Creating QuickTime Screen Recordings in macOS – A Step-by-Step Guide

Have you ever wondered how to capture your screen on a Mac? Well, wonder no more! In this tutorial, I’ll show you exactly how to create QuickTime screen recordings in macOS. Whether you’re looking to make tutorials, capture video gameplay, or preserve precious memories, QuickTime has got you covered.

First things first, let’s open up QuickTime Player. You can find it in your Applications folder or simply search for it using Spotlight. Once you have it open, click on the “File” menu at the top left corner of your screen and select “New Screen Recording.” Easy peasy, right?

Next, a recording window will appear. You’ll see a small white arrow next to the red record button. Click on it and a dropdown menu will appear. This is where you can choose your recording options. You can decide whether to capture your entire screen, a specific portion, or a particular window. Plus, you can select audio input options, like recording internal or external audio, or even mute the sound altogether.

Now comes the exciting part! Once you’ve chosen your desired settings, click on the red record button to start capturing your screen. A countdown will appear, giving you a few seconds to get ready. And voila! Your screen recording has begun.

As you record your screen, a control bar will appear at the bottom of the screen. It allows you to pause or stop the recording, take screenshots, or even enable a microphone if you want to add some voiceover commentary. You can also hide the control bar during recording by clicking on the small “X” button on the right side of the bar.

When you’re finished recording, simply click on the stop button in the menu bar at the top of your screen. QuickTime will automatically save your recording, and you can choose where to save it on your Mac. And that’s it – your screen recording is complete!

But wait, there’s more! QuickTime also offers some nifty editing features. After saving your recording, you can trim the video, crop the frame, or adjust the audio settings. This way, you can fine-tune your masterpiece and make it truly shine.

Now that you know how to create QuickTime screen recordings in macOS, the possibilities are endless. Whether you’re a content creator, a gamer, or simply want to capture special moments, QuickTime is your go-to tool. So grab your Mac, open up QuickTime, and start recording – a world of screen capturing awaits you.

Hey there! Did you know that macOS comes with a super useful program called QuickTime Player? It’s not just for playing audio and video files, but also for creating different types of recordings. Pretty cool, huh? You can use QuickTime to make audio recordings with your Mac’s microphone or video recordings with your webcam. But wait, there’s more! QuickTime also lets you make screen recordings, which is perfect for creating tutorials or helping out less tech-savvy family members. So, let’s dive into how you can use QuickTime to create awesome screen recordings on your Mac!

Getting Started with QuickTime

If you’re new to QuickTime, the first thing you’ll need to do is find the app on your Mac. No worries, it’s conveniently located in your Applications folder. To get there, just click on Finder and go to Go > Applications from the menu bar. Or, to save some time, you can use the handy keyboard shortcut Shift-Command-A in Finder to jump straight to the Applications folder. Once you’re there, scroll down until you see QuickTime Player.app and double-click to open it. By the way, you can also search for QuickTime directly in Spotlight and launch it from there.

Your Recording Options in QuickTime

When you have the app open, you’ll find the QuickTime recording options under the File menu at the top of the screen:

Let me give you a quick overview of each QuickTime recording option.

New Movie Recording: This option allows you to create a video recording using your Mac’s webcam or any connected USB camera. You can use this mode to record yourself talking to the camera or anything that your camera is pointed at.

New Audio Recording: With this option, you can create an audio-only recording using your Mac’s built-in microphone or any supported recording devices like an external USB microphone. It’s useful for recording yourself for a podcast, narrating a slideshow or movie, or recording a meeting (with everyone’s permission, of course).

New Screen Recording: This is what we’ll focus on, and it allows you to record your Mac’s screen along with optional audio from your Mac’s microphone or a supported USB audio device.

How to Make QuickTime Screen Recordings

Let’s get started with creating QuickTime screen recordings. Follow these steps: select File > New Screen Recording from QuickTime’s menu bar. Alternatively, you can launch QuickTime and use the keyboard shortcut Control-Command-N. You’ll see a new Screen Recording window appear:

This is where the magic happens. The center red button is how you start your recording, but first, check your preferences! Click on the small downward-facing arrow next to the record button.

You’ll find two choices: “Microphone” and “Options.” For “Microphone,” you can choose whether your screen recording includes audio. Select “Internal Microphone” if you want to discuss what you’re doing on-screen while recording. If you have an external microphone or audio device connected, you’ll see it listed as well and can choose that for your audio input.
The “Show Mouse Clicks in Recording” option is cool if you want your audience to know exactly when you’re clicking your mouse or trackpad. It puts a circle around your cursor whenever you click during your recording.
So set up your preferred microphone, turn mouse clicks on or off, and you’re good to go. Press the red button, and QuickTime will give you a heads up.

As the QuickTime dialog states, you can click once anywhere to start recording your full screen. But if you only want to record a portion of your screen, you can instead click and drag to draw a box around that section. Either way, your recording will begin, and you can monitor it through the icon in your menu bar.

Now, go ahead and perform the actions you want to record: troubleshoot an issue, launch an application, follow steps to create a tutorial, and so on. When you’re done, click the QuickTime icon in your menu bar to stop the recording. QuickTime will process your recording, create the video file, and open it for you on your desktop. Take a look at the file to ensure you captured what you wanted and use QuickTime’s trim function to remove parts at the beginning or end.

Saving & Sharing Your QuickTime Screen Recordings

If you’re happy with your recording, the final step is to save or share it. To save the recording, click File > Save from the menu bar and choose your desired filename and location.

If you want to share your video via email or iMessage right away, click the Share button in the QuickTime playback controls. This will save and upload the video to your chosen recipients automatically.

One more thing! Be aware that screen recordings can create large files, so if your creation is too big to email, you can upload it to a file-sharing service like Dropbox instead. Depending on your Mac and operating system version, you might also be able to use Apple Mail’s built-in Mail Drop feature.
However you choose to send your recording, your recipients will have an easy way to see exactly what you want to show them. I’ve found that this is incredibly helpful, especially for visual learners. Plus, it’s always impressive to share such informative recordings!