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I'm trying to record both what's happening on screen and the audio being played by the applications. To my surprise, QuickTime did not record the sound. I believe it worked before in previous OS X releases, but that is not something that I use often so I have not bothered to try earlier.

What is the current situation on El Capitan ? Have I messed with something that prevents QuickTime from capturing the sound, or has it never worked ?

Here is my view of Quick Time / New Screen Recording on a Mac Mini: enter image description here

On my Macbook Pro, I have the option select None or Internal Microphone. Internal microphone actually records the speakers of the Mac Book as heard from its own microphone, which obviously sounds terrible.

This is a MacMini 7,1 (late 2014) and there is nothing in Input Sources.

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  • 5
    I wouldn't go anywhere near Soundflower on anything later than Mavericks. Kernel panics are frequent.
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Dec 17, 2015 at 9:06
  • 3
    I use Screenflick 2. araelium.com/screenflick. Best tool out there for the job.
    – levibostian
    Commented Nov 30, 2016 at 16:50
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    If your MacBook Pro has USB-C connectors, there is a way to force them into analog audio mode where you can pipe analog audio out back into the microphone input. Check en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB-C#Audio_Adapter_Accessory_Mode_2
    – rbanffy
    Commented Aug 14, 2018 at 9:06
  • This works even if you have an older MacBook (El Capitan) and/or only have one audio port on your computer. To screen record WITH internal audio AND microphone voice over using QuickTime on a Mac (without downloading additional software) you will need a USB microphone and a Bluetooth headset + mic'd audio cable. youtube.com/watch?v=mkksiIDL5qU
    – Matisse VerDuyn
    Commented Mar 12, 2023 at 15:57

12 Answers 12

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132

You need to install Soundflower in order to run it on El Capitan. El Capitan requires kext to be signed in order to load them. This one gets its kext installed in /Library/Extensions/.

This is due to System Integrity Protection

Then, you have to create a multi-output device with: Audio MIDI Setup.app, which is found in /Applications/Utilities/ :

enter image description here

Finally, when you want to do the actual recording, make sure you use this multi-output device, and capture from the same Soundflower device used in this multi-output device. Otherwise, you can't both listen to and capture the sound, because it goes directly to soundflower without being copied to the built-in output.

alt/option + right clicking on volume gives you this menu:

enter image description here

and Quicktime now looks like this:

enter image description here

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  • 6
    where do I alt/option + right clicking on volume ?
    – bernie2436
    Commented Aug 1, 2016 at 14:00
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    When I do this only the computer output is on the recordings, and not the mic. Is there a way to get them both on the recording?
    – Pablote
    Commented Aug 25, 2016 at 16:31
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    Make sure the volume on Quicktime is down to zero, otherwise you'll hear reverberations in your audio recording
    – jetlej
    Commented Oct 15, 2016 at 13:41
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    @bernie2436 if you don't see the Volume item on the menu bar, you can use System Preferences -> Sound -> Output tab and select the Multi-Output device
    – Aswin Kumar
    Commented Dec 14, 2016 at 10:59
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    I'm having the same issue as @Pablote where only the computer's output, not my microphone output, is being recognized.
    – s2t2
    Commented Feb 14, 2017 at 18:00
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Use Background Music.

To install, either:

  1. brew install --cask background-music

  2. Or go to https://github.com/kyleneideck/BackgroundMusic and install the .pkg file.

Now, in Quicktime Screen Recording, you will see an option for Microphone for "Background Music". Select "Background Music". Then when you do the screen recording, it will record the System Audio.

enter image description here

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    This is the most modern and effective answer. Handy, it works like a charm and do not require any reboot. Flawless.
    – Luca Fagioli
    Commented Jun 19, 2020 at 7:21
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    Tried this on Catalina 10.15.6 and doesn't work for me
    – stevec
    Commented Aug 13, 2020 at 7:23
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    Works great, if you want to capture mic and background music, e.g. for meeting recordings, follow instructions on github page and create an aggregated device using MacOS MIDI setup utilities.
    – Bernhard
    Commented Mar 1, 2021 at 10:03
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    This didn't work for me (Catalina 10.15.5). I got the error message Error: Unknown command: cask. I had to remove the cask part to make it work: brew install background-music.
    – Daghall
    Commented Mar 20, 2021 at 22:34
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For those wanting to record their voice or the sounds coming from the speakers...

No extra software is required.

You just need to click the little arrow to the right of the record button and change it from None to Internal Microphone.

Not sure why this is defaulted to None but I was caught by surprise when I changed from an old Macbook to a new one with a fresh OS install.

Although it's not an ideal answer to the OP's desires, I'm leaving this answer here because it answers the question in the title.

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  • 6
    a.k.a Analog hole.. You will also record your cat and kids crying. Nothing wrong with that but it's just not optimal..
    – alecail
    Commented Dec 7, 2016 at 16:33
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    The question is about the ability to record sound, not which particular microphone you use. The important thing is to use that arrow to switch from None to whatever microphone you like - no extra software required.
    – nevster
    Commented Dec 8, 2016 at 0:55
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    OP's question says he already used Internal Microphone before.
    – Saturn
    Commented Jan 19, 2017 at 5:34
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    Ah - I see. I was blinded by why I originally searched for this question in the first place - I wanted to record my own voice. I can see now what the OP is asking. I've edited my answer. (I think it's still worth having here rather than deleting.)
    – nevster
    Commented Jan 19, 2017 at 9:47
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    Thanks - worked great on OS X El Captain
    – Anupam
    Commented Jun 30, 2019 at 0:06
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When you are in the recording screen window, at the right of the red button you must see an arrow, click on it and you should see the audio input dialog. Tested now with OS X 10.11.1

