QuickTime Player is a multimedia program that is actually developed by Apple and included with all Mac devices, built-in with the macOS platform, so you don't need to do any extra downloading or installing in order to use QuickTime when you want to take a video of your screen. This makes QuickTime Player a great choice for someone who’s looking for the best way to record a video on a Mac.

Here's how to take a video on a Mac using QuickTime Player:

1. Either launch QuickTime Player from an existing shortcut or type QuickTime into the launchpad to find it and launch it.
2. Once the program is open, click on the File button and then select New Screen Recording.
3. Click on the arrow to configure your recording settings; you can record with your microphone if you want sound on your video, and you can also choose to show mouse clicks if you want clicks to appear in the recording too.
4. When you're ready to start, press the Record button and select a recording method – QuickTime allows for both full-screen and partial screen recording.
5. When you're ready to finish recording, press the Stop button in the menu bar, just to the left of the WiFi symbol.
6. Press File and Save to save your new recording in a location of your choice.

Get QuickTime Player

When looking at how to record videos on a Macbook Pro or Macbook Air, you can also simply use some key combinations on your keyboard to start recording in mere seconds. This is a useful method when you need to start a recording very quickly or urgently.

Check the guide to learn how to record a video with hotkeys:

1. Press the Command + Shift + 5 keys at the same time to make the screenshot toolbar appear.
2. On the screenshot toolbar, click either Record Entire Screen or Record Selected Portion and choose the portion of the screen you'd like to record.
3. Click the Record button to start the process and the Stop button when you're finished to stop recording.
4. Right-click on the recording file, which should appear in the bottom right of the screen, and then use the menu to save it wherever you want or delete it.

Read more about hotkeys

Best for: recording various screen activities and simple editing

G2 rating: 4.5/5, 44 user reviews

Movavi Screen Recorder is a versatile video capturing solution that doesn't take up too much space on your device and can run on a wide range of systems without any issues. It allows you to record anything from video chats to flash animations to video game playing and conference streaming too, with high-quality results and up to 60 frames per second.

Here's how to record a video on your Mac using Movavi Screen Recorder:

1. Download the program, open the installation file, and follow the instructions.
   Download Movavi Screen Recorder for Mac
2. Launch the program. In the control panel on the right, click the Screen recording icon. You can capture the whole screen, a single window, or a specific area.
3. After you choose what to record, new panels will appear next to your frame. By default, Movavi Screen Recorder captures your system sounds: the System Audio icon is displayed in green. If it is gray, just click the icon to activate the option. To record your video with voice and/or webcam overlay, hit the corresponding icons and make sure they also turn green. When all the parameters are set, click Start recording to start.
4. You can control the recording process by clicking Pause to take breaks or Stop to finish and save. You can also use the hotkeys: ⌥ ⌘ 1 to pause/resume the recording and ⌥ ⌘ 2 to stop it. After clicking Stop, you’ll see a preview window in which you can review and trim your recording.
5. Trim your recording if needed. To save your video, click Export, adjust the parameters in the export window, and hit Save.

Best for: professional-grade editing

G2 rating: 4.5/5, 45 user reviews

OBS Studio is a pro-level video recording app that is designed with intermediate and advanced users in mind. It has a highly customizable interface, advanced audio mixing, and many different editing effects and features that users can play around with to not only record videos but adjust and enhance them too.

Download OBS Studio

Best for: informational and educational videos

Mac App Store rating: 4.4/5, 252 user ratings

Capto is a screen recording, capture, and editing app that can be useful for taking screenshots and making videos of whatever is on your screen at the time. It offers lots of useful editing options like allowing you to add shapes, icons, arrows, text, and numbers to your screen, making it helpful for creating informational or educational videos.

Download Capto

Best for: free video recording

Trustpilot rating: 4.1/5, 47 user reviews

ScreenRec is a completely free screen recorder without any limitations, watermarks, or restrictions. It lets you capture screenshots and videos with just a single keystroke and share them with your friends or store them securely in the cloud.

