Screen recording has become one of the best methods to create a footage of your desktop activity with ease. There might be several occasions when you want to capture your gameplay, record streaming videos, or either make some video tutorials or software reviews on your Mac. In case these circumstances arise, a good screen recorder is necessary. Actually, there are lots of screen recording software that are available online. However, most of these tools only offer paid version or have a poor recording quality. In this article, we will introduce the best free screen recorder for Mac.
This screenshot tool from the folks at Evernote performs screen capture and markup among.
Apowersoft Free Online Screen Recorder
- Mac screenshots: 4 ways to capture your MacBook's screen. Keyboard shortcuts to take screenshots might seem straightforward on your Mac, but each technique captures a different part of your screen.
- First, we will explain how to use the Screenshot app then will cover third-party tools to record video and screen on Mac with audio. To capture the entire Mac screen: Press Shift + Command + 3. This will capture the screen and save it on your Mac's desktop. To take a screenshot of the selected screen on your Mac: Press Shift + Command + 4.
Apowersoft Free Online Screen Recorder is a free but in the meantime very comprehensive program that you can use to create high-quality videos. With the help of this tool, you will have an easy access to the experience of using a brilliant screen activity recorder that doesn't leave any watermark at all on your video after a successful registration. Moreover, this program can capture your desktop activity together with the audio coming from your system and microphone. Overall, there is surely no doubt that Apowersoft Free Online Screen Recorder is one of the best free screen recorders for Mac available on the market. To utilize this program, you can follow the step-by-step guide below.
- Firstly, you need to visit the official website of Apowersoft Free Online Screen Recorder.
- On the main page of the site you can click the 'Start Recording' button to launch the screen recorder.
- Once you launched it, you can set to record screen or webcam, custom recording area, and change audio input, etc. You can also go to settings and make some configurations.
- Once done settings, hit the red recording button to start recording. During the recording process, you can add a webcam to your screen, and you can even add some annotations to it.
- After you have finalized the recording, click the stop button to stop it. At this point, a preview window will pop up. On the preview window, you can save the video by clicking the 'Save video' button, or even share the video with your friends by clicking the share button.
Monosnap
Monosnap is another mentionable flexible program specifically developed for Mac OS. You can use this program not only to record your screen but also to take quick screenshots in case you need to use it as a powerful screen recording software. In addition, this tool can be used as a storage software. This program can also offer the option of capturing your webcam, microphone or system sound as you can just set it before you start recording according to your need. Aside from that, the mentioned program can record in 60 fps. This means that you can record smoothly even you are playing high framerate games. If you want to use this free video recording software for Mac, you may follow the steps below.
- Download and install Monosnap.
- After successfully finalizing the installation, click the Monosnap's drop down menu, then choose 'Record Video' to start recording.
- In case you want to stop this program from recording, just click its drop down menu again then click 'Finish recording' to end it. Afterwards, your recording will be saved automatically, and you can check it right away at the location of your choice of saving.
OBS Studio
The next free screen recording tool for Mac that you can rely on according to our list is OBS Studio. This is a free and open source screen recorder that is available on both Windows, Mac, and Linux. The suggested program will allow you to capture real-time activities and create excellent live streaming videos. Moreover, this program has the ability to incorporate footage from your previous recordings or add exiting videos. On the other side, this program is to some degree complicated, in the sense that you can take certain time familiarizing its interface and configurations. Here are the steps on how to use this program.
- First of all you need to have OBS Studio installed in your computer.
- Once you have it, launch OBS, then click 'Scene' > 'Source' > 'Add Icon', and then click 'Windows Capture'.
- After the previous step is done, a pop up window will show and allow you to rename your video you are going to record. Once done, click the 'OK' button to proceed.
- Next, select the window you want to record.
- Lastly, you only need to hit the 'Start Recording' button to initiate recording. Once done recording, just click the top button to end it.