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    Please, can you comment on the hardware ?
    – alecail
    Commented Oct 26, 2015 at 20:03
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    Can you please specify which is your Mac Mini model? Is the audio Line-in port present at System Preferences-> Sound-> Input?
    – TuTTe
    Commented Oct 26, 2015 at 22:02
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    no such option at macOS: 10.13.3 model: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
    – Lukas Liesis
    Commented Mar 13, 2018 at 19:21
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    Worked great with El Captain
    – Anupam
    Commented Jun 30, 2019 at 0:05
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Of course you can use QuickTime to record both screen with audio, and you need to install a virtual sound card like soundflower to capture computer sound. Besides, you can also try to use screen recorders like ShowMore (free screen recorder for Windows and Mac), Jing (5 minutes' recording limitation) and many more to do the recording.

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For those who aren't finding Soundflower in the AppStore, tracking down the correct downloads for this semi-dead project can be kind of tricky.

I installed the Kernel Extension from here: https://github.com/mattingalls/Soundflower/releases (Note that to follow the instructions for Audio MIDI Setup, I Had to choose Window > Audio Setup)

Then I installed SoundFlowerBed from this fork: https://github.com/mLupine/SoundflowerBed/releases

That puts an item in the menu that allows you to set SoundFlower (2ch) --> Built-In Output, which then makes "SoundFlower" available in QuickTime Player etc.

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3

Don't bother with installing software or extensions.

You just need an "aux cable" (which has stereo 3.5mm headphone plug, male at both ends). Any length will do.

enter image description here

Plug one end into the headphone jack and the other end into the mic jack.

If your system doesn't have a mic jack, you can use any USB-to-audio input device you please; most automatically recognize on the Mac.

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    This question was specifically for Mac and my Macbook pro doesn't seem to have a mic jack. I have used this very trick on a PC successfully, but needed something else for my Macbook.
    – webtweakers
    Commented Jun 25, 2016 at 17:00
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    This was very helpful for me and my early 2011 MacBook Pro. Thanks!
    – nrubin29
    Commented Jan 5, 2017 at 1:12
  • @webtweakers You can use headphone to USB if you get an USB-adapter with aux. Or if you wanna be superfancy, the headphone jack actually supports sound in on most Macs, build your own AUX that loops the sound! I have never seen any such device but nothing is impossible.
    – d-b
    Commented May 5, 2020 at 23:13
  • Most Macs have a single audio 1/8" that is both the Mic input and Headphone output, so this can't be done as-is without extra hardware. Some Headphone/Mic splitters are listed here: mac-forums.com/threads/…
    – Demis
    Commented Dec 8, 2022 at 2:28
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I started using Voila-->Capto. Costs money but works well and even has a feature to stop recording after a set time and other features.

http://www.globaldelight.com/capto/

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For everyone arriving here from a google search in 2020 with Catalina, trying to record from the internal microphone without success...go to Preferences -> Security & Privacy -> Privacy tab -> Microphone and make sure QuickTime Player is checked.

enter image description here

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  • Thanks. I ended up using Screenflick which worked pretty well.
    – Vic Jang
    Commented Oct 15, 2020 at 6:50
0

You can also use SoundFlower for this. In a way, it acts like a microphone, which makes it possible to select it as an audio source in Quicktime.

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If you want to record the audio generated by your running applications etc. you will need to use SoundFlower or something similar. It's available free from the AppStore.
If your internal microphone is glitching out and you just want the system to recognise the hardwares presence again; try simply plugging some headphones or something into your 3.5mm TRRS audio jack.
I had the same problem the other day and thought the actual soundcard was fried but just making that quick contact brought it straight back online.

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    Soundflower is not usable on El Capitan because of kext signing. Can you name the alternative softwares on the App Store ?
    – alecail
    Commented Oct 28, 2015 at 5:30
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    What is kext signing? I'm unaware of any alternatives.
    – voices
    Commented Oct 28, 2015 at 20:14
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    I'm hesitant to install Soundflower because it's so old, and the newer forks on GitHub don't seem to have an official website yet.
    – Flimm
    Commented Nov 30, 2015 at 9:44
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    @Flimm Soundflower is solid. cycling74.com was the original developer and they are good at what they do. They are probably busy with their commercial products (i.e. Max) so don't officially support it anymore and Soundflower is unlikely to have its own website anytime soon.. However, the main author Matt Ingalls is currently hosting the project at github.com/mattingalls/Soundflower if you don't want to use the App Store.
    – voices
    Commented Dec 4, 2015 at 17:59
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To screen record WITH internal audio AND microphone voice over using QuickTime on a Mac (without downloading additional software) you will need a USB microphone and a Bluetooth headset + mic'd audio cable. This works even if you only have one audio port on your computer.

  1. Plug the USB mic into the computer.
  2. Plug the audio cable into the computer.
  3. And the other end of the audio cable into the microphone.
  4. Open System Preferences, set the Sound Output to USB, and Input to the Microphone port.

To listen through the headset while you screen record, there are a few more steps.

  1. Connect the Bluetooth headset.
  2. Open Audio MIDI Setup (Applications > Utilities), and create a Multi-Output Device, adding the headset with Built-in Output.
  3. Go back to System Preferences and change the Sound Output to the new Multi-Output Device.
  4. Open QuickTime to create a "New Screen Recording" setting the microphone option to Built-in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkksiIDL5qU

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