Mac Screen Recording No Audio? Here's the Fix

You hit record, narrate your entire walkthrough, and stop. The playback starts — dead silence. No system audio, no mic, nothing. It happens to nearly every Mac user at least once, and the root cause is almost always one of three things: macOS privacy permissions, a missing audio route for system sound, or a mic that was never selected. This guide walks through each cause and the exact fix for every major recording tool.

Why macOS Doesn't Capture System Audio by Default

Apple made a deliberate security decision: no application can tap into another application's audio output without explicit user consent and an audio routing layer. On Windows, "Stereo Mix" or WASAPI loopback handles this transparently. On macOS, the audio subsystem (CoreAudio) isolates each app's output stream. A screen recorder can capture microphone input because the mic is a hardware device the user grants access to. But system audio — Spotify playback, browser tabs, game sound — travels directly to the output device (speakers or headphones) without passing through any capture point accessible to third-party apps.

This means every screen recording tool on macOS needs one of two things to record internal audio:

1. A virtual audio device that creates a loopback route (BlackHole, Loopback by Rogue Amoeba)
2. A kernel extension or system extension that intercepts audio at the driver level (older tools like Soundflower, or newer ScreenCaptureKit-based solutions)

Apple introduced ScreenCaptureKit in macOS 13 Ventura, which finally gave developers a supported API for capturing both screen content and system audio simultaneously. Apps built on ScreenCaptureKit — including Screenify Studio — can record system audio natively without any virtual audio device. But older tools and workflows still need the manual routing setup.

Fix 1: Check Microphone Permissions

Before anything else, verify that your recording app actually has permission to access the microphone.

1. Open System Settings (or System Preferences on older macOS)
2. Navigate to Privacy & Security > Microphone
3. Find your recording app in the list
4. Make sure the toggle is on

If the app isn't listed at all, it either hasn't requested mic access yet (launch it and start a recording to trigger the prompt) or it was denied and needs a manual reset. See our macOS screen recording permissions guide for the full walkthrough on resetting permission entries.

Common gotcha: If you denied mic access on the first prompt, macOS won't ask again. You must manually enable it in System Settings.

Fix 2: Select the Right Audio Input in Your Recording Tool

Many users have the correct permissions but recorded with the wrong input selected — or no input at all.

Screenshot Toolbar (Cmd + Shift + 5)

1. Press Cmd + Shift + 5 to open the toolbar
2. Click Options
3. Under Microphone, select your desired input (Built-in Microphone, AirPods, or external mic)
4. If you see None selected, that explains the silence

The Screenshot Toolbar does not support system audio capture natively. It only records mic input. For internal audio, you need either a virtual audio device or a different tool.

QuickTime Player

1. Open QuickTime Player
2. Go to File > New Screen Recording
3. Click the dropdown arrow next to the record button
4. Select your microphone under the audio input options

Same limitation as Screenshot Toolbar: QuickTime cannot capture system audio without a virtual audio device.

OBS Studio

1. Open OBS and go to Settings > Audio
2. Under Global Audio Devices, check that Desktop Audio is not set to "Disabled"
3. On macOS, Desktop Audio defaults to disabled because macOS has no native loopback
4. Add an Audio Output Capture source or configure a virtual audio device

For OBS to capture desktop audio on Mac, you need BlackHole or a similar loopback driver installed and configured. See Fix 3 below.

Screenify Studio

Screenify Studio uses ScreenCaptureKit under the hood, which means system audio capture works natively on macOS 13 and later:

1. Open Screenify Studio and start a new recording
2. In the recording toolbar, ensure the System Audio toggle is enabled
3. Optionally enable Microphone for voiceover alongside system sound
4. Both streams are captured separately, giving you full control during editing

No virtual audio device needed. No BlackHole, no Loopback, no kernel extensions.

Fix 3: Set Up BlackHole for Tools That Need It

If you're using QuickTime, Screenshot Toolbar, or any tool that lacks native system audio capture, BlackHole is the standard free solution.

