You may wish to record sound on Mac for many reasons, such as creating a podcast, producing music, making a voiceover for a video, saving meaningful audio conversations, and more! Many tools are available for you to record audio on Mac, including built-in options like Quicktime Player and third-party applications.

Here, we provide five audio recording tools on Mac with in-depth tutorials. Reading this post, you will learn how to record your voice on Mac easily.

1. How to record audio on Mac using Awesome Screenshot & Recorder

Best for: Record Mac screen with audio.

Awesome Screenshot & Recorder is widely known because of its helpful Chrome extension. It has a Mac application that can help you easily record internal and/or microphone audio on Mac.

Awesome Screenshot & Recorder Mac application is a lightweight tool that allows you to record audio and video and take screenshots on your Mac computer. In addition, it lets you edit your recordings and share them easily by offering cloud storage. Some of the features of this tool include:

Audio and video recording: You can use Awesome Screenshot & Recorder to record audio from your computer's microphone/system or record audio and video simultaneously.
Screenshot capture: You can use Awesome Screenshot & Recorder to take screenshots of your desktop or individual windows. You can also edit and annotate your screenshots using the built-in editor.
Cloud storage: You can use Awesome Screenshot & Recorder to upload your recordings and screenshots to its cloud storage. It also allows you to organize your recordings and screenshots into folders and tags, making it easy to find and access your files.
Collaboration: You can share your recordings and screenshots with others by generating a shareable link or exporting the file to a third-party application.

Awesome Screenshot & Recorder

One extension for all your screen recordings & screenshots

Record screen and capture screenshots easily
Edit videos/images quickly
Store videos/images to the cloud and share instantly

Now, let’s see how you can record the screen with audio on a Mac using Awesome Screenshot & Recorder.

Step 1. Download and install Awesome Screenshot & Recorder app from Mac App Store.

Step 2. Launch the Awesome Screenshot & Recorder app and sign in or create an account. This will allow you to enjoy unlimited recording time for cloud recordings. You can choose not to sign in, but you will only be able to use the local recording function. Click "Record" and decide what to record from the four options it lists. Make sure the "Turn on system audio" option is enabled. You can also choose whether or not to record the microphone and webcam.

record full screen of awesome screenshot & recorder mac app

Step 3. Once you're done with the settings, click the blue "Start Recording" button to start recording. Then you will see the recording status showing a "Pause" button, the recording time, and a "Stop" button in your Menu bar. You can pause or stop the recording according to your needs.

pause or stop recording of awesome screenshot & recorder mac app

Step 4. After you click the "Stop" button, your recorded video with internal audio will be saved to cloud storage, and you will see the following page. On that page, you can preview the recording, download it locally, edit it further or share it easily.

manage recording of awesome screenshot & recorder mac app

If you signed in to Awesome Screenshot & Recorder, all your recorded videos would be saved into "My Items" on the cloud to free up your local storage space. You can check, download or manage the recordings whenever you want.

2. How to record voice on Mac with Voice Memos

Best for: Quickly record and edit Mac voice without downloading third-party applications.

If you want to record sound only on your Mac, you can use Voice Memos. It is a built-in application on Mac computers that allows you to record and edit audio. Here's how you can use it to record your voice on a Mac:

Step 1. Open Voice Memos from the Applications folder or the search function in Finder.

Step 2. Click on the red "Record" button to begin recording.

voice memos record

Step 3. When you are finished recording, click on the "Done" button.

voice memos done recording

Step 4. Your recorded audio will be added to the list of memos in the Voice Memos app.

voice memos edit recording

You can also edit your recorded audio by selecting the memo, clicking on the "Edit" button in the Menu, and selecting “Edit Recording”. This will open the audio waveform, where you can trim the beginning and end of the recording, or delete sections of the audio.

3. How to record MP3 on Mac via QuickTime Player

Best for: Easily record voice on Mac.

QuickTime Player is a built-in application on Mac computers that allows you to play and record audio and video files. You can use QuickTime Player to record MP3 audio on your Mac by following these steps:

Step 1. Open QuickTime Player from the Applications folder or the search function in Finder.

