Guides / Screen recording with audio
Why does my Mac screen recording have no sound?
Tested on macOS 26.4.1 (Tahoe), Apple M3 Max, 3 Sept 2026. Updated 2026-09-03.
Your Mac screen recording has no sound because the built-in Screenshot tool (Shift-Command-5) records only a microphone, set to None by default. It never records the computer's own audio. Choose a microphone under Options for your voice, use OBS Studio for screen plus computer sound, or AirCheck ($39) if the sound was the point: a WAV or MP3 of everything the Mac plays, no driver, no video file to strip. Four Shift-Command-5 files checked on macOS 26.4.1 confirm it.
Why is there no sound when I screen record on Mac?
There are exactly two reasons, and both come from how Apple's Screenshot tool works.
- Microphone is set to None. Open the toolbar with Shift-Command-5, click Options, and look under Microphone. Apple's guide describes this setting as "select the microphone you want to use" or "select None". None is the default on a fresh user account, and it produces a .mov with no audio track at all.
- You expected computer audio. Even with a microphone selected, the Screenshot tool records that microphone and nothing else. Music in Spotify, a YouTube video, a Zoom call, a game: none of it goes into the file, except what leaks from your speakers into the mic at very low level.
You can tell the two apart in QuickTime Player. Open the recording and choose Window > Show Movie Inspector. If the format line lists only video, the microphone was None. If it lists an AAC audio track but you hear only faint room noise, the microphone was on and you were expecting system audio. See Does QuickTime record system audio on Mac? for why the same limit applies to QuickTime.
Does Mac screen recording record internal audio?
No. The Screenshot tool in macOS 26 Tahoe records your screen plus one microphone input. It does not record internal audio, computer audio, or system sound, and there is no hidden switch for it. Apple's screenshot guide lists Microphone, Save to, Timer, Show Mouse Pointer, and Show Floating Thumbnail as the options; system audio is not among them.
This surprises people because iPhone and iPad screen recordings do include app audio. On the Mac, capturing everything the computer plays is a separate capability. Apple exposes it to third-party apps through ScreenCaptureKit, which Apple describes as a way to "stream screen content and audio to your app". Apps that use it need the one-time permission in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Screen & System Audio Recording. Apple's own Screenshot tool does not use that path for audio.
So the honest rule: a .mov from Shift-Command-5 can contain your voice, never the computer's sound. If you need the computer's sound, read How to screen record with internal audio on Mac.
How do I check which problem I have?
A quick measurement settles it. I ran ffprobe and an ffmpeg volumedetect pass over four real Shift-Command-5 recordings on this Mac (macOS 26.4.1, 3 Sept 2026):
- All four with a microphone selected had a stereo AAC track at 48 kHz, 98 to 104 kbps.
- Two recordings made with the built-in microphone and nobody speaking measured a mean level of -48.5 dB and -60.4 dB. That is room noise. The music playing on the Mac at the time is not in the file.
- One recording with someone talking measured -38.4 dB mean and -16.5 dB peak, which is normal speech.
Without the Terminal: play the file, turn the volume all the way up, and listen for hiss. Hiss means the microphone was on. Complete digital silence with the timeline moving means no audio track. If your microphone was on but you hear nothing at all, check System Settings > Privacy & Security > Microphone and make sure the input you picked is still connected; Bluetooth headsets that were asleep when you pressed Record deliver zeros.
How do I get the sound I actually wanted?
Match the fix to what you wanted in the file.
- Your voice only: Shift-Command-5 > Options > pick your microphone. Free, built in, one file.
- Screen plus computer sound in one video: OBS Studio. Its macOS Audio Capture source captures desktop audio on macOS 13 and later without a virtual driver. The output is an .mkv or .mp4, not a .mov, and the setup takes a few minutes. Steps are in the internal-audio guide linked above.
- Screen plus computer sound plus your voice: also OBS, or Audio Hijack ($69 on the vendor page, a session built from blocks) if you only need the audio mixed. See sound and microphone at the same time.
- Only the sound, no video: stop screen recording. Use a system audio recorder such as AirCheck, which writes a WAV or MP3 straight from ScreenCaptureKit. See record audio only without video.
Keep the microphone at None if you choose OBS or an audio recorder for computer sound, otherwise you record the room twice.