Jing
Another free screen recording software for Mac is Jing by Techsmith that has been very popular on the market for a long time. This program is very simple and easy to use that are the pillars of its popularity. It comes with a movable sun icon that can be placed anywhere on your display, which enables you to easily utilize its function. Aside from screen recording, you can use this tool to take screenshots and edit it right after capturing. However, this program can only record up to 5 minutes. If you are still interested to use this program despite its time limitation, you can follow these steps.
- First and foremost, download and install this program on your pc from the official Techsmith website.
- Hit the 'Sun' icon and select 'Capture'.
- Once you are inside the options panel, simply adjust the frame according to your preference then select 'Capture video'.
- To stop the recording, simply hit the 'Stop' button, and then the recorded file will automatically pop up for preview.
Quicktime Player
The last recording program for Mac is the Quicktime Player. This is an extensible multimedia framework that can be used not only to record videos but also to play, edit and share videos on Mac. This tool can be characterized with that it has a very intuitive interface which makes it very easy to use even for beginners. This program can create footage of your Mac screen with a web camera or iPhone screen. You can follow the instructions below to capture your screen using this best free screen recorder for Mac.
- To begin with, you have to launch Quicktime Player at the first hand.
- Once you see the interface, click 'File' and select 'New Screen Recording', then a screen recording window will pop up. On this window, you can configure your recording settings. After configuring, hit the red round recording button to start recording your screen.
- Once done with the complete recording process, click the 'Stop' button in the menu bar, then your recorded file will automatically pop up.
Conclusion
As you can see, the aforementioned programs are the currently best free Mac screen recording software you can find on the market. You can decide which program you will use for your recording. I highly recommend Apowersoft Free Online Screen Recorder. Compared to the other programs above, this program can be used to quickly record your screen, audio, as well as a webcam as it is a web-based application. Aside from that, it has an easy interface and even beginners can use it.
Related posts:
For many new Apple users, particularly those who are migrating from Windows and are used to that Prt Scrn (Print Screen) button, the answer to the question of how to screenshot on Mac isn't immediately obvious.
Although it only takes pressing a couple of keys to take a screenshot on Mac, the fact remains that Mac screen capture is something that hasn't historically felt all that intuitive. For example, in addition to different key commands for screenshotting windows vs. smaller selections, recording video of your screen for a long time was only possible through QuickTime Player.
Best screenshot apps for macOS
Get the ultimate screen capture on Mac - download and test the best screenshot apps. All utilities in one pack, give it a go!
Although macOS Mojave has changed much of this, how to screenshot on Mac remains a heavy-hitting search query, as not everyone uses the latest version of macOS. Below you'll find more information on taking a screenshot on Mac (and capturing video), as well as some useful tools to make your Apple screenshot life easier.
Exploring Mac Screenshot Basics
As there's no dedicated button for print screen on Apple products, there are a few different commands associated with screen capture on Mac that vary slightly depending on your setup.
It makes sense to divide the world of how to take a screenshot on a Mac into pre and post-Mojave, since it was with this iteration of macOS that Apple really revolutionized their Mac screenshot command system.
Movavi Screen Capture Pro For Mac
1. Pre-Mojave Mac screenshot commands
If for whatever reason you don't want to upgrade to Mojave then you'll need to familiarize yourself with a couple of key Mac screenshot shortcut options:
- ⌘ + Shift + 3
- ⌘ + Shift + 4
The first of these commands is probably the easiest to get to grips with and the quickest one to take advantage of when taking a screenshot on Mac, as it captures the entire screen at once. If you're using multiple screens, it takes a screenshot in Mac OS for every screen you're using simultaneously.
The second of the commands represents a slightly more nuanced way to take a snapshot on Mac. Rather than capturing your entire screen, it prompts you to select the area you want to capture. If you follow it up with a press of Space, it allows you to choose the window you want to screencap instead.
Overall, while these commands do let you print screen on Mac, they feel sort of like an afterthought rather than a fully fledged feature of macOS. With so many people looking into how to screenshot on Mac, it's not surprising that Apple recently decided to make it a little more clear how to screenshot in Mac OS Mojave.
