Mastering Mac Screen Recording: A Simple Step-by-Step Tutorial

Interested in learning how to record your screen on a Mac?

It’s very easy and completely free. You can do it using QuickTime Player, which comes pre-installed on every Mac computer.

Let’s dive into a detailed, step-by-step guide on how to screen record on Mac.

You can capture videos on a Mac using:

Now, let’s explore each of these methods to record your Mac screen:

Follow these straightforward steps to capture your Mac’s display on Mojave and Catalina with the Screenshot toolbar.

Press the keys Shift + Command + 5 simultaneously. This action will open the Screenshot toolbar at the bottom of your screen.

This toolbar allows you to:

Before starting your recording, review your preferences by clicking the “Options” button on the Screenshot toolbar. Here, you can customize several settings:

The “Options” menu provides options to:

To record either the entire screen or just a specific region, select the corresponding icons on the Toolbar. The process differs slightly depending on your choice, but both options are accessible from the toolbar.

After clicking the dotted outlined rectangle icon, a small window will appear. Move this window to cover the area you want to record, and adjust its size by clicking and dragging from the corners if needed. When ready, click on the “Record” button, and your Mac will start recording everything inside the selected window. To finish, simply hit the Stop button or press Command-Control-Esc simultaneously.

Step #4. Viewing, Trimming, Saving, or Sharing Your Recording

Once you’ve stopped recording, a thumbnail of your video will briefly appear at the lower right corner of your screen. You can choose to ignore it or swipe it away, and your video will save automatically. You can then open it to trim, share, or store your recording as needed.

To cut parts from your recording, select the “Trim” button (shown as

If your Mac runs an operating system older than Mojave or Catalina, you can still record your screen with QuickTime Player, which is built into all Mac systems. To start, open QuickTime Player either from your Applications folder or via Spotlight Search.

Begin by selecting the File menu and choosing New Screen Recording from the list at the top-left of the screen. If you prefer, you can also right-click the QuickTime Player icon in your dock and select the New Recording option from there. When you do this, a recording window will immediately pop up on your screen. Before starting, you can adjust your recording settings by clicking the arrow next to the Record button. Here, you can select a microphone if you want to include audio or voice in your recording, and you can adjust the volume using the slider.

Once you’re ready to start recording, click the Record icon. You have two options: click anywhere on the screen to record the entire display, or drag your cursor to select a specific area for recording. After selecting an area, a “Start Recording” prompt will appear. If you’re recording the whole screen, the recording will begin instantly after you click the desired display. To record only a section, simply click on the “Start Recording” button that appears after you drag to highlight your chosen area.

Next, click the “Stop” button (or tap the **Command-Control-Esc** keys simultaneously) from the top menu bar to end your recording. Once finished, the video will automatically show on your screen for review. You can then trim, edit, save, or share your recording as needed.

Once you stop the recording, the final recorded video will appear automatically on your screen. Now you can further view, trim, edit, save, or share the video.

Mac’s built-in tools may not be enough for advanced projects like detailed tutorials or live streaming. For those purposes, you’ll need third-party screen recording software that offers more features. These tools often include options that aren’t available in QuickTime or the Mac Screenshot Toolbar, such as capturing scrolling content, recording videos with music, adding animations, and more.

When choosing a third-party app, look for key features like a simple user interface that makes recording straightforward, integration options with cloud services for easy storage and sharing, robust editing tools to remove background noise or add voiceovers, security features to protect your data, and a self-timer to start recordings at the perfect moment.

Here are some top options for Mac users:

Snagit is highly regarded for its ease of use, allowing quick screen recordings that can be trimmed or enhanced with pre-made templates for tutorials or guides. It integrates seamlessly with popular apps like Slack, Dropbox, YouTube, Twitter, Microsoft Office, and Google Drive, making sharing your videos simple. To start recording with Snagit, launch the app, select the “Video” option from the capture window, and customize your recording settings according to your needs.

After choosing your recording options, click the large “Capture” button. A crosshair icon will then appear, allowing you to select the part of the screen to record—either the entire display or a specific segment.

Then, adjust your webcam and audio settings via the Video Toolbar. Once everything is set, click the red Record button to start recording. You can pause and resume at any time, and even switch between recording your screen and webcam feed during the process. When finished, click the blue Stop icon to end the recording.

Your video will open automatically in the Snagit Editor, where you can preview, trim, and edit as needed. Finally, you can save or share your video directly from the application to various platforms.

Screencast-O-Matic is a versatile screen recording tool compatible with Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android, and Chromebook devices. It offers a free version that lets you record either the whole screen or just a part of it, with options to add microphone narration, trim clips, and include captions. However, the free version is limited to recordings of up to 15 minutes.

The paid plans provide additional features such as the ability to publish directly to Vimeo or Dropbox, draw on the screen during recording, use automated speech-to-text captions, hide the cursor or webcam, add animated overlays and transitions, and pan and zoom specific areas of your screen.

To get started with Screencast-O-Matic, visit their website through the link and launch the free recorder. If it’s your first time, you’ll be prompted to download and install the software. Once installed, a simple click opens the recorder, and you can choose to record your screen, webcam, or both simultaneously.

You can customize your recording settings by choosing the maximum duration, size, adding narration, or enabling computer audio.

Next, select and resize the recording frame to capture the specific part of your screen you want. You can also choose preset sizes, such as standard HD resolutions or full screen. Once everything is set, click the red “Rec” button to start recording. During the recording, you have options to pause, resume, or preview your footage.

After finishing, click the “Done” option. You can save the video as-is or proceed to editing options like trimming or adding royalty-free music. Finally, save your file onto your computer, upload it directly to Screencast-O-Matic, or share it on platforms like YouTube or other alternatives.

Paid plans offer additional options for uploading your recordings, such as directly saving to Dropbox, Google Drive, or Vimeo.

To get the most out of Screencast-O-Matic’s features, you can follow their detailed video tutorials available at Screencast-O-Matic’s Video Tutorials. These guides help you maximize your use of their screen recording tools.

What is screen recording? It involves capturing everything happening on your computer’s screen, effectively creating a video of your activity. This functionality is handy for various purposes, such as video blogging, showing bugs or errors, or live streaming on platforms like Twitch.

It’s also an essential skill for creating tutorials, walkthroughs, or content for YouTube, podcasts, or other media. Sometimes, recording your screen is simply a way to save a record of important moments or activities on your device.

Screen recording on Apple devices is quite simple, especially since the macOS Mojave update made the process much more accessible. Now, you can easily capture your screen, produce tutorials, make edits, and more by just pressing a few buttons.

For those seeking more advanced features, tools like Snagit and Screencast-O-Matic provide robust options for recording and editing. If you’re interested, check out my other guide on 9 Ways to Take a Screenshot on a Mac.

Further reading on StepThroughThePortal.com highlights how recording your screen can be useful for many different situations. Whether you’re making a video tutorial, recording webinars on a Mac, or simply demonstrating to others what you’re doing on your computer, screen recording is a versatile and valuable tool.