Download ScreenRec

Best for: ease and convenience

Trustpilot rating: 4.6/5, 109 user reviews

Screencapture.com is a popular online recorder tool you can use without the need to download or install it. It works in all major browsers and languages, is very simple to get started with, and has strong security features to prevent anyone else from viewing or downloading your videos without permission.

Follow these steps to record a video using this tool:

1. Head to the official Screencapture.com site.
   Go to Screencapture.com
2. Choose your settings if you want mic or cam recording.
3. Press the Start Recording button to begin.
4. Your browser will ask you for permission to record, so click the Allow button to grant this permission.
5. Press Stop when you're done recording and save your file.

Best for: editing while recording

TechRadar rating: 4.5/5

Apowersoft's screen recorder is a simple to use web tool that focuses heavily on editing recordings as you make them, so it has a lot of appeal for gamers and streamers. It allows you to add annotations and icons to your clips, as well as coming with useful share features to upload to sites like YouTube and Vimeo at the click of a button.

Go to Apowersoft Free Online Screen Recorder

Best for: screencasting in many formats

AceThinker rating: 4/5, 121 user reviews

Acethinker Free Online Screen Recorder is another simple tool for people who want to screencast on my Mac. It allows you to save in popular formats like AVI and MP4, and it also functions with webcam and mic recording too. It's a popular choice with people who want to make a tutorial and how-to videos.

Go to Acethinker Free Online Screen Recorder

Best for: recording short clips

ScreenApp.io is a fully free screen recorder that demands no registration, payment, download, or installation. It can let you record and save videos to your device in seconds, working across major platforms like Mac, Windows, and Linux. You can record the full screen or individual tabs and windows, and you can use basic editing to trim your clip before saving it.


Go to ScreenApp.io

Best for: Chrome users

Chrome Web Store rating: 4.7/5, 10,069 user ratings

This Chrome extension requires only 6 megabytes of space and is used by millions of people for recording videos on one of the world's most popular browsers. It's very simple to use and offers basic editing to trim clips and add call-to-actions.

Here’s how to video record on a Mac with this extension:

1. Download and install Loom for Chrome.
   Download Loom
2. Click the purple icon to open the Recording menu.
3. Choose your recording option, configure the settings if necessary, and press Start Recording to begin the process.

Best for: drawing over videos

Chrome Web Store rating: 4/5, 11,568 user ratings

Screencastify is another useful extension for Chrome that stands out for its real-time editing. It allows the user to draw over videos as they make them, which is really useful when making troubleshooting guides or software tutorials.

Get Screencastify

Best for: taking screenshots

Chrome Web Store rating: 4.6/5, 14,424 user ratings

Nimbus Screenshot & Screen Video Recorder is a versatile extension you can use for both still images and videos of your screen. You can customize the capture area as desired, and all videos and shots can be edited and annotated. It's also helpful for making GIF files, but many features are premium only.

Get Nimbus Screenshot & Screen Recorder

Best for: business collaboration

Chrome Web Store rating: 4.3/5, 258 user ratings

CloudApp is one of the most-used screen recorders on Chrome, helpful for capturing screens and webcam feeds and offering basic editing and instant sharing too. All content is uploaded with either a public or private URL you can share with your friends or colleagues, making this a good tool for business.

Get CloudApp

Best for: beginner editing

G2 rating: 4.3/5, 289 user reviews

iMovie is a multifunctional video app for Mac that can be used for viewing, sharing, and editing your clips. You can add titles, transitions, and various other effects, as well as trimming clips, and making great quality videos with ease, as everything has been designed to be beginner-friendly. The only downside is that it takes up a lot of system space.

Download iMovie

Best for: content creators and advanced editing

Trustpilot rating: 4.6/5, 9,844 user reviews

Movavi Video Editor is a free download video editing program for Mac that offers lots of different features for content creators. You can use ready-made intros, animated titles, stickers, slow-motion, reverse, green screen-style background effects, and much more. You may also save your videos in multiple formats like MOV, AVI, and MP4.

Best for: business editing and animation

Capterra rating: 4.7/5, 574 user reviews

A good choice for business and professional editing, Blender is a high-end video editing program with GPU and CPU rendering, modeling, sculpting, and simulation features, in addition to standard video editing functions.

Download Blender