Screen Capture Pro For Macbook
2. Post-Mojave Mac screenshot command menu
In addition to the above commands, which still work for Mojave users, there's now an option for them that's very much in keeping with the existing format of how to print screen on Mac — ⌘ + Shift + [Number].
If you're a Mojave user, you can use ⌘ + Shift + 5to bring up a screen capture menu that will allow you to:
- Capture Entire Screen
- Capture Selected Window(s)
- Capture Selected Portion
- Record Entire Screen
- Record Selected Portion
At the right-hand side of this menu there's also Options that lets you (among other things) select where your MacBook screenshot and video output is saved.
In other words, anyone looking for an easy answer to the question 'how do you screenshot on a Mac?' could do a lot worse than considering an upgrade to Mojave in order to streamline the process.
3. Third-party Mac OS screenshot apps
You might notice that, even with the inclusion of ⌘ + Shift + 5 Mac screen capturing menu, the options for taking a Mac screenshot remain pretty basic. If you're looking for a snipping tool for Mac that can do a little more, you may need to turn to a third-party developer.
CleanShot X is unbeatable here. The app toolkit is tailored for 50+ different changes, which makes it an ultimate screen capturing tool for Mac. You can use CleanShot X to capture screen — whether it's a window, full screen, area, or even scrolling content, as well as record video.
While capturing anything on your desktop, you can choose to hide all desktop clutter and disable desktop notifications in one click. Once you have your clean screenshot, open it from the overlay window that pops up, and start editing. You can add annotations, blur specific parts, or draw — CleanShot X will help you customize virtually anything.
Nikon coolscan 4000 for mac. AR. Buckmaster. ProStaff II.
A few not-so-obvious yet cool features to mention are self-timer, screenshot pinning, and internal cloud. Want to capture something with a delay? CleanShot X has a self-timer that will help you pick the right moment. If you want your screenshot to be visible on the screen, pin it to desktop. Finally, save your screen captures to the internal CleanShot Cloud and get shareable links in a flash.
If you're looking for something with a little more emphasis on screen recording, Capto could be the ideal solution for you. In addition to recording video, or just taking a snapshot on Mac, you can also annotate and edit captures via an intuitive iMovie-esque interface.
Capto does wonders for software walkthroughs. And given its strong visual component, it's also perfect for those with auditory shyness who would rather add captions than a voiceover. Capto's built-in organizer is pretty helpful for keeping track of your screenshots too.
Mac OS screenshot organization
If you take a lot of screenshots then you're probably way too used to your Downloads folder or Desktop being clogged up with images that have filenames like 'Screen Shot 2019-XX-XX at 21.36.15'.
Unfortunately, this inelegant and cluttered outcome is the default Mac screenshot shortcut. Not particularly helpful for keeping all of your images in check, especially when macOS is prone to heavily abbreviating filenames.
While it's possible to use Finder in conjunction with Preview to view all of your caps, that still isn't a particularly satisfying visual experience. One of the best solutions is Inboard, which functions like a private Pinterest for your desktop and allows you to tag and filter all of your screenshots for later use.
Inboard takes care of the design savvy out there too with a feature that connects your Dribbble account to import all your likes for digestion at a later date.
But even once you've solved the question of how to do a screenshot on a Mac, sharing those screenshots with, say, colleagues or friends isn't necessarily the easiest thing to do.
Mac computer desktop. Rather than emailing files back and forth, or having to upload everything to a public Google Drive, you might consider a solution like Dropshare. As the name suggests, it makes sharing screenshots (and other files) as simple as dropping them into the relevant area.
Dropshare connects with a range of major third-party cloud apps, but you can also lean on proprietary Dropshare Cloud if you prefer, which is helpful if you want to keep your Mac screen capture sharing separate from your other sharing activity.
