How to record internal audio on a Mac

You want to record the sound your Mac is playing itself: a video call, a podcast in the browser, audio coming out of an app. macOS will not do that out of the box, and the reason is built in rather than an oversight. There are two honest routes. Install a virtual audio driver (BlackHole, which is free, or Loopback, which is paid) that macOS then treats as an input you can record. Or use an app built on ScreenCaptureKit, Apple's own framework, which taps the system audio directly with no virtual device at all.

Why a Mac won't record its own audio

macOS sends every app's sound to one place: your output device, the speakers or the headphones. That output is a dead end for other apps. A recorder can read from an input device, a microphone or a line-in, but it cannot reach into the output stream and copy what is playing. So when you go looking for system sound in QuickTime or the screenshot toolbar, there is simply nothing there to select. To record internal audio you have to hand the Mac something it will treat as an input, or use an API that is allowed to read the output directly. That is the whole problem, and both routes below are just two ways around it.

Does screen recording on a Mac record audio?

Yes, but only your microphone. Both the QuickTime screen recording and the Shift + Cmd + 5 screenshot toolbar let you pick a microphone, so your voice is captured fine. Neither offers system audio as an option, for the output-bus reason above. This trips people up most on a call: your own voice lands on the recording, but the other people, whose audio the Mac is only playing through the speakers, do not. Recording a Zoom meeting on a Mac or a Google Meet you don't host is exactly the case where you need the internal audio, not the mic alone.

The BlackHole workaround, step by step

BlackHole is a free, open-source virtual audio driver. Once installed it appears as an audio device with no hardware behind it, a pipe you can push sound into and read back out. The trick is to send your Mac's output into BlackHole, then record BlackHole as an input.

1. Install BlackHole (the 2-channel version is fine). You approve the system extension in System Settings, under Privacy and Security.
2. Open Audio MIDI Setup (in Applications, Utilities). Click the + and create a Multi-Output Device. Tick both your normal speakers and BlackHole 2ch.
3. Set that Multi-Output Device as your output in System Settings, Sound. Now every sound goes to your speakers and into BlackHole at the same time.
4. In QuickTime, GarageBand or any recorder, choose BlackHole 2ch as the input and record.

Two catches the tutorials skip. If you set BlackHole on its own as the output, without the Multi-Output Device, you route all the sound into the pipe and none to your speakers, so you can't hear a thing while you record. And once you switch to a Multi-Output Device, your keyboard's volume keys stop working, because macOS won't set a level on a combined device. To also capture your microphone you have to go one step further and build an Aggregate Device that combines BlackHole with your mic. It works, but it is a lot of plumbing for one recording.

Loopback, the paid driver

Loopback, from Rogue Amoeba, does the same job with a friendlier face. It is a paid app (around $99) that gives you a visual wiring diagram: drag an app or a device into a virtual output and record that. It still installs a driver, but it handles the pass-through for you, so you can hear the audio while you record, and combining the system sound with a mic is a couple of clicks rather than an Aggregate Device you build by hand. If you route audio all the time it earns its price; for one meeting it is more than you need.

The ScreenCaptureKit route, no virtual driver

Since macOS 13, Apple ships a framework called ScreenCaptureKit that changes the answer. It lets an app capture the system audio directly, under the same Screen Recording permission a screen recorder already asks for. No virtual device, no Multi-Output plumbing, no volume keys breaking. The app asks the OS for the output stream, the OS hands it over once you approve the permission, and the sound you hear is the sound that gets recorded. It can also pull your microphone as a separate stream, so mixing your voice with the system audio is something the app does for you rather than something you wire up in Audio MIDI Setup. This is the route I build on, and it is why an app can now record internal audio with none of the driver setup above. Apple has kept extending it through macOS 14 and 15, so it is the modern default rather than a workaround.

Which route to pick

The three routes trade cost, setup and how much they interfere with your Mac. Here is how they line up.

On effort, BlackHole is the most work (install a driver, build a Multi-Output Device, add an Aggregate Device for the mic), Loopback sits in the middle, and a ScreenCaptureKit app is the least, because there is nothing to route. On capturing your microphone alongside the system sound: BlackHole needs the Aggregate Device, Loopback adds the mic as a source, and a ScreenCaptureKit app can mix both streams on its own.

Recording a meeting, the no-driver way

If the reason you want internal audio is to keep a record of your calls, that is the exact job I built Parameety for. It is a menu-bar meeting recorder that captures your Mac's system audio through ScreenCaptureKit, so the people on the call are recorded, not only your mic, and there is no BlackHole, no Multi-Output Device, and nothing that breaks your volume keys. It can mix in your microphone too. When the meeting ends it transcribes the audio locally with Parakeet and writes a Markdown transcript to a Parameety folder in your Documents, then discards the audio. No bot joins the call, nothing goes to the cloud, and it records audio only, not your screen. For the full walk-through, see how to record a meeting on a Mac. It needs an Apple Silicon Mac on macOS 15 or later.

FAQ

Does screen recording on a Mac record audio?

Yes, but only your microphone. Both QuickTime's screen recording and the Shift + Cmd + 5 screenshot toolbar let you choose a microphone, so your voice is captured. Neither can record system audio, the sound the Mac itself is playing, because that plays out to the speakers on a bus other apps can't read. To capture the system sound you need a virtual audio driver like BlackHole or Loopback, or an app built on ScreenCaptureKit that taps it directly.

Do I need BlackHole to record internal audio on a Mac?

Not anymore. BlackHole is one route: a free virtual audio driver you route your output through so a recorder can read it back as an input. It works, but it installs a driver, and once you route through a Multi-Output Device your keyboard volume keys stop working. Since macOS 13 an app can use Apple's ScreenCaptureKit framework to capture system audio directly under the standard Screen Recording permission, with no virtual driver at all.

Can you record system audio and your microphone at the same time?

Yes, though the driver route is fiddly. With BlackHole you build an Aggregate Device in Audio MIDI Setup that combines BlackHole with your microphone, then record that. An app built on ScreenCaptureKit can pull the system audio and the mic as two separate streams and mix them itself, which is what Parameety does when it records a meeting.

Why can't QuickTime record system audio directly?

QuickTime records from an input device: a microphone or a line-in. System output, the sound playing through your speakers, is not an input device, so QuickTime has nothing to select when you look for it. The fix is to give the Mac a virtual input that carries the output, using BlackHole or Loopback, or to use a recorder built on ScreenCaptureKit that reads the system audio directly.