Where do screen recordings go on a Mac?

Find a recording you just made

1. Look on the Desktop. The file is called Screen Recording [date] at [time].mov.
2. If the Desktop is clean, press ⌘Space and type Screen Recording. Spotlight finds files by name.
3. Still nothing? Press ⇧⌘5, click Options, and look at which entry under Save to has a tick. That is where the last recording went.

Change where screen recordings are saved

1. Press ⇧⌘5. In QuickTime Player, choose File → New Screen Recording instead.
2. Click Options.
3. Under Save to, choose a folder from the list, or choose Other Location… and pick your own.
4. Record. The file lands in that folder.

Save to is one setting for screenshots and screen recordings. Move one and the other follows.

What kind of file it is

A .mov, a QuickTime movie. QuickTime Player opens it, and so do most video editors. Some websites and upload forms ask for MP4 instead.

If it opened in QuickTime Player, Mail or Messages instead

Under Save to, QuickTime Player, Mail and Messages are choices too. Pick one and the recording goes to that app instead of a folder. In QuickTime Player the window is titled Untitled, and the recording is not a file until you save it with ⌘S. Close the window without saving and QuickTime asks whether to keep it.

Closed it by mistake? QuickTime Player may still hold an autosaved copy. In the Finder, choose Go → Go to Folder (⇧⌘G) and paste this path:

~/Library/Containers/com.apple.QuickTimePlayerX/Data/Library/Autosave Information

If a recent file is there, copy it out and open it. This is a recovery attempt, not a promise: if the Mac shut down in the middle of the recording, there may be nothing to find.

Where Prodoozie saves recordings

Prodoozie works differently, because a Recording is several Takes you can retake and edit, not one file. Each Recording gets its own folder in ~/Movies/iRecord/Projects/. iRecord is the app’s former name, and the folder keeps it because every Recording stores the path to its Takes. Press Show in Finder on a Recording’s card on Home to open its folder.

When you export, Save Video offers ~/Movies/iRecord and an MP4 named after the Recording, and Change… picks another folder. Deleting a Recording in Prodoozie does not use the Trash. The full answer is Where a Mac screen recorder saves its files.

Common questions

Do screen recordings go to Photos on a Mac?

No. On a Mac they are files, on the Desktop unless you changed it. Photos is where an iPhone or iPad puts its own screen recordings.

Why is my screen recording not on the Desktop?

Save to was changed, or it is set to QuickTime Player, Mail or Messages. Press ⇧⌘5 and open Options to see which entry is ticked.

Can I get back a recording I deleted?

Deleting a file in the Finder moves it to the Trash, where it stays until you empty it. Open the Trash and search for Screen Recording.