How to record audio on Mac

How to record audio on Mac with QuickTime Player

1. Open QuickTime Player from the Applications folder.
2. Choose File › New Audio Recording. A small recording window opens.

3. Click the arrow next to the record button and choose the microphone and the quality: High or Maximum.

4. Click the record button to start. Option-click it to pause, click it again to go on.
5. Click the stop button when you’re done.
6. Choose File › Save, give the recording a name, pick a folder and click Save.

High saves compressed AAC audio, which suits voice and music. Maximum saves uncompressed AIFF audio: a few minutes take tens of megabytes, so use it only when you plan to edit the sound.

Record with Voice Memos

Voice Memos is handy for quick notes, lectures and interviews: recordings are kept in a list inside the app, and you don’t have to save them by hand.

1. Open Voice Memos from the Applications folder.
2. Click the record button.
3. Click Pause to stop for a moment and Resume to go on.
4. Click Done. The recording appears in the list as “New Recording”, or under the name of your location if location-based naming is on.

Choose the microphone

Voice Memos records from the input chosen in System Settings, and QuickTime Player uses it unless you pick another in its menu.

1. Choose Apple menu › System Settings, then click Sound in the sidebar.
2. Click Input and select the microphone in the list.
3. Say something and watch the input level. If it barely moves or hits the end, drag the input volume slider.

The first time an app records, macOS asks whether it may use the microphone. If you clicked Don’t Allow, turn the app on in System Settings › Privacy & Security › Microphone.

Can I record the sound my Mac plays?

Not with the built-in apps. QuickTime Player and Voice Memos record only from a microphone or another input device, so the sound of a video or a call playing on the Mac doesn’t get in, except what the microphone picks up from the speakers.

For that you need a separate app that adds a virtual audio device, or the recording feature of the app you listen in, as many call apps have one. Check that the other people agree to be recorded.