How to Record Internal Audio on Mac Using 4 Free Methods

It’s easy to record screen on Mac as your iMac or Macbook comes with a practical inbuilt screen recording feature in QuickTime,

However, you should note that since Mac doesn’t natively support screen recording with internal audio, the use and installation of third-party tools is a must.

For this, we managed to find the 4 best free tools for you to do this, now follow our tutorial to get your screen recording job easily done!

Using Free Screen Recorder for Mac

To save the troublesome process of installing virtual audio drivers on your macOS, using a free screen recorder with an internal audio capture feature is recommended.

Record Go is a completely free and powerful screen recording tool available from the Apple App Store, allowing you to easily capture activities on a Mac screen along with system/internal audio – recording web videos with sound, for instance.

Record Go also provides many other practical features such as full-screen recording, partial-screen recording, webcam recording, mouse click recording, etc.

Step 1. Download Record Go from the Apple App Store, and install it on your Mac.

Step 2. Fire up Record Go. From the recording settings window, you can select to record the full or a part of the screen and define the preferred resolution, frame rate, etc.

Step 3. In that window, make sure to set the audio input as System Sound to record system audio.

Step 4. Click the red REC to start the screen recording. Then click the stop button from the upper menu bar or use the keyboard shortcut Control + Command + S to stop the recording.

Step 5. You can check the recorded video when the recording is done.

Using QuickTime with BlackHole

QuickTime, the built-in media player on macOS, does not natively support internal audio recording. However, you can use a virtual audio driver like BlackHole to enable this functionality.

Step 1. Download and install BlackHole from its official website.

Step 2. Open Audio MIDI Setup (found in /Applications/Utilities).

Step 3. Click the + button in the bottom left corner and select Create Multi-Output Device.

Step 4. In the right panel, select both Built-in Output and BlackHole 16ch.

Step 5. In the left menu, right-click on Multi-Output Device and select Use This Device For Sound Output.

Step 6. Open QuickTime and select File > New Audio Recording.

Step 7. From the toolbar, select Options, and under Microphone, choose BlackHole 16ch. Lastly, start your screen recording.

Using OBS Studio

OBS Studio (Open Broadcaster Software) is a free, open-source software widely used for video recording and live streaming. It offers robust features for capturing high-quality video and audio, making it ideal for recording internal audio on Mac.

The new macOS Audio Capture Source feature available in OBS Studio 30 and higher simplifies the process significantly.

Step 1. Ensure you have the latest version of OBS Studio installed. You can download it from the official OBS website.

Step 2. Launch the application.

Step 3. Click on the “+” button in the “Sources” panel, select “Audio Output Capture”, name the source, and click “OK”.

Step 4. In the properties window, select “macOS Audio Capture” as the device. This will allow you to capture all desktop audio or audio from a specific application.

Step 5. Begin your recording or streaming session. The audio will be captured and included in your output.

Using Audacity with Soundflower

Audacity is a free, open-source audio recording software that can be configured to record internal audio using virtual audio devices like Soundflower or BlackHole.

Soundflower is an open-source macOS kernel extension that enables users to route audio between applications.

It offers seamless audio routing, low latency, and the ability to record system sounds directly, which is not natively possible on Macs.

Step 1. Download and install Audacity from its official website. Install BlackHole as described above.

Step 2. Follow the same steps as above to create a Multi-Output Device in Audio MIDI Setup.

Step 3. Open Audacity and go to Preferences > Devices.

Step 4. Set the recording device to Soundflower 2ch.

Step 5. Start recording in Audacity, it allows you to record internal audio directly into Audacity.

FAQs

Can I record internal audio directly on a Mac?

No, macOS does not provide a built-in utility to record system audio. You can record external sounds using the Voice Memos app or QuickTime Player, but for internal audio, you’ll need to use third-party software like Record Go or additional sound routing utilities.

How do I use Audio MIDI Setup to record internal audio?

Audio MIDI Setup is a utility that lets you create an aggregate device, combining multiple audio inputs and outputs. With third-party software like Soundflower or BlackHole, you can route the internal audio to this aggregate device and then select it as the input source in your recording software.

Does recording internal audio affect the sound quality?

Generally, recording internal audio should not degrade the sound quality if the software and settings are configured correctly. Ensure you select the proper audio format and bitrate to match the quality of the source audio.

Can I record streaming music or video soundtracks from the web on Mac?

Yes, with internal audio recording software, you can capture the audio from streaming services. However, be aware of the copyright and terms of service agreements of the streaming platforms, as recording content may violate these terms.