If you want to capture something on your Mac screen, in addition to screenshots, there is also screen recording.
But screenshots are a lot of things that can’t be done, and at this point, screen recording comes in handy. You can record a video of your Mac screen using the Snipping Toolbar Tool or the QuickTime Player app, both of which are pre-installed on your Mac computer.
However, you’ll need macOS Mojave or a later version to use the screenshot toolbar, but any version of macOS can use QuickTime Player.
How to screen record with screenshot toolbar on Mac
Again, keep in mind that this method is only available if you’re running macOS Mojave or later. If you’re not sure what version of macOS your macOS is, double-check your macOS version and install any required updates.
Once you are ready to record, here’s how:
1. Press Command + Shift + 5 on your keyboard to open the Screenshot Toolbar.
A toolbar with a number of icons and options will appear at the bottom of the screen. You’re looking for the icons that have the record symbol (a solid circle) over them. One will record a video of your entire screen, and the other will let you select a specific section of the screen to record.
2. Pick which recording type you want — and if you picked Record Selected Portion, highlight the part of your screen that you want to film — and then click Record. If you want to cancel a screen recording before it begins, press the Esc key.
3. Your screen recording will start immediately, and capture everything on your screen (or in the selected section) and any audio playing. When you’re done, click the stop button in the menu bar on the top of the screen.
By default, your screen recording will be saved as .mov file on your desktop. However, you can change this by opening the Screenshot Toolbar and clicking on Options.
Save to: You can choose where on your Mac the video file will be saved to. This works for screenshots as well.
Timer: Choose whether your screen begins recording as soon as you hit Record, or if there’s a time delay of five or 10 seconds.
Show Floating Thumbnail: A floating thumbnail can appear on your screen after you’ve finished recording, which will open a preview of the video if you click on it. This is helpful if you want to quickly rename a file or change where it’s saved.
Remember Last Selection: You can have the Screenshot Toolbar remember the exact settings you used the last time by enabling this feature.
Show Mouse Clicks: This will add a black circle to your cursor during the recording to make it clearer where your pointer is on screen.
How to use QuickTime Player for screen recording on Mac
This is the method you’ll want to use if you’re running an older version of macOS. If you go through these steps while running macOS Mojave or newer, it’ll just lead you back to the Screenshot Toolbar.
1. Open the QuickTime Player app on your Mac. You can find it in your Applications folder, or by searching for it.
2. Click File in the menu bar at the top of your screen.
3. Click New Screen Recording and wait for a dark gray recording window to appear.
Note: You may need to grant QuickTime permission to record your screen in the System Preferences app for your Mac. If that’s the case, a pop-up window will appear telling you how to grant permissions.
4. Click the red record button, then click anywhere on the screen to start a fullscreen recording, or drag your mouse to record only a specific section.
How to record audio in screen recordings
When you’re recording your screen using QuickTime, you can also choose to record sounds, such as your own voice for narration.
1. Open the QuickTime Player app on your Mac.
2. Click File in the menu bar at the top of your screen.
3. Click New Screen Recording and wait for a dark gray recording window to appear.
4. Click the down arrow next to the red record button to expand the dropdown. Then, click on Internal Microphone under “Microphone.”
To enable mouse clicks to be highlighted, you should click on Show Mouse Clicks in Recording in the dropdown to enable the feature.
Once you stop recording, your new video will automatically open in QuickTime. From here, you can watch, edit, and share it.
How to screen record with third-party apps
The good thing about recording screen on Mac is that you don’t have to stick to the built-in tools. There are a lot of third-party options that you can use to capture your screen and even add commentary.
Apowersoft Screen Recorder
Apowersoft Screen Recorder is free and easy to use. It is a browser-based application, which means that you can get unlimited screen recordings without downloading anything.
It has flexible controls that allow you to easily pause and resume recording, schedule your screen recording, and select specific parts of the screen you wish to capture.
Snagit
If you’re going to make an instructional video, then Snagit is the best choice. On top of allowing you to capture everything to your screen, it allows you to add visuals during editing to make your videos more interesting.
It also has templates that help simplify the video creation process, allowing you to record tutorials, presentations, seminars, and other types of helpful videos in minutes.
Furthermore, Snagit allows you to instantly share your video to several platforms, such as Google Drive, Dropbox, Slack, and email, for easier feedback and collaboration. It’s not free though, and you’ll have to pay $62.99 to start (a free trial is available).
Loom
Loom allows you to capture both video and audio using its desktop app or Chrome extension.
Once you capture the video, you can store it in Loom’s native cloud storage so it doesn’t take up space on your Mac, create a link, and share it with others right from your dashboard. And you can trim away any unnecessary segments to make the video focused, concise, and professional.
You can use Loom for free, but you’ll be limited to recording five-minute videos. You can record for an unlimited amount of time starting from $8.00 per month with the Business plan.
Yes, that’s it, choose the way that suits you and start screen recording easily.
