There are certain reasons you might want to screen record on your mac computer. Perhaps you want to capture a moment on live video or want to send a portion of a tutorial to your friend. Any which way, recording the screen of your Mac is a good way to get that audiovisual message out without having to share large chunks of files.
You can record the entire session of a video or just a selected part of it. There are three ways to do this. They are;
- Using Shift-Command-5
- QuickTime Player
- Meanwhile, in case you want to take a screenshot, check the perfect guide here!
Now we will cut across the first method of screen recording on your Mac.
Using Shift-Command-5 to screen record on Mac
With macOS Mojave, you can press Shift-command-5 on your keyboard to gain access to all controls you need to make a screen record on your Mac.
You can use these onscreen control keys to decide whether to record the entire screen, a selected portion or capture a still image of the content on your screen. Meanwhile, if you are yet to upgrade to Mojave, there is an alternative to using the QuickTime Player.
To record the Entire Screen.
- Click the record entire screen button in onscreen.
- You will see your pointers change to a camera
- Click any screen to start recording on your screen or click the Record button in the onscreen controls
- You can use the thumbnail to trim, save, share, and perform other actions on the just recorded screen.
To Record a Selected Part of your Mac Screen
- Click the Record Selected Portion button in the onscreen controls.
- Drag to select a portion of the screen you would like to record.
- Drag from within the selection to move the entire selection
- Click Record in the onscreen controls to start recording
- To stop the recording, click the Stop button in the menu bar. You can also use the Command-Control-Esc as an alternative to stopping recording.
- As earlier stated, you can use the thumbnail to share, trim, save, and perform other actions on your recorded screen.
Let us take you on a short ride on how to trim, share and save your recorded screen on Mac
After you are done recording and clicked the Stop icon in the menu bar, a thumbnail of your recorded video appears briefly in the lower-right corner of your mac screen. Follow these guidelines for details;
- Swipe the thumbnail to the right side of your screen, and your recording is automatically saved.
- Tap on the thumbnail to open the recorded screen.
- You can then proceed to click the Trim button to trim your recording.
- The share button is also visible and active in case you wish to share it.
- To move the recording to a different storage location, drag the thumbnail to your location choices such as email, document, or trash.
- Control-click the thumbnail for other options. Options for actions like wanting to change the save location, opening your screen recording in an app, or deleting it without saving.
Using QuickTime Player to Screen Record on Mac
An alternative to screen record on your Mac is using the QuickTime Player. The player has a screen recording feature, and the good thing is that you don’t need a MacOS to use it.
To do this, follow this guide;
- Go to QuickTime Player from your Applications folder
- Proceed to choose a file
- Then Screen Recording from the menu bar
- The screen recording window appears!
Before starting your screen recording on Mac, you can tap on the arrow right beside the Stop icon to change the recording settings.
Meanwhile, you can record audio or your voice with the screen recording. To do this;
- Choose a microphone
- Adjust the volume to monitor the audio during the recording
- Adjust the audio slider when you get an audio feedback
- Lower the volume or make use of headphones with a microphone
Having prepared all you need, to start recording;
- Click on the red Record icon.
- Click anywhere on your Mac screen to begin recording the entire Mac screen.
- You can drag to select a portion you would like to record if you don’t want to record the entire screen.
- To stop the screen record, click the stop icon in the menu bar or use Command-Control-Esc.
- After this, QuickTime Player automatically opens the video.
- You can then play, edit, or share your recording.
Extra Tips;
- When saving your screen recording automatically, Mac uses the name “Screen Recording date at time.mov
- Cancel making a recording by pressing the Esc before clicking o recording
- You can access your screen recording with apps that support editing and viewing videos such as iMovie, QuickTime Player, etc.
How helpful is this article on how to screen record on Mac? Have you ever needed to record your Mac screen? How did you go about it? Kindly share it with us in the comment section.