Step 2. Click on the "File" menu and select "New Audio Recording".

Step 3. A new window will open with a recording button in the middle. Click the drop-down arrow near the recording button to set “Internal Microphone” as the input source. You can also select a different input source, such as an external microphone if you have one connected to your Mac. Once done, click the red "Record" button to record the audio.

quicktime player audio recording internal microphone

Step 4. When you are finished recording, click on the "Stop" button.

Step 5. To save your recorded audio as an MP3 file, click on the "File" menu and select "Export..." This will open the Export dialog box, where you can choose the "Audio Only" option and select the MP3 format.

quicktime player export as audio only

4. How to record Mac audio with Garageband

Best for: Record audio for podcast making or music production.

GarageBand is another built-in professional tool on Mac that allows you to record sound for music production.

In GarageBand, you can record audio using a microphone or an instrument and import pre-recorded audio files. You can then edit and arrange your audio tracks using the software's timeline and mix your audio using the built-in equalizer, compressor, and other effects. Once you've finished your project, you can export it to various formats, including MP3, AAC, and WAV

Here is how to record Mac audio with Garageband.

Step 1. Open GarageBand on your Mac and create an empty project.

Step 2. Choose microphone audio as the track type, then click the “Create” button to create the new audio project on the "Audio Recorder" icon in the top right corner of the screen.

garageband choose a track type

Step 3. Click on the red "Record" button at the top of the screen to start recording audio.

garageband stop recording audio

Step 4. To stop recording, click on the red "Stop" button.

Step 5. Use the playback tools to check/edit your recording if you wish.

5. How to record Mac voice using Audacity

Best for: Professional audio recording and editing.

Audacity is a free, open-source digital audio editor and recording software. It is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems, and musicians, podcasters, and other audio professionals widely use it.

With Audacity, you can record live audio, import audio files, and edit and manipulate audio tracks using a range of tools and effects.

Now, let’s check how to record audio on a Mac using Audacity.

Step 1. Download, install, and open Audacity.

Step 2. Click the microphone icon to choose the built-in microphone or any connected microphone as the voice input.

Step 3. Click on the "Record" button to start recording audio.

audacity

Step 4. To stop recording, click on the "Stop" button.

Step 5. Click "File" > "Export" to choose the output format. Then, save the file on your Mac.

Conclusion

This post shares how to record MP3 on Mac with five audio recorders, including built-in tools and third-party tools. I hope you will find it helpful.

FAQs about recording voice on Mac

1. Does my Mac have a voice recorder?

Yes, all Mac computers have a built-in voice recorder called "Quicktime Player" that you can use to record audio. To use Quicktime Player to record your voice, follow these steps:

Step 1. Open Quicktime Player, which is located in the Applications folder.

Step 2. From the File menu, select "New Audio Recording".

Step 3. Click the red record button to begin recording your voice.

Step 4. Click the black stop button to stop recording.

Step 5. To listen to your recording, click the play button.

You can also use Quicktime Player to record audio from external sources, such as a microphone or musical instrument. To do this, click the arrow next to the red record button and select the audio source you want to use from the drop-down menu.

2. How do I turn on voice recorder on my Mac screen?

To turn on the voice recorder on your Mac, follow these steps:

Step 1. Open Quicktime Player. Select "New Audio Recording" from the File menu.

Step 2. Click the red record button to start recording your voice. Just click the black stop button when you need to stop the recording.

3. How do I record internal audio on a Mac?

To record the internal audio on a Mac, you will need to use a third-party application that is capable of capturing audio from the system's audio output. Some popular options for recording internal audio on a Mac include:

Awesome Screenshot & Recorder: This screen recording and screenshot capture app can be used to record internal audio on a Mac.
Audio Hijack: This paid application allows you to record any audio on your Mac, including internal audio.
Soundflower: This free, open-source virtual audio device allows you to route audio from one application to another on your Mac. You can use Soundflower to capture the internal audio of your Mac and record it in a third-party application such as Audacity or Audio Hijack.

How to Record Voice on Mac with 5 Easy Methods

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