Guides / Screen recording with audio

Where do Mac screen recordings save, and how do you stop a recording?

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

Mac screen recordings save to the Desktop by default, as .mov files named "Screen Recording" followed by the date and time. You stop one by clicking the Stop Recording button in the menu bar, the small square icon that appears while recording. The folder can be changed under Shift-Command-5 > Options > Save to, and a changed folder is the most common reason a recording seems to be missing.

Where do screen recordings go on Mac?

Apple's guide states it directly: "The files are saved to the desktop" and "Filenames begin with 'Screenshot' or 'Screen Recording' and include the date and time." A recording made on 27 August at 12:06 becomes Screen Recording 2026-08-27 at 12.06.41.mov on the Desktop.

Three situations change that:

• Someone changed Save to. The Options menu remembers Desktop, Documents, or any Other Location. The setting also applies to screenshots, which is why people who once redirected screenshots to a folder cannot find their recordings.
• Desktop is in iCloud Drive. If Desktop & Documents Folders syncing is on, the file is still on the Desktop, but a large .mov may show a cloud icon while it uploads and can be evicted from local storage later.
• QuickTime's New Audio Recording is different: it is not saved anywhere until you choose File > Save. Close the window without saving and the take is gone.

Other recorders use their own folders: OBS writes to Movies by default, and AirCheck writes to ~/Music/AirCheck with names like AirCheck 2026-08-27 at 12.07.11.wav.

How do I change where screen recordings save?

Tested on macOS 26.4.1:

1. Press Shift-Command-5.
2. Click Options.
3. Under Save to, pick Desktop, Documents, or Other Location and choose a folder.

The choice persists until you change it. To check it without opening the toolbar, run defaults read com.apple.screencapture location in Terminal; it prints the custom folder, or an error if the default Desktop is in use. On this Mac it printed a custom Screenshots folder, which is exactly the trap described above.

Two things you cannot change here: the file name pattern and the format. Recordings are always .mov with H.264 video, and the audio, if a microphone was chosen, is AAC at about 100 kbps. The full list of settings is in what can the built-in Mac screen recorder record. If you want the output as an audio file rather than a video, see how to extract audio from a Mac screen recording.

How do I stop a screen recording on Mac?

Three ways, in order of reliability.

1. Menu bar. Apple's guide: "To stop recording, click the Stop Recording button in the menu bar." It is a small circle-with-a-square icon near the clock. On a MacBook with a notch, or with many menu bar items, it can be hidden; hide a few other icons or use the next method.
2. Shift-Command-5 again. The toolbar reappears with a Stop Recording button in place of the capture buttons.
3. Command-Control-Esc. The keyboard shortcut for stopping a recording started from the Screenshot toolbar. Handy when the recorded app is full screen and hides the menu bar.

After you stop, a floating thumbnail appears bottom right for a few seconds. Do nothing and the file is saved; click it to trim; swipe it right to dismiss. Dragging it to an app moves the file there instead of the save folder, which is a second way recordings go missing. QuickTime Player's screen recording stops the same way, because it uses the same toolbar. Stopping a QuickTime audio recording is a separate Stop button in its own window, followed by File > Save.

Why can't I find my screen recording?

Work through these in order.

1. Check the Save to folder under Shift-Command-5 > Options. Custom Screenshots folders catch recordings too.
2. Search in Spotlight for "Screen Recording 2026" and sort by date.
3. Look at the Desktop in a Finder window rather than on the Desktop itself; a cluttered Desktop with Stacks enabled hides new files inside a Movies stack.
4. If you dragged the floating thumbnail somewhere, it is there, not on the Desktop.
5. If the Mac ran out of disk space during a long recording, the file may be truncated or absent. Recordings run at roughly 1 to 4 GB per hour on this Mac, so check free space before a long session.
6. If it was a QuickTime audio recording and you closed the window, it was never saved.

For recordings that exist but are silent, the cause is different and is covered in why does my Mac screen recording have no sound.

To stop recording, click the Stop Recording button in the menu bar.

Apple, Take a screenshot or screen recording on Mac

Where each Mac recording tool saves, and how you stop it

Screenshot-toolbar behaviour from Apple's guide; other rows from the vendors' defaults as observed on macOS 26.4.1.

Where AirCheck fits

If the recordings you keep losing are really audio, a dedicated recorder removes the guessing. AirCheck saves every take automatically to ~/Music/AirCheck, names it with the date and time, and lists it in an in-app Library with duration and size, folders, play, and drag-out to any app. Stop is one button, and if the audio device stalls mid-take a watchdog reconnects into the same file. It records system audio or any Core Audio input, costs $39 once, and needs macOS 14 Sonoma or newer.

When you do not need it: For screen recordings themselves, the built-in tool already saves automatically to the Desktop; you only need to fix the Save to setting, not buy anything.

Questions people ask

How to stop screen recording on Mac when the Stop button is hidden?

Press Shift-Command-5 and click Stop Recording in the toolbar, or press Command-Control-Esc. Both work while a full-screen app hides the menu bar. The file is saved to the Save to folder as soon as the recording stops.

Where do QuickTime screen recordings go?

The same place as Shift-Command-5 recordings, because QuickTime's File > New Screen Recording opens the Screenshot toolbar. By default that is the Desktop, unless Options > Save to was changed.

Why did my screen recording save somewhere else?

The Save to option in the Screenshot toolbar is shared with screenshots. If screenshots were ever redirected to a folder, recordings go there too. Run defaults read com.apple.screencapture location to see the folder.

How to stop recording on Mac with QuickTime Player audio recording?

Click the Stop button in the recording window, then choose File > Save and pick a name and folder. Unlike screen recordings, audio recordings in QuickTime are not saved until you do this.

Sources

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

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