How to Record Internal Audio on Mac (System Sound, Free)

macOS hands recording apps your microphone but never the sound your Mac is playing, so no built-in tool offers a “system audio” source to pick from. To record internal audio on a Mac, install the free BlackHole virtual audio driver, combine it with your speakers in a Multi-Output Device using Audio MIDI Setup, then choose BlackHole as the audio input in QuickTime or the screenshot toolbar. Your Mac still plays sound out loud while a copy of it is piped into the recorder. This guide covers the free setup, the built-in recorders, third-party alternatives, and fixes for silent or echoing recordings.

Why macOS won’t capture system audio by default

macOS keeps audio one-directional per app: an app can play to an output device, or read from an input device, but the system never hands an app a live copy of what other apps are playing. There is no built-in loopback input. That’s partly a privacy and DRM measure — it stops one app quietly recording another’s audio and keeps protected streams from being trivially captured. The fix is a virtual audio device: driver software that appears to macOS as both an output and an input, so the sound routed into it comes back out as a recordable microphone. BlackHole is the free, open-source choice most people use.

Method 1: BlackHole + Audio MIDI Setup (free, the standard fix)

Step 1 — Install BlackHole

1. Go to existential.audio/blackhole in Safari.
2. Download BlackHole 2ch — the free version. Two channels carry stereo, which is all screen recording needs.
3. Open the .pkg and run the installer, entering your Mac password when asked.
4. Restart your Mac so macOS loads the new driver.

BlackHole isn’t in the Mac App Store — it’s a system audio driver, so it installs from the developer’s site.

Step 2 — Create a Multi-Output Device

A Multi-Output Device sends the same audio to two places at once: BlackHole (which records it) and your speakers (so you still hear it).

1. Open Audio MIDI Setup (in Applications → Utilities, or search Spotlight).
2. Click the + button at the bottom-left.
3. Choose Create Multi-Output Device.
4. Double-click its name to rename it, for example “Screen Recording”.
5. In the right-hand panel, tick both BlackHole 2ch and your normal output (Built-in Output, or your headphones).
6. Tick Drift Correction next to the device that isn’t the clock master (usually your speakers). If you hear crackling, set every device to the same sample rate — 48,000 Hz is safe.

Don’t tick the same device twice, and don’t use an Aggregate Device — Multi-Output is the one you want.

Step 3 — Set it as your output

1. Open System Settings → Sound (System Preferences → Sound on older Macs).
2. Under Output, select your new Screen Recording device.
3. Play something — you should hear it through your speakers as before, and BlackHole now receives a copy.

To go back to normal later, reselect your speakers.

Step 4 — Record the system audio

Choose either built-in recorder and set its input to BlackHole (next section). Because the Multi-Output Device is your output, you keep hearing everything while it records.

Method 2: Record with QuickTime or the screenshot toolbar

Once the routing is in place, capturing the sound is just a matter of choosing the right input.

QuickTime Player

1. Open QuickTime Player.
2. Go to File → New Screen Recording.
3. Click the arrow next to the Record button, and set Microphone to BlackHole 2ch.
4. Click Record, choose the area, then stop via the Stop icon in the menu bar. Save with File → Save.

Screenshot toolbar

1. Press Shift + Command + 5 → Options.
2. Under Microphone, choose BlackHole 2ch.
3. Choose Record Entire Screen or Record Selected Portion, then click Record.

Choosing BlackHole as the microphone means your own voice is not captured — only the Mac’s audio. For both, see below.

For the full walkthrough, see how to screen record on Mac; to record your voice too, see how to screen record with sound.

Method 3: Third-party recorders (more control)

Built-in tools are fine for a quick clip; dedicated apps help when you need mixing, editing, or multiple sources.

• OBS Studio — Add a macOS Screen Capture source for the picture and an Audio Input Capture set to BlackHole. It still needs a virtual device like BlackHole for system audio; its strength is recording voice and system sound to separate tracks.
• ScreenFlow — A Mac-only recorder with a built-in editor, so you can trim and add titles without exporting elsewhere.
• Loopback — Rogue Amoeba’s paid router. It creates a virtual device that already mixes your mic and the system sound, removing the need for a Multi-Output Device.

Troubleshooting

Long recordings create large files. If a clip is too big to share, see how to compress a video.

FAQ

Can I record internal audio on Mac for free?

Yes. BlackHole is free and open-source, and setup takes about five minutes.

Why can’t my Mac record system audio by default?

macOS doesn’t expose other apps’ audio as a recording input — there’s no built-in loopback device, partly as a privacy and DRM measure. BlackHole routes that sound back in so a recorder can pick it up.

Can I record system audio and my microphone at the same time?

Not with BlackHole alone — it captures the Mac’s sound instead of your voice. Use the paid Loopback app, record them separately and combine them, or capture both on separate tracks in OBS Studio.

Does BlackHole work on Apple Silicon Macs?

Yes — it supports both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs, and installs the same way on each.

Will this record copy-protected (DRM) audio?

Often not. Some streaming services block capture, so those clips may come out silent or black whichever tool you use.