The short answer
There are three ways to record system (internal) audio on a Mac. On macOS 27, the built-in ⌘⇧5 screen recorder has an Include System Audio option — you get a screen video. On any recent macOS, a virtual audio driver such as BlackHole works for free but needs manual routing. Or use a recorder built on Apple’s ScreenCaptureKit: MeetingRecorder is a free menu-bar app for Mac that records system audio and your microphone together and saves an audio file, with no driver to install.
Why macOS blocks it by default
For privacy reasons, macOS doesn’t let apps silently grab the audio your speakers are playing. On macOS 15 and 26, the built-in screen recorder (⌘⇧5) captures your microphone only. So if you record a call this way, you’ll hear yourself perfectly and everyone else not at all. This is the single most common “my recording has no audio” problem on Mac.
Method 1 — a virtual audio device
The classic route is to install a virtual audio driver (the free, open-source kind) that creates a fake output device. You route your Mac’s sound into it, then record from it. It works, but there are sharp edges:
- You have to build an aggregate device if you also want to hear the audio while recording.
- It’s easy to leave your output pointed at the virtual device and wonder why your speakers went silent.
- Every meeting starts with a little audio-routing ritual.
Method 2 — ScreenCaptureKit (the modern API)
Recent macOS versions expose a system API that lets approved apps capture system audio directly — no virtual driver, no routing. This is the clean foundation modern recorders build on. You grant a one-time Screen Recording permission (that’s the toggle that also unlocks system audio), and the app captures the output mix natively.
Method 3 — a recorder that does it for you
If you just want the result, a menu-bar recorder built on the modern API removes every step above. MeetingRecorder captures your microphone and system audio together — no virtual device, no aggregate setup, nothing to re-route when you’re done.
- Grant Screen Recording once during setup.
- Hit record; both your voice and the call’s audio are captured.
- Keep them mixed, or save separate mic / system tracks for cleaner transcripts.
Most people land here because they’re trying to record a call and ended up with a video where only their own voice came through. If that’s you, the specific fix is capturing both sides of the call on a Mac — your mic and the meeting’s audio together — which is exactly the system-audio problem above, solved for meetings.
So which method?
- You’re on macOS 27 and a screen video is fine: ⌘⇧5 with Include System Audio.
- One-off, and you like tinkering: a virtual audio device is free and fine.
- You do this weekly and want it to just work: a recorder on the modern API, so there’s no routing to babysit.
Either way, the key idea is the same: the microphone is only half the recording. To capture a Mac meeting properly, you need the system audio too.
Recording a specific app? We have step-by-step walkthroughs for Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Webex, Slack huddles, FaceTime, WhatsApp and Discord on a Mac. Comparing dedicated tools instead? See our roundup of bot-free meeting recorders for Mac and our Otter.ai alternative for Mac breakdown.