Install BlackHole

1. Download BlackHole from existential.audio
2. Run the installer package — it creates a virtual audio device called "BlackHole 2ch" (or 16ch)
3. Restart any recording apps that were open during installation

Create a Multi-Output Device

You need this so you can hear audio through your speakers while BlackHole captures it simultaneously.

1. Open Audio MIDI Setup (search in Spotlight)
2. Click the + button in the bottom-left corner
3. Select Create Multi-Output Device
4. Check both BlackHole 2ch and your regular output device (Built-in Output, headphones, etc.)
5. Make sure your real output device is checked as Drift Correction master
6. Right-click the Multi-Output Device and select Use This Device for Sound Output

Configure Your Recording Tool

Now point your recorder's audio input to BlackHole:

• QuickTime: Select "BlackHole 2ch" as the microphone input
• OBS: Set Desktop Audio device to "BlackHole 2ch" in Settings > Audio
• Screenshot Toolbar: Select "BlackHole 2ch" under Options > Microphone

Caveats

• Your Mac volume buttons won't work while the Multi-Output Device is active (it doesn't support volume control)
• You must manually switch back to your normal output device when done recording
• BlackHole captures all system audio — you cannot exclude specific apps

For a detailed walkthrough on internal audio recording, see our complete guide to recording internal audio on Mac.

Fix 4: Verify Sound Output Settings

Sometimes the issue isn't the recorder — it's that macOS is sending audio to the wrong output.

1. Open System Settings > Sound > Output
2. Confirm the correct device is selected
3. Check that the output volume is not muted or at zero
4. If using the Multi-Output Device for BlackHole, make sure it's set as the output

Also check the Input tab while you're there. Make sure the input level meter moves when you speak. If it doesn't, your mic hardware may be the problem, not the software.

Fix 5: Reset CoreAudio If Nothing Works

Occasionally the CoreAudio daemon gets stuck in a bad state, causing all audio capture to fail silently.

sudo killall coreaudiod

This restarts the audio subsystem. All audio will briefly stop and resume. Re-launch your recording app and try again.

If you're on macOS Sonoma or later and experiencing persistent audio issues after sleep/wake cycles, this reset often resolves it.

Troubleshooting Checklist

Run through this before diving into complex solutions:

FAQ

Q: Can I record system audio on Mac without installing anything?

Only if your recording app uses Apple's ScreenCaptureKit API (available on macOS 13 Ventura and later). Apps like Screenify Studio leverage this to capture system audio natively. Older tools like QuickTime and the Screenshot Toolbar require a virtual audio device like BlackHole.

Q: Why does my screen recording have video but no audio?

The most common cause is that no audio input was selected in your recording tool. Open your recorder's settings and verify that a microphone or audio device is chosen. For system audio, you also need either a ScreenCaptureKit-based app or a virtual audio loopback device.

Q: Is BlackHole safe to install?

Yes. BlackHole is an open-source virtual audio driver maintained by Existential Audio. It installs as a user-space audio device — not a kernel extension — on modern macOS. It has no known security issues and is widely used in the audio production community.

Q: Why can't I hear audio while recording with BlackHole?

You need a Multi-Output Device that combines BlackHole with your real speakers or headphones. Without it, audio routes only to BlackHole (which has no physical output). See Fix 3 above for setup instructions.

Q: Does Screenify Studio record both system audio and mic at the same time?

Yes. Screenify captures system audio and microphone input as separate tracks, so you can adjust levels independently during editing. This works natively on macOS 13 and later without any additional software.

Q: My recording app doesn't appear in the Microphone permissions list. What do I do?

The app needs to request mic access before it appears. Launch the app and attempt a recording — macOS should prompt you. If it still doesn't show up, the app might not use the standard permission API. Check the app's documentation, or try resetting mic permissions with tccutil reset Microphone in Terminal and relaunching.

Q: Will AirPods work as a mic input for screen recording?

Yes, but with a caveat. When AirPods are used as both output and input simultaneously, Bluetooth switches to the SCO codec, which significantly degrades audio quality (8kHz mono). For better results, use AirPods for monitoring only and a separate wired or USB microphone for recording input.

For more on getting your screen recording setup right, check out our complete guide to screen recording on Mac.