The future of how to take a screenshot on a Mac
The last recording program for Mac is the Quicktime Player. This is an extensible multimedia framework that can be used not only to record videos but also to play, edit and share videos on Mac. This tool can be characterized with that it has a very intuitive interface which makes it very easy to use even for beginners. This program can create footage of your Mac screen with a web camera or iPhone screen. You can follow the instructions below to capture your screen using this best free screen recorder for Mac.
- To begin with, you have to launch Quicktime Player at the first hand.
- Once you see the interface, click 'File' and select 'New Screen Recording', then a screen recording window will pop up. On this window, you can configure your recording settings. After configuring, hit the red round recording button to start recording your screen.
- Once done with the complete recording process, click the 'Stop' button in the menu bar, then your recorded file will automatically pop up.
Conclusion
As you can see, the aforementioned programs are the currently best free Mac screen recording software you can find on the market. You can decide which program you will use for your recording. I highly recommend Apowersoft Free Online Screen Recorder. Compared to the other programs above, this program can be used to quickly record your screen, audio, as well as a webcam as it is a web-based application. Aside from that, it has an easy interface and even beginners can use it.
Related posts:
For many new Apple users, particularly those who are migrating from Windows and are used to that Prt Scrn (Print Screen) button, the answer to the question of how to screenshot on Mac isn't immediately obvious.
Although it only takes pressing a couple of keys to take a screenshot on Mac, the fact remains that Mac screen capture is something that hasn't historically felt all that intuitive. For example, in addition to different key commands for screenshotting windows vs. smaller selections, recording video of your screen for a long time was only possible through QuickTime Player.
Best screenshot apps for macOS
Get the ultimate screen capture on Mac - download and test the best screenshot apps. All utilities in one pack, give it a go!
Although macOS Mojave has changed much of this, how to screenshot on Mac remains a heavy-hitting search query, as not everyone uses the latest version of macOS. Below you'll find more information on taking a screenshot on Mac (and capturing video), as well as some useful tools to make your Apple screenshot life easier.
Exploring Mac Screenshot Basics
As there's no dedicated button for print screen on Apple products, there are a few different commands associated with screen capture on Mac that vary slightly depending on your setup.
It makes sense to divide the world of how to take a screenshot on a Mac into pre and post-Mojave, since it was with this iteration of macOS that Apple really revolutionized their Mac screenshot command system.
Movavi Screen Capture Pro For Mac
1. Pre-Mojave Mac screenshot commands
If for whatever reason you don't want to upgrade to Mojave then you'll need to familiarize yourself with a couple of key Mac screenshot shortcut options:
- ⌘ + Shift + 3
- ⌘ + Shift + 4
The first of these commands is probably the easiest to get to grips with and the quickest one to take advantage of when taking a screenshot on Mac, as it captures the entire screen at once. If you're using multiple screens, it takes a screenshot in Mac OS for every screen you're using simultaneously.
The second of the commands represents a slightly more nuanced way to take a snapshot on Mac. Rather than capturing your entire screen, it prompts you to select the area you want to capture. If you follow it up with a press of Space, it allows you to choose the window you want to screencap instead.
Overall, while these commands do let you print screen on Mac, they feel sort of like an afterthought rather than a fully fledged feature of macOS. With so many people looking into how to screenshot on Mac, it's not surprising that Apple recently decided to make it a little more clear how to screenshot in Mac OS Mojave.
Screen Capture Pro For Macbook
2. Post-Mojave Mac screenshot command menu
In addition to the above commands, which still work for Mojave users, there's now an option for them that's very much in keeping with the existing format of how to print screen on Mac — ⌘ + Shift + [Number].
If you're a Mojave user, you can use ⌘ + Shift + 5to bring up a screen capture menu that will allow you to:
- Capture Entire Screen
- Capture Selected Window(s)
- Capture Selected Portion
- Record Entire Screen
- Record Selected Portion
At the right-hand side of this menu there's also Options that lets you (among other things) select where your MacBook screenshot and video output is saved.
In other words, anyone looking for an easy answer to the question 'how do you screenshot on a Mac?' could do a lot worse than considering an upgrade to Mojave in order to streamline the process.
