Player is in the Applications folder on every Mac. The whole process is six clicks.

1. Open QuickTime Player and choose File > New Audio Recording. A small window with a red Record button appears.
2. Click the small arrow next to the Record button. Pick the microphone you want (the built-in mic, a USB mic, or an input of your audio interface) and the quality, High or Maximum.
3. Drag the volume slider in that window to zero unless you are wearing headphones. That slider plays the input through your speakers while you record, which feeds back into the mic.
4. Click Record. The first time, macOS asks for Microphone permission; allow it.
5. Click Stop when you are done. Option-click the Record button if you want to pause instead of stopping.
6. Choose File > Save (Command-S), give the take a name and a folder.

Apple's guide for this page describes exactly the same flow: choose File > New Audio Recording, pick a microphone, click Start Recording, then Stop Recording, then File > Save. If you close the window before saving, QuickTime asks whether to save or delete the take, so nothing is lost silently. Recording a phone or a meeting this way captures only your side, because the other party comes out of your speakers, not into the mic input. See does QuickTime record system audio for that case.

Which quality should I choose, High or Maximum?

Apple defines the two settings precisely. High is "44100 Hz AAC audio". Maximum is "44100 Hz, uncompressed Linear PCM 24-bit AIFF-C audio". Both land in an .m4a container when you save, so the file extension does not tell you which one you picked; the size does.

• High is a lossy AAC file. It is fine for a voice note, a lecture you will only listen to, or anything that ends up as a transcript. It is small and plays everywhere.
• Maximum is uncompressed 24-bit PCM. Choose it for anything you will edit, EQ, or master later. A stereo 24-bit 44.1 kHz file measures about 15.1 MB per minute (0.89 GB per hour) in our recordings; a mono mic take is about half that.

There is no 48 kHz option and no 16-bit option in QuickTime. If your interface runs at 48 kHz, QuickTime still records at 44.1 kHz. That matters for video work, where 48 kHz is the norm, and for anything you plan to drop into a 48 kHz project without resampling. If you need 48 kHz or 16-bit WAV directly, GarageBand, Audacity, or a dedicated recorder gives you that; see recording your voice in GarageBand for the 24-bit route with editing.

Can QuickTime record computer audio or internal sound?

No. The microphone menu in QuickTime lists only Core Audio input devices. macOS does not expose "what the Mac is playing" as an input device, so no built-in mic list can contain it. Screen recording does not help either: Apple's Mac User Guide describes the audio choice for a screen recording as "Below Microphone, select the microphone you want to use", and the only other choice is None. A screen recording therefore contains your voice and the room, plus whatever leaks from the speakers into the mic.

Two ways around it:

1. Install a virtual driver. BlackHole (free) shows up as a fake microphone. Set your Mac's output to a Multi-Output Device that includes both your speakers and BlackHole, then choose BlackHole in QuickTime's mic menu. Steps are in how to create a Multi-Output Device. Skip the Multi-Output step and your speakers go silent while you record.
2. Use a recorder built on ScreenCaptureKit. Since macOS 13, Apple's screen-capture framework can hand system audio to an app that has the Screen Recording permission. OBS uses it, and so does AirCheck. Nothing is installed in Audio MIDI Setup.

Pick the driver route if you already use Audacity or GarageBand and want to record directly into a multitrack project. Pick the ScreenCaptureKit route if you want a file and no setup.

Where does QuickTime save audio recordings and how do I stop one?

QuickTime does not save automatically. Clicking Stop ends the take and leaves it open as an unsaved document. You then choose File > Save and pick the folder; there is no fixed default location like Voice Memos has. If you want a different format afterwards, File > Export As > Audio Only writes an AAC .m4a copy at High quality regardless of what you recorded.

Stopping a screen recording is the part people search for most. The Stop button is in the menu bar at the top right (a circle with a square), or press Command-Control-Escape. The screen recording then opens in QuickTime as a .mov and, unlike an audio recording, it is saved automatically to the location set under Options in the screenshot toolbar (Desktop by default). To pull the audio out of that .mov, use File > Export As > Audio Only, or see extracting audio from a Mac screen recording.

Two limits to know: QuickTime shows no elapsed-size counter, and it holds the take in memory-backed temporary storage until you save, so on a nearly full disk a long Maximum-quality take can fail at save time. Check free space before a multi-hour recording.

Maximum: 44100 Hz, uncompressed Linear PCM 24-bit AIFF-C audio

Apple, QuickTime Player User Guide, Record audio

QuickTime audio recording compared with the other ways to get a file on a Mac

Sample rates and formats for QuickTime are from Apple's guide; AirCheck values from its own measured recordings.

Where AirCheck fits

AirCheck is the ScreenCaptureKit route from the section above, packaged as a recorder. It captures everything the Mac plays with the one-time Screen Recording permission, no BlackHole, no Multi-Output Device, and your speakers keep working. It also records any Core Audio input, including a channel pair on an interface, at the device's own rate (48 kHz for system audio) in 24-bit, and exports WAV 16-bit, WAV 24-bit, or MP3 320 kbps. $39 once, macOS 14 or newer.

When you do not need it: If you only need to record a microphone, QuickTime's Maximum setting already gives you 24-bit PCM for free; there is no reason to pay for that.

Questions people ask

Does QuickTime on Mac record audio?

Yes. File > New Audio Recording records from any microphone or audio-interface input at 44.1 kHz, as AAC (High) or 24-bit PCM (Maximum). It does not record the sound the Mac itself is playing.

How do I record computer audio on a Mac with QuickTime?

Not directly. Install the free BlackHole driver, build a Multi-Output Device in Audio MIDI Setup containing your speakers and BlackHole, set it as the system output, then choose BlackHole as the microphone in QuickTime. Or use a ScreenCaptureKit-based recorder that needs no driver.

How do I save a QuickTime audio recording on Mac?

Click Stop, then choose File > Save (Command-S). QuickTime asks for a name and a folder every time; there is no automatic save location for audio recordings. Closing the window unsaved prompts you to save or delete.

How do I stop a QuickTime screen recording on a Mac?

Click the Stop button in the menu bar (top right) or press Command-Control-Escape. The .mov then opens in QuickTime and is already saved to the location chosen under Options, the Desktop by default.

Sources

• Apple: Record audio in QuickTime Player on Mac
• Apple: Record your screen in QuickTime Player on Mac
• Apple: Take a screenshot or screen recording on Mac
• Existential Audio: BlackHole

Related guides

• Does QuickTime Player record system audio on a Mac?
• Can Voice Memos on a Mac record system audio?
• QuickTime vs OBS vs Audacity for recording audio on a Mac
• How to create a Multi-Output Device on a Mac (and keep hearing your audio)
• How to extract the audio from a Mac screen recording
• Can Audacity record system audio on a Mac?
• Recording with QuickTime, OBS, Audacity and GarageBand: all guides
• Every guide, by topic