How to Record Internal Audio on Mac (macOS 27 and Older)

To record internal audio on a Mac, use Shift-Command-5 and choose Include System Audio in Options: Apple offers it from macOS 27. On older macOS, QuickTime records only a microphone, so use OBS Studio 30 or later (macOS 13+), or route the sound with BlackHole into Audacity. For a meeting transcript, Reline records both sides and transcribes live.

Internal audio, also called system audio, is the sound your Mac plays: a video, music, a game, the other people on a call. Your microphone hears the room, you included. Many Mac recorders take sound only from a microphone, so with headphones on the internal audio is missing, and with speakers you get a faint copy of it plus the room. To record the sound itself, you need something that captures the output: Apple’s own option on macOS 27, OBS Studio, a virtual audio driver such as BlackHole or Loopback, or, for meetings, Reline.

Apple’s screen recording article says that in macOS 27 or later you choose Include System Audio to record system audio with a screen recording. The Screenshot toolbar comes with every Mac. You get a .mov video and no transcript.

1. Press Shift-Command-5 to open the Screenshot toolbar, then choose to record the entire screen or a portion of it.
2. Click Options and choose Include System Audio. To add your own voice, also choose a microphone.
3. Click Record. To stop, click the Stop button in the menu bar or press Command-Control-Esc.
4. The .mov file lands on your desktop, unless you picked another place under Save to in Options.

On macOS 26 and earlier, Apple’s article offers only a microphone here, so the internal audio is in the file only as far as your microphone heard it from the speakers, and not at all with headphones. To check your version, open the Apple menu and choose About This Mac. The steps are the same on a MacBook Air, a MacBook Pro or a desktop Mac: Apple’s article ties the option to the macOS version and names no model.

QuickTime Player has two recorders, and Apple’s guides give both of them sound from a microphone only:

• File > New Audio Recording records from a microphone. You choose the microphone and a quality, High or Maximum, and Apple’s guide mentions no other source.
• File > New Screen Recording opens the Screenshot tools from Method 1. Apple’s screen recording article lists only a microphone in its QuickTime steps, and describes Include System Audio for the Screenshot toolbar on macOS 27 or later.

So on macOS 26 or earlier, QuickTime has the internal audio only as far as your microphone hears your speakers, and none with headphones on. For the sound itself, use OBS (Method 3) or a virtual audio driver (Methods 4 and 5).

OBS Studio is free, open source and needs macOS 13 or later. Its macOS guide says that OBS Studio 30 on macOS 13 (Ventura) or later has a macOS Audio Capture source that records all desktop audio or just one application. OBS 28 and 29 take the sound from the macOS Screen Capture source instead.

1. Install OBS Studio 30 or later and open it.
2. Add a macOS Audio Capture source and choose to capture all desktop audio, or one app.
3. Watch the Audio Mixer: if your microphone’s meter does not move, open Settings > Audio and pick it there.
4. Check Settings > Output, then click Start Recording on the Controls dock.

Audacity’s own guide says macOS has no built-in desktop audio recording and sends you to Soundflower, which it says is not compatible with Apple silicon Macs. BlackHole is a current open-source virtual audio loopback driver, built for Intel and Apple silicon and compatible with macOS 10.10 or later. You send your Mac’s sound to it through a multi-output device, so you still hear it, and Audacity records BlackHole as its input.

1. Install BlackHole 2ch from existential.audio, or with Homebrew: brew install blackhole-2ch. Quit your audio apps first, and restart if the installer asks.
2. Open Audio MIDI Setup (in the Utilities folder, or search for it with Spotlight).
3. In the Audio Devices window, click the Add button (+) at the bottom of the sidebar and choose Create Multi-Output Device.
4. Select the Use checkbox for your speakers or headphones and for BlackHole 2ch. Choose your speakers or headphones as the Primary Device and, as BlackHole’s guide recommends, turn on Drift Correction for BlackHole 2ch.
5. Right-click the multi-output device and choose Use This Device For Sound Output. You keep hearing the sound, and BlackHole gets a copy.
6. In Audacity, open Audio Setup and set the recording device to BlackHole 2ch. Start the sound, then press Record.