3. Third-party Mac OS screenshot apps
You might notice that, even with the inclusion of ⌘ + Shift + 5 Mac screen capturing menu, the options for taking a Mac screenshot remain pretty basic. If you're looking for a snipping tool for Mac that can do a little more, you may need to turn to a third-party developer.
CleanShot X is unbeatable here. The app toolkit is tailored for 50+ different changes, which makes it an ultimate screen capturing tool for Mac. You can use CleanShot X to capture screen — whether it's a window, full screen, area, or even scrolling content, as well as record video.
While capturing anything on your desktop, you can choose to hide all desktop clutter and disable desktop notifications in one click. Once you have your clean screenshot, open it from the overlay window that pops up, and start editing. You can add annotations, blur specific parts, or draw — CleanShot X will help you customize virtually anything.
Nikon coolscan 4000 for mac. AR. Buckmaster. ProStaff II.
A few not-so-obvious yet cool features to mention are self-timer, screenshot pinning, and internal cloud. Want to capture something with a delay? CleanShot X has a self-timer that will help you pick the right moment. If you want your screenshot to be visible on the screen, pin it to desktop. Finally, save your screen captures to the internal CleanShot Cloud and get shareable links in a flash.
If you're looking for something with a little more emphasis on screen recording, Capto could be the ideal solution for you. In addition to recording video, or just taking a snapshot on Mac, you can also annotate and edit captures via an intuitive iMovie-esque interface.
Capto does wonders for software walkthroughs. And given its strong visual component, it's also perfect for those with auditory shyness who would rather add captions than a voiceover. Capto's built-in organizer is pretty helpful for keeping track of your screenshots too.
Mac OS screenshot organization
If you take a lot of screenshots then you're probably way too used to your Downloads folder or Desktop being clogged up with images that have filenames like 'Screen Shot 2019-XX-XX at 21.36.15'.
Unfortunately, this inelegant and cluttered outcome is the default Mac screenshot shortcut. Not particularly helpful for keeping all of your images in check, especially when macOS is prone to heavily abbreviating filenames.
While it's possible to use Finder in conjunction with Preview to view all of your caps, that still isn't a particularly satisfying visual experience. One of the best solutions is Inboard, which functions like a private Pinterest for your desktop and allows you to tag and filter all of your screenshots for later use.
Inboard takes care of the design savvy out there too with a feature that connects your Dribbble account to import all your likes for digestion at a later date.
But even once you've solved the question of how to do a screenshot on a Mac, sharing those screenshots with, say, colleagues or friends isn't necessarily the easiest thing to do.
Mac computer desktop. Rather than emailing files back and forth, or having to upload everything to a public Google Drive, you might consider a solution like Dropshare. As the name suggests, it makes sharing screenshots (and other files) as simple as dropping them into the relevant area.
Dropshare connects with a range of major third-party cloud apps, but you can also lean on proprietary Dropshare Cloud if you prefer, which is helpful if you want to keep your Mac screen capture sharing separate from your other sharing activity.
The future of how to take a screenshot on a Mac
As you can see from above, learning how to screenshot on Mac isn't particularly difficult, and screen capture on Mac is now easier than ever thanks to the addition of a dedicated MacBook screenshot and video capture menu in macOS Mojave.
It's clear from this new feature that Apple understands the issue of how to print screen on Mac is one that has been, to put it lightly, unintuitive in the past, so you can likely expect to see further tweaks to the process in the future.
In the meantime, there are some excellent options in the snipping tool for Mac market that facilitate the process and offer a range of diverse features you won't find among those built-in options for taking a screenshot on Mac.
Best of all, you can try all the apps mentioned here: CleanShot, Capto, Inboard, and Dropshare absolutely free with a 7-day trial of Setapp, a Mac platform with over 150 essential apps for any task at hand. Now you're all set for your screenshotting game.
Meantime, prepare for all the awesome things you can do with Setapp.
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