How to Screen Record on Mac (Screenshot Toolbar & QuickTime)

You need to show someone what’s happening on your screen: a bug, a quick walkthrough, a setting you can’t explain in words. You don’t need to install anything. Every current Mac has a recorder built in, and this guide covers how to screen record on Mac with the Screenshot toolbar and QuickTime Player, how to stop and trim a recording, where the file ends up, and what to do when it doesn’t work.

How to screen record on Mac: the quick version

1. Press ⌘ Command + ⇧ Shift + 5.
2. In the toolbar at the bottom of the screen, click Record Entire Screen or Record Selected Portion.
3. Click Record.
4. When you’re finished, click the Stop button in the menu bar.

The recording saves to your desktop as a .mov file. The rest of this guide explains each step and the options worth changing.

Method 1: The Screenshot toolbar (⌘⇧5)

⌘⇧5 opens the Screenshot app’s toolbar. It handles both screenshots and screen recordings. You can also open it from Applications › Utilities › Screenshot.

The toolbar has three groups of buttons. The first group takes screenshots. The second group records video:

• Record Entire Screen
• Record Selected Window (macOS Tahoe 26 and later)
• Record Selected Portion

Next comes the Options menu, then the Record button (it reads Capture while a screenshot mode is selected). Hover over any icon to see its name.

Record the whole screen

1. Press ⌘⇧5.
2. Click Record Entire Screen.
3. Click Record. If you use more than one display, your pointer turns into a camera; click the display you want to record.

Record part of the screen

Recording a selected area keeps files smaller and hides everything you don’t want to show.

1. Press ⌘⇧5.
2. Click Record Selected Portion.
3. Drag the edges or corner handles of the frame to resize it.
4. Drag from inside the frame to move it.
5. Click Record.

Tip: Turn on Options › Remember Last Selection if you record the same area often. The frame reappears in the same spot next time.

Record a single window

On macOS Tahoe 26 and later you can record one window, and the recording follows that window only.

1. Press ⌘⇧5.
2. Click Record Selected Window.
3. Move the pointer over the window you want and click it to start recording.

On earlier macOS versions, use Record Selected Portion and draw the frame around the window instead.

Options to check before you record

Click Options in the toolbar to change these settings. They stay in place for future recordings.

Option	What it does
Save to	Where the finished file goes: Desktop, Documents, an app, or Other Location
Timer	Waits 5 or 10 seconds before recording starts
Microphone	Records your voice or other mic input. None means no audio
Include System Audio	Records sound from your apps (macOS 27 and later only)
Show Floating Thumbnail	Shows a preview in the corner after you stop
Remember Last Selection	Reuses your last recording frame
Show Mouse Clicks	Draws a circle around the pointer each time you click

If Microphone is set to None, the recording is silent, so check it before you start if you want narration. If you need sound from apps, videos or calls, read our guide to recording your screen with audio on a Mac. Built-in system audio arrived only in macOS 27.

Method 2: QuickTime Player

QuickTime Player is the older way to record, and it’s still handy because it can trim and export the result.

1. Open QuickTime Player from your Applications folder.
2. Choose File › New Screen Recording, or press ⌃ Control + ⌘ + N.
3. On current macOS, this opens the same Screenshot toolbar described above. Pick your recording mode and options.
4. Click Record.

In other words, recording works the same either way. QuickTime’s real value is what happens after you stop: trimming, splitting clips and exporting a smaller copy with File › Export As, where you can pick a lower resolution such as 1080p or 720p.

QuickTime can also record your webcam. Choose File › New Movie Recording, then View › Float on Top, and the camera window stays visible above everything while you record your screen. That’s a quick way to get a face-cam in a tutorial without extra software.

How to stop a screen recording on Mac

You have three ways to stop:

• Click the Stop button (a circle with a square inside) in the menu bar at the top of the screen.
• Press ⌃ + ⌘ + Esc.
• Press ⌘⇧5 again and click the Stop Recording button in the toolbar.

If you’re recording a full-screen app and can’t see the menu bar, move your pointer to the top edge of the screen and it slides down. The keyboard shortcut works no matter what’s on screen.

Where screen recordings are saved

Recordings save to your Desktop by default. Each file gets a name like “Screen Recording 2026-10-27 at 10.42.15 AM.mov”. The exact date and time format follows your region settings.

If you don’t see the file right away, the floating thumbnail is probably still showing in the bottom-right corner. macOS saves the file when the thumbnail disappears after a few seconds. Swipe the thumbnail to the right, or just wait, and it lands in your save location.

