Record your Mac screen
— the honest how-to.
Your Mac already records the screen for free with Cmd+Shift+5 and QuickTime. Here are the real steps, the real limits (system audio, annotation), and where Maxisnap fits in.
Maxisnap records on Windows today · native macOS build in development
To record your screen on a Mac, you don't need to download anything. macOS ships two free recorders: the Screenshot toolbar (Cmd+Shift+5) and QuickTime Player. They both capture full-screen or windowed video and save a .mov file. For a quick demo, a bug repro, or a walkthrough for a colleague, that's often all you need.
Where they stop short is predictable: there's no way to record the audio playing through your Mac without a separate virtual-audio driver, there's no built-in annotation, and sharing means saving the file and uploading it by hand. This page covers both tools properly first, then explains where a purpose-built recorder helps — and is honest about what Maxisnap does and doesn't do on macOS today.
The two free recorders on every Mac
1. The Screenshot toolbar — Cmd+Shift+5
This is the fastest route on modern macOS. Press Cmd+Shift+5 and a control bar slides up from the bottom. The right two buttons are recording: Record Entire Screen and Record Selected Portion. Pick one, open Options to choose a microphone and a save location, then click Record. Stop from the menu-bar icon (or Cmd+Control+Esc). The clip lands wherever you set it — desktop by default.
Good for: fast region recording, mic narration, a quick save with no app to launch. Limits: it records your microphone, not your Mac's internal audio; there's no drawing or annotation; editing is limited to a basic trim in QuickTime afterward.
2. QuickTime Player — File → New Screen Recording
QuickTime has recorded the screen for years and still works. Open QuickTime Player, choose File → New Screen Recording, set the mic in the options chevron, click record, then drag to select a region or click once for the full screen. Stop from the menu bar. QuickTime adds a genuinely useful extra: Edit → Trim, so you can cut the dead air off the start and end before you export the .mov.
Good for: recording plus a simple trim in the same app, exporting a clean .mov. Limits: same internal-audio gap, no annotation, and you still upload the file manually to share it.
The system-audio catch (read this before you record a video call)
Both built-in tools capture your microphone but not the audio your Mac is playing — the other side of a call, a YouTube clip, in-app sounds. To capture that, you install a virtual audio driver such as BlackHole or the older Soundflower, create an Aggregate or Multi-Output Device in Audio MIDI Setup, and route system audio through it. It works, but it's an extra install and a few configuration steps that catch a lot of first-time recorders by surprise.
Cmd+Shift+5 vs QuickTime vs Maxisnap
The honest read: on a Mac today, your free options are the two built-ins, and they're fine for plain screen capture with mic narration. The gaps — system audio without a driver, annotation, GIF/WebM/AI export, and instant share links — are exactly what Maxisnap closes. That experience is live on Windows right now, and a native macOS build is in active development.
$ maxisnap --status --platform mac
[MACOS] screen recording build -- not shipped yet (download page: "Coming Soon") [MACOS] native Apple-Silicon app ++ in active development [WINDOWS] screen recording ++ shipped: region + full screen hotkeys [WINDOWS] audio ++ system + mic, no extra driver [WINDOWS] export ++ MP4 / GIF / WebM / AI-optimized [ROADMAP] notify me when mac is ready ++ leave your email on /contact/
The recorder Maxisnap already runs on Windows
So you know exactly what the macOS build is working toward, here's how recording behaves on Windows today. It's the same product idea, ported natively to Apple Silicon next.
- One hotkey, no setup.
Ctrl+Alt+3records a selected region;Ctrl+Alt+4records the full screen of the monitor under the cursor. Press again, click Stop on the on-screen badge, or stop from the tray. All hotkeys remap. - System audio + microphone, mixed, no driver. Desktop sound and your mic are captured together by default through a driver-free loopback — no BlackHole-style routing to configure. You hear everything in the final clip.
- A result window after every recording. Inline player, start/end trim, and Save / Copy / Upload / Drag-out. Export as MP4, GIF, WebM, or an AI-optimized MP4 (~1280px / 24fps / mono) sized to drop straight into ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini.
- Free, no watermark, no time limit. Recording costs nothing and adds no branding. Sharing a clip through Maxisnap Cloud uses the free or Pro tier, or you save locally and self-host.
What it deliberately doesn't do: no webcam/face-cam overlay, no live streaming, no scheduled recording, and only simple start/end trimming — not a full multi-track editor. That keeps it the "press a key, get a clip" tool rather than a production suite.
When the native macOS version lands, it'll carry this same one-hotkey philosophy. Want the heads-up the moment it's downloadable? Leave your email on the contact page and we'll let you know.
Mac screen recording FAQ
How do I record my screen on a Mac for free?
Press Cmd+Shift+5, choose Record Entire Screen or Record Selected Portion, set your options, and click Record. QuickTime Player also works via File → New Screen Recording. Both are free and built in — but neither captures internal/system audio without a driver, and neither annotates.
Can I record system audio on a Mac without extra software?
No. The built-ins record your microphone but not the sound playing through your Mac. For that you install a virtual audio driver like BlackHole and route it through an Aggregate Device. On Windows, Maxisnap captures system audio with a driver-free loopback, so there's no setup.
What's a good QuickTime screen recording alternative?
On a Mac today, Cmd+Shift+5 is the quickest free alternative and adds region recording. For system audio, annotation, share links, and GIF/WebM/AI export, Maxisnap delivers that on Windows now; a native macOS build is in development — sign up on contact.
Does Maxisnap record screen video on Mac?
Not yet. Maxisnap's recording ships on Windows today. There's no public macOS download right now — the download page lists macOS as Coming Soon. A native Apple-Silicon build is in active development.
How do I trim or share a Mac screen recording?
The file saves to your chosen spot (desktop by default). QuickTime's Edit → Trim handles a simple start/end cut; sharing means uploading the .mov yourself. On Windows, Maxisnap's result window adds inline trim plus one-click upload that returns a share link.
On Windows today. On Mac, in development.
If you're on Windows, you can record with system audio and share in one click right now. On macOS, use Cmd+Shift+5 today and get notified when the native Maxisnap build ships.
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