Screen record on Mac: Tips and tricks from basics to advanced

Screen recording is very useful for many reasons. Apple also offers an integrated option that allows you to capture screen recordings on your Mac. There are many third-party apps that can help, but Apple is the best. Here are several methods to screen record Mac.

With modern macOS releases (Mojave and later), Macs have a hidden screen record app with more advanced controls like a timer, save to destination choices, show/hide the mouse pointer, remember last selection, microphone control, and more.

You can use the native functionality on Mac if you are only doing screen recording. There is no need to download an app.

However, if you need advanced features, we’ll also cover some third-party options below.

Screen recording on Mac Basics to Advanced

Built-in macOS tool

1. Use your Mac keyboard to press the combination Command + Shift + 5This can be used to run any app
2. Choose the button in the middle of the screen. Icon of a rectangle and a circleYou can capture the entire screen, or just the highlighted areas. A circle icon in a dotted-line rectangleRecord a selection of your screen
3. Click here Optional button if you’d like to enable the microphone, show mouse clicks, select a save location, and more
4. Choose RecordTo start
5. When you’re done, click the Stop button (circle with square icon) in the menu bar found in the top middle/right of your screen
6. Your recording will show up on your Mac’s desktop by default unless you picked a different save location

You can also pull up this menu in QuickTime by clicking File > New Screen Recording but the keyboard shortcut is usually faster.

Here’s how all that looks on Mac:

You can then either hit RecordTo start or click OptionalTo customize your screen recording settings.

If you have multiple displays in your setup you’ll get to choose which screen to record if you selected the full-screen option.

When you’re done, click the Stop button (circle with square icon) in the menu bar found in the top middle/right of your screen.

Find your saved screen recordings on your desktop. Or wherever you have chosen to save them when customizing

Third-party apps allow you to screen record on Mac

CleanShot X is a favorite among the 9to5Mac team for advanced screen recording features.

Capabilities include the following:

• Annotations
• Quick access overlay
• Scrolling capture, as well as entire screen, selections, windows, and more
• Freeze screen
• Robust screen recording
  • Record as GIF
  • Auto-enable Do Not Disturb
  • Show/Hide cursor
  • When recording, remove clutter from your desktop
  • Capture clicks
  • Capture Keystrokes
• CleanShot Cloud will send you a link to share your recordings and photos.
• Tags
• Management features for teams
• Design and domain customization

CleanShot X is priced at $29 for 1 Mac as a one-time purchase that includes updates for a year (optional $19 annual subscription for future updates). Meanwhile, CleanShot Cloud Pro offers all the features including custom domain names and branding, self-destruct control, and more from $8/month per user when paid annually.

Two other popular third-party screen recording apps for Mac are:

• Snagit – free trial then $63
• Monosnap – free basic plan or $2.50 or $5/month for advanced and commercial plans

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