Mac screen recording has no sound
The short answer
A silent recording almost always means no microphone was chosen before you pressed Record. Press ⇧⌘5, click Options, and pick one under Microphone. If your voice is on the recording but the video or app you were playing is not, that is a different problem: on macOS 26 and earlier the built-in recorder has no way to record the Mac’s own sound.
Which problem do you have?
| What you get | Usual cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Silence: no voice, no sound from the Mac | No microphone was chosen | Fix 1 |
| A microphone is chosen and the recording is still silent | macOS has not allowed microphone access, or the wrong input is selected | Fix 2 and 3 |
| Your voice is there, the video or app you played is missing | The built-in recorder does not capture the Mac’s own sound (macOS 26 and earlier) | Fix 4 |
| The video’s sound is faint and mixed with the room | The microphone is hearing your speakers, not the video | Headphones, or Fix 4 |
Fix 1: choose a microphone
- Press ⇧⌘5 (Shift-Command-5). In QuickTime Player, choose File → New Screen Recording instead.
- Click Options.
- Under Microphone, choose the Mac’s built-in microphone or one you have plugged in. No microphone is selected until you choose one.
- Record ten seconds, say something, stop, and play it back before the real take.
Fix 2: allow microphone access
macOS asks the first time an app wants the microphone. If the answer was no, the recording can come out silent without any message. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone and switch on the app you are recording with. For QuickTime Player, that is its row in the list. Quit and reopen the app afterwards.
Fix 3: check the input
Open System Settings → Sound → Input and speak. The input level bar should move. If it stays flat, choose a different input device in the list, then record again.
Fix 4: record the Mac’s own sound
Shift-Command-5 and QuickTime Player record the screen and a microphone. On macOS 26 (Tahoe) and earlier, neither has an option for the sound your Mac is playing: a video, a call, an app’s alerts. Open Options and look. If there is an entry for system audio, your version has one and you can skip the rest of this section.
Without that entry there are two routes.
- A virtual audio driver. BlackHole is a free one. You install it, build a Multi-Output Device in Audio MIDI Setup so you can still hear the sound while it is captured, set the Mac’s output to that device, and choose BlackHole as the Microphone in Options. To record your voice as well, combine the two in an Aggregate Device. It works. It is also fiddly, and you have to set the output back afterwards.
- A recorder that captures system sound itself. Prodoozie is one, below.
In Prodoozie
Microphone and System Audio are two separate switches in the Audio card of the New Recording window, and both start off. Turn on Microphone for your voice, System Audio for the Mac’s own sound, or both. No audio driver is involved. The level meter beside Microphone moves with real input, so a flat meter tells you before the take that the wrong input is selected.
Sound that was not captured cannot be added afterwards, so the check goes before you press Record. If one section does come out silent, retake that section; the rest of the Recording stays as it is. The full steps are in Screen recorder with no audio on macOS.
Common questions
Why is my Mac screen recording silent?
No microphone was chosen, macOS has not allowed microphone access, or the wrong input is selected. Work through Fix 1, 2 and 3 in that order.
Does QuickTime Player record system audio?
Not on macOS 26 and earlier. It records the screen and a microphone. See Fix 4 for the two ways round that.
Can a Mac screen record with internal audio?
Yes, with a virtual audio driver or a recorder that captures system sound itself. Check Options in the Shift-Command-5 toolbar for a system audio entry first.
Can I add the sound after I have recorded?
Sound that was never captured cannot be recovered. You can record a voice-over separately and lay it over the video in an editor.