Still can’t find it? Press ⌘ + Space to open Spotlight and type “Screen Recording”.

Change where recordings are saved

1. Press ⌘⇧5.
2. Click Options.
3. Under Save to, choose a listed location, or choose Other Location.
4. If you chose Other Location, select a folder and click Choose.

The new location applies to every recording after that until you change it again. A dedicated folder such as Movies › Screen Recordings keeps your desktop clean, and makes old recordings easy to find when you need to free up space on your Mac. Long full-screen recordings can take up several gigabytes.

How to trim a screen recording

Most recordings start with a few seconds of you reaching for the mouse and end with you hunting for the Stop button. Trim them off before you share.

Trim from the floating thumbnail

1. Right after you stop recording, click the thumbnail in the bottom-right corner.
2. Click the Trim button in the window’s toolbar.
3. Drag the yellow handles at each end of the timeline to the start and end you want.
4. Click Done, then click Done again to save.

Trim in QuickTime Player

1. Double-click the recording to open it in QuickTime Player.
2. Choose Edit › Trim, or press ⌘ + T.
3. Drag the yellow handles to set the new start and end.
4. Click Trim.
5. Choose File › Save to keep the change, or File › Export As to save a trimmed copy and keep the original.

For anything more than a trim, such as cutting out the middle, adding titles or zooming in, iMovie is free on the Mac App Store. Our roundup of the best screen recorders for Mac also covers apps with built-in editors.

Allow screen recording in Privacy & Security

The built-in Screenshot toolbar doesn’t need any permission. Third-party apps do, including recorders like OBS, video call apps like Zoom and Teams when you share your screen, and browsers when a website asks to share your screen. Without permission, these apps usually capture only your wallpaper or a blank image.

To give an app permission:

1. Choose Apple menu › System Settings.
2. Click Privacy & Security in the sidebar.
3. Click Screen & System Audio Recording. On macOS Ventura and Sonoma, this is called Screen Recording.
4. Turn on the switch next to the app. If the app isn’t listed, click the Add (+) button below the list and choose it from your Applications folder.
5. Quit and reopen the app if macOS asks you to.

Note: On macOS Monterey and earlier, the setting lives in System Preferences › Security & Privacy › Privacy › Screen Recording, and you may need to click the lock to make changes.

Newer macOS versions sometimes ask you to confirm that an app should keep its screen recording access. That’s expected; click Allow to continue. Apple explains the setting in its guide to controlling access to screen and system audio recording.

Screen recording not working? Try these fixes

⌘⇧5 does nothing

Another app may have taken over the shortcut, or it may have been turned off. Go to System Settings › Keyboard, click Keyboard Shortcuts, then choose Screenshots and make sure the shortcuts are turned on. You can also open Screenshot from Applications › Utilities directly.

The recording has no sound

Open Options and check that Microphone isn’t set to None. If you wanted sound from a video or app rather than your voice, you need macOS 27’s Include System Audio option or a workaround on older versions. See how to record your screen with audio.

Part of the recording is black

Copy-protected video, like the Apple TV app and many streaming services, can’t be recorded. This is deliberate and there’s no setting to change it. Apple notes that some apps don’t allow their windows to be recorded at all.

A third-party app only records the wallpaper

The app doesn’t have screen recording permission. Follow the Privacy & Security steps above, then quit and reopen the app.

The recording won’t stop or the Mac freezes

Press ⌃⌘Esc. If the Mac stays unresponsive, see our guide on how to force quit on a Mac. Long recordings at full Retina resolution are demanding, so record a smaller area or close heavy apps first.

The file is huge

Open it in QuickTime Player, choose File › Export As, and pick 1080p or 720p. The exported copy is usually much smaller and still sharp enough for most sharing.

The recording stutters

Close apps you aren’t using, record a selected portion instead of a large display, and make sure you have plenty of free storage. Recording to an almost-full drive can cause dropped frames.

Handy shortcuts for screen recording

Action	Shortcut
Open the Screenshot toolbar	⌘⇧5
Stop recording	⌃⌘Esc
New screen recording in QuickTime	⌃⌘N
Trim in QuickTime	⌘T
Cancel before recording starts	Esc

For still images, see the full list of Mac screenshot shortcuts, and for everything else, our cheat sheet of Mac keyboard shortcuts. Apple’s own instructions are in How to record the screen on your Mac.