• BlackHole’s guide says macOS cannot change the volume of a multi-output device: set each device’s level in Audio MIDI Setup, and switch your sound output back to your speakers when you are done.
• It records what your Mac plays and nothing else: your microphone is not in the file.
• Turn off input monitoring in Audacity while you record desktop audio, as Audacity’s guide warns, and silence notifications: everything your Mac plays ends up in the file.

Loopback, from Rogue Amoeba, builds virtual audio devices: click the (+) button at the top of its Sources column and add apps and audio devices, for example the app you want to record plus your microphone. Rogue Amoeba says you can then select that device as the input in any app. It costs $99 (an upgrade from an older version costs $49), the trial degrades the audio after twenty minutes, and the current version, 2.5.1, runs on macOS 14.5 to 27, with legacy downloads for older systems.

• You recorded with Shift-Command-5 or QuickTime on macOS 26 or earlier: those take sound only from a microphone. Use OBS, BlackHole or Loopback.
• You chose Include System Audio but no microphone, or the other way round: choose both to get the sound and your voice.
• With BlackHole, the multi-output device is not your sound output, or Audacity’s recording device is not BlackHole 2ch.
• With BlackHole, sound or video stops playing: BlackHole’s guide says your speakers or headphones must be the top, primary device of the multi-output device.
• With OBS, the macOS Audio Capture source is set to one app and the sound comes from another: switch it to all desktop audio.

Everything above leaves you with a file. If the sound you want is a meeting or a call, you probably want the words. Reline is the tool we make, so weigh our view accordingly. Its Mac desktop app records your microphone and the sound your Mac plays, with no driver or multi-output device to set up, and transcribes the call live as people talk, in 60+ languages. On macOS 14.2 or later it captures through a Core Audio tap, which needs an audio-only permission, not screen recording. No bot joins the call.

1. Download the Reline app for Mac and sign in. The Free plan includes 10 hours of transcription.
2. Allow the microphone when macOS asks, then allow system audio (see the table above).
3. Join the meeting or call in its app or in a browser tab. Tell everyone you are recording for notes, and record only if they agree.
4. Press Record in Reline. The transcript appears as people talk.
5. Stop when the call ends. You get the transcript, an AI summary next to it and the kept audio, with a play button on every transcript line.

Know the limits before you count on it. Reline transcribes live while it records: it cannot transcribe a file you already made with Shift-Command-5, QuickTime, OBS or Audacity, and there is no file upload. It records audio, not video. Like the BlackHole setup, it takes everything your Mac plays, not one app, so pause music and silence notifications. Your voice and the call are labeled Me and Other by which stream the sound came in on; the beta Separate speakers option numbers the voices on the call side, and you name them yourself. Capture happens on your Mac, but transcription, AI summaries and storage run in the cloud.

Rather not install anything? Reline also runs in Chrome. It hears your microphone at once, and if the call plays in a browser tab, you share that tab with its audio to capture the other side.

A recorder on your Mac adds nothing to a call. Shift-Command-5, QuickTime Player, OBS, Audacity, BlackHole, Loopback and Reline play no announcement and show the other people no notice, so the notice is on you. Several US states, California among them, require every party to agree before a call is recorded, and in the EU you need a lawful basis under the GDPR and should say why you record. Rules differ by country and state, so check the rules where everyone on the call is. The simple habit: say at the start of the call that you are recording for notes, and stop if someone objects. For music and videos, copyright or a site’s rules may also stop you recording or sharing them.

• Apple Support, "How to record the screen on Mac" (102618): support.apple.com
• Apple Support, "Take a screenshot or screen recording on Mac": support.apple.com/guide/mac-help
• Apple Support, QuickTime Player User Guide, "Record audio" and "Record your screen": support.apple.com/guide/quicktime-player
• Apple Support, Audio MIDI Setup User Guide, "Play audio through multiple devices at once": support.apple.com/guide/audio-midi-setup
• OBS Studio, "macOS Desktop Audio Capture Guide" and "Quick Start Guide": obsproject.com
• Audacity Support, "Recording desktop audio": support.audacityteam.org
• BlackHole, README and wiki "Multi-Output Device": github.com/ExistentialAudio/BlackHole and existential.audio
• Rogue Amoeba, Loopback product page, purchase page and manual ("Sources", "Purchasing"): rogueamoeba.com