QuickTime screen recording not working on Mac: what failed and how to fix it.

The recording workflow

1. Press Shift-Command-5

   If the Screenshot toolbar appears, screen recording works on your Mac and QuickTime Player is only another door to it. If nothing appears, check the shortcut in the next step.

2. Check that the shortcut is still assigned

   System Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts > Screenshots. Apple’s Mac User Guide lists this as the place where screenshot shortcuts can be changed, which also means they can be switched off or reassigned.

3. Record ten seconds of the entire screen

   Choose Record Entire Screen, click Record, wait ten seconds, then stop with the Stop button in the menu bar or Command-Control-Esc.

4. Wait for the thumbnail to disappear

   A thumbnail floats in the bottom-right corner for a few seconds. The file is saved to your chosen location after that, so look on the desktop only once it has gone.

5. Play the test and name the failure

   No file, a black picture, no sound, or a clip that ended on its own: each one points to a different row in the table below.

6. Check free space

   System Settings > General > Storage. A nearly full startup disk is behind several different symptoms, so look at this number before changing anything else.

QuickTime screen recording problems: symptom, cause, fix

Each row names the most likely cause first. Four of the symptoms have their own guide on this site with the full set of variants: no sound, black screen, recording stops by itself, and recording not saving.

QuickTime Player or Shift-Command-5: which one is failing?

Apple’s QuickTime Player User Guide describes the feature in one sentence: choose File > New Screen Recording “to open Screenshot and display the tools”. The recorder, its Options menu, and the saved file all belong to the Screenshot app that ships with macOS.

Apple’s support article on screen recording describes two possible results of File > New Screen Recording (Control-Command-N). If you see the onscreen toolbar, recording is performed by the Screenshot app. If you see a small Screen Recording window with a Record button and an arrow next to it, recording is performed by QuickTime Player itself, and the microphone setting lives under that arrow.

This is why two pieces of popular advice are wrong. There is no QuickTime update in the App Store to install: built-in apps are updated together with macOS, under System Settings > General > Software Update. And reinstalling or resetting QuickTime Player does not change the Options menu of the Screenshot toolbar, where the microphone and the save location are set.

• Toolbar across the bottom of the screen: you are in Screenshot. Settings are under Options.
• Small window titled Screen Recording: you are in QuickTime Player’s own recorder. Settings are under the arrow next to Record, and the recording opens in a window when you stop.
• Window recording (Record Selected Window) needs macOS 26 Tahoe or later. On macOS 14 and 15 the toolbar offers only the entire screen or a selected portion.

Screen recording greyed out, unavailable, or not allowed

Apple publishes one documented reason a Mac refuses to record the screen: a restriction set by an organization. Apple’s Platform Deployment guide lists a restriction named “Screenshots and screen recordings” for managed Macs, described as “Users can’t save a screenshot or recording of the screen”. If your Mac came from an employer or a school, this is the first thing to ask about. Only the administrator can remove it.

For a third-party recorder, “not allowed” almost always means the Screen & System Audio Recording permission. Our guide to Mac screen recording permission covers the toggle, the periodic re-approval prompt, and what to do when the switch does not seem to work.

Two more causes appear in forum threads again and again: a recording that is already running, and a second capture app holding the screen. Apple does not document either. Both are quick to rule out: look for a Stop button in the menu bar, and quit other capture tools before you try again.

Screen recording error or failed recording: fixes in order

When the recorder starts and then fails, work from the cheapest fix to the most disruptive one.

1. Free disk space. Apple’s article on freeing up storage starts with System Settings > General > Storage, then emptying the Trash and clearing Downloads. Space in the Trash is not available until the Trash is emptied.
2. Quit apps you are not using. Apple’s “If your Mac runs slowly” page lists a nearly full startup disk and apps that need more memory than is available as the two main causes of a sluggish Mac.
3. Restart the Mac from the Apple menu. It closes stuck processes and any half-finished capture.
4. Install macOS updates under System Settings > General > Software Update. Apple’s safe mode article calls updating “more likely than any other step” to resolve this kind of issue.
5. Unplug nonessential devices, such as docks, capture cards, and extra displays, and test again. Apple gives the same advice before any deeper troubleshooting.
6. Use safe mode only to find a conflicting login item, not to record. Apple’s article warns that video capture, graphics performance, and audio devices might not work as expected in safe mode. If recording works after a normal restart with login items removed, one of them was the cause.

When a third-party or Chrome screen recorder is not working

Apps and websites need permission that the built-in toolbar does not. Apple’s Mac User Guide page on screen and system audio recording says the setting covers “apps and websites”, which is why a browser extension can fail while Shift-Command-5 works.

For a recorder that runs in Chrome, Firefox, or another browser, the browser itself is the app in the list. Turn it on under System Settings > Privacy & Security > Screen & System Audio Recording, then reopen the browser. A recorder that needs your voice also needs the browser switched on under Privacy & Security > Microphone.

What to try before you re-record

A failed take is expensive only if the next one fails the same way. Spend two minutes on these before a long recording.

• Record a ten-second test with the same sources and the same app on screen, and play it back with headphones.
• Check the Save to line in Options so you know where the file will land.
• Confirm free space under System Settings > General > Storage. A long recording at full-screen resolution produces a large file.
• Close call apps and anything that uses the microphone if your voice matters.
• Keep the Mac plugged in and on a hard surface for a long session.

What Qreata checks that the built-in recorder leaves to you

Qreata does not fix QuickTime Player, and it cannot open or repair a recording made in another app. It is a separate recorder and editor that removes three of the failures on this page before they cost you a take.

A preflight panel named “Ready to record?” checks screen recording permission, the capture source, storage, and notifications. The Active source check then tests live frames and live audio from every source, and recording is blocked if a source delivers no data. A start is refused when there is not enough disk space, and during recording Qreata warns when space runs low and stops the take before files are damaged.

The recording is written in 5-second chunks with a journal. After a crash, a force quit, or a power loss, the next launch rebuilds the recording; what is lost is roughly the last 5 seconds.

It runs on Apple Silicon Macs with macOS 14 or later and is in beta. The trial is 7 days with no watermark; the license is $49 once for three Macs, with no subscription.

Questions about this workflow