How to screen record on Mac without sound on purpose?
The default already does this. Press Shift-Command-5, click Options, and choose None under Microphone. The resulting .mov has no audio track, which is what you want for a silent demo or a GIF source, and it is slightly smaller. On this Mac the microphone track adds about 100 kbps, roughly 0.75 MB per minute, which is under one percent of the video. If you later need narration, you can record voice separately with QuickTime Player's File > New Audio Recording and combine the two in iMovie or any editor. If you want to strip an existing audio track, QuickTime Player's Export As at any resolution keeps the audio, so use ffmpeg -i in.mov -an -c:v copy out.mov to drop it without re-encoding.
Stream screen content and audio to your app with fine-grained control over what you capture.
Apple, ScreenCaptureKit documentation
What ends up in the audio track of a Shift-Command-5 recording (measured on macOS 26.4.1)
| Microphone setting | Your voice | Computer sound | Audio track in the .mov | Measured level with nobody talking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| None (default) | no | no | none | no track |
| Built-in microphone | yes | only speaker leakage | AAC 48 kHz stereo, about 100 kbps | -48.5 dB and -60.4 dB mean |
| Bluetooth headset microphone | yes | no | AAC 48 kHz stereo | not measured |
| OBS macOS Audio Capture (separate app) | optional | yes | in the .mkv/.mp4 | not measured |
| AirCheck system audio (separate app, audio only) | no (separate take) | yes | WAV or MP3 file, no video | not applicable |
Levels from ffmpeg volumedetect over four real recordings on 3 Sept 2026. Speech in the same setup measured -38.4 dB mean.
Where AirCheck fits
If the video was never the point and you only wanted the sound, AirCheck is the right buy because it fixes the problem at the root. It records everything the Mac plays through ScreenCaptureKit into a 24-bit master with one button and nothing to configure, and gives you a WAV or 320 kbps MP3 in ~/Music/AirCheck when you stop. No BlackHole, no Audio MIDI Setup, no video file to strip afterwards, no length limit. It is $39 once, runs on Apple silicon and Intel, needs macOS 14 Sonoma or newer, comes with a 14-day refund, and asks for the same Screen & System Audio Recording permission the screen recorder would. If capture stalls, a watchdog restarts it into the same file within 5 seconds.
When you do not need it: AirCheck records audio only, one source per take. Your own voice over the screen is the built-in tool's job; screen video plus computer sound in one file is a screen recorder's job.
AirCheck records what your Mac plays, or any input, to one file. $39 once.
macOS 14 or newer. One-off payment. Fourteen-day refund, no questions asked.
Questions people ask
Does Mac screen recording not record audio at all?
It records a microphone if you choose one under Options. It does not record the computer's own audio in any version of macOS, including macOS 26 Tahoe. That needs a third-party app built on ScreenCaptureKit or a virtual audio driver.
Why is my screen recording not playing sound on Mac when I know the mic was on?
Check the input device is still the one you selected, that the app has Microphone permission in System Settings > Privacy & Security, and that a Bluetooth headset was actually awake. A mic that was asleep records a silent track. Open the file in QuickTime and look at Movie Inspector to confirm an audio track exists.
Can I add system audio to a screen recording I already made?
Not after the fact. The sound was never captured, so no converter can recover it. Re-record with OBS Studio, or record the audio separately with a system audio recorder and align it with the video in an editor.
Does QuickTime screen recording have the same problem?
It records a microphone if you choose one under Options, and nothing otherwise. It does not record the computer's own audio in any version of macOS, including macOS 26 Tahoe. That needs a third-party app built on ScreenCaptureKit or a virtual audio driver.
Sources
- Apple: Take a screenshot or screen recording on Mac
- Apple: ScreenCaptureKit documentation
- Apple: Control access to screen and system audio recording on Mac
- OBS: macOS Desktop Audio Capture Guide
- Rogue Amoeba: Purchase Audio Hijack
Related guides
- How to screen record with internal audio on a Mac
- Does QuickTime Player record system audio on a Mac?
- How to record audio only on a Mac, without making a screen recording
- Why is my Mac not recording sound?
- Why is the microphone permission not working for my app on Mac?
- How to screen record on a Mac with computer sound and your microphone at the same time
- Screen recording with audio: all guides
- Every guide, by topic