How to Record Microphone and System Audio on Mac

To record microphone and system audio on Mac at the same time, use an app that captures both sources directly. Grant it Microphone access for your voice and Screen & System Audio Recording access for sound from calls, browser tabs, videos, and other apps. Make a short test before the real session, then check that both sides are present in the saved file.

Use a screen recorder when the picture matters. Use an audio-routing tool when another app needs to receive the sound as an input. If the result you want is an audio file, transcript, or summary, an audio-only recorder is the shorter path.

Microphone audio is the sound entering the selected input device: your Mac's built-in mic, a headset, a USB microphone, or an audio interface. On a call, this is normally your side of the conversation.

System audio is the sound the Mac plays from apps. That includes the other people in Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, or FaceTime-style calls, plus browser audio, videos, webinars, media players, and app sounds. Recording only one source leaves half the job unfinished.

QuickTime Player can make an audio-only recording, but Apple's recording options ask you to choose a microphone. Voice Memos works the same way: it records from the built-in microphone, a headset, or another input. Neither gives you a direct microphone-plus-system-audio setup for calls and app playback.

That does not mean macOS prevents system-audio recording entirely. Current macOS versions let approved apps capture it, but the user must grant a separate privacy permission. The wording can appear as Screen Recording or Screen & System Audio Recording, depending on the macOS version.

Microphone and system audio use separate macOS permissions. Open Apple menu > System Settings > Privacy & Security. Under Microphone, allow the recorder to use your selected input. Under Screen & System Audio Recording, allow it to capture sound from calls, browser tabs, videos, and other apps. Apple documents the system-audio permission and the separate microphone permission.

If you changed either permission while the recorder was open, quit the app completely and reopen it before testing. Permission only lets the app reach a source; it does not confirm that the right microphone is selected or that both sources contain sound. A short test recording is still the fastest check.

Start with the result, not the tool. A product demo with cursor movement needs video. A podcast edit may need separate tracks and detailed gain control. A customer call you want to search next week may only need the source audio, transcript, and summary.

This avoids installing a routing driver for a recording job or saving a large video when the screen adds nothing useful.

Install Transcrio on a Mac running macOS 15 or newer, open it from the menu bar, and sign in. Complete this before a live call. The full setup guide covers installation and recovery if macOS does not show a permission again.

After both macOS permissions are on, open Transcrio Settings and choose the microphone you actually use for calls. If a permission is enabled but one source is still silent, use the setup guide linked above for recovery steps.

Open Settings and choose the microphone you actually use for calls. Turn on Keep separate mic/system source files while testing. Leave Prevent Mac sleep during recording enabled for longer sessions. Keep Transcribe after recording on when you want text afterward; turn it off when you only need local audio and do not want to spend transcription minutes.

Do not use an important call as the first test. Put on headphones, play a short spoken clip in the browser, start recording, and say a sentence into the selected microphone. Stop after about 20 seconds.

Open the new session folder. Listen to recording_stereo.m4a first. With separate source files enabled, also check raw_mic.m4a and raw_system.m4a. The mic file should contain your test sentence. The system file should contain the browser clip. This catches a wrong microphone or missing permission before it costs you a real conversation.

Start Transcrio just before the useful audio begins. Use the call app, browser, or media player normally, then stop when the useful section ends. There is no meeting bot to invite and no platform-specific recording button to find. If you are choosing a setup for recurring classes, compare the lecture transcription options before the next session.

Avoid switching between speakers, wired headphones, AirPods, displays, or audio interfaces during the recording. A device change can interrupt the capture path. For a long session, keep the Mac connected to power and confirm that sleep prevention is enabled.

Every completed session keeps recording_stereo.m4a as the main local recording. It is an AAC .m4a file at 128 kbps, with microphone audio on the left channel and system audio on the right channel. If Keep separate mic/system source files is enabled, the folder also keeps raw_mic.m4a and raw_system.m4a.

When transcription is enabled, Transcrio uses the stereo recording for processing and saves transcript.txt, transcript.json, summary.txt, and session_note.txt locally as those steps finish. Processing is not fully offline. Transcrio uses temporary backend and provider handling for transcription and summary, but does not keep the audio, transcript, or summary as long-term product storage.

A silent recording usually has a concrete cause. Check the missing source instead of reinstalling everything at once.

Transcrio is built around saved audio and reusable text, not screen production or pro audio routing. Use the simpler recorder path only when it matches the artifact you need.

Use a screen recorder when the picture matters. Use OBS for scenes or streaming. Use BlackHole or Loopback when another app needs a virtual input. The Audio Hijack comparison covers advanced Mac audio capture and fully local transcription. For meeting notes, the Granola comparison covers live notes, while the PLAUD Desktop comparison covers the extra hardware requirement.