Screen recording comes out black on Mac: the causes, and which ones you can fix.

The recording workflow

1. Record the Finder for ten seconds

   Press Shift-Command-5, choose Record Entire Screen, and record a Finder window. If this plays back normally, your Mac records fine and the black picture belongs to one specific app.

2. Record the app that went black

   Repeat the test with that app on screen. A black rectangle where a video player should be, with the rest of the desktop visible, is content protection.

3. Try a second recorder

   If Shift-Command-5 shows the picture and your third-party recorder shows black, the recorder lacks permission. If both are black for the same window, the app is blocking capture.

4. Check the permission list

   System Settings > Privacy & Security > Screen & System Audio Recording. Find the recorder or the browser and turn it on. Use the add button below the list if it is missing.

5. Quit and reopen the recorder

   Reopen the app after changing the switch, then record ten seconds again.

6. On macOS 26 or later, check Capture Format

   In Shift-Command-5 > Options, set Capture Format to SDR if recordings look too dark or washed out rather than fully black.

Black screen recording on Mac: symptom, cause, fix

The panel is named Screen & System Audio Recording in Apple’s Mac User Guide for macOS 14, 15, 26, and 27, and the path is the same on all four: System Settings > Privacy & Security. On macOS 13 the same panel was called Screen Recording.

Apps that block screen recording on purpose

Apple states it in its screen recording article: “Some apps, such as the Apple TV app, might not let you record their windows.” The Mac User Guide adds DVD Player as an example for screenshots. The usual result is a black window where the film should be, while the rest of the screen records normally.

This is copy protection working as designed. Switching recorders does not change it. Qreata has no special handling for protected content either: whatever macOS blocks for other recorders stays blank in a Qreata recording too.

There is no setting to change and no honest workaround. Tools and tricks that promise to defeat it are circumventing copy protection, which breaks the service’s terms and, in many countries, the law. If you need a clip for a review, a class, or a presentation, ask the rights holder or use the service’s own download and sharing features.

Black screen in OBS, Chrome, or Firefox: check the permission

Apple’s Mac User Guide says the Screen & System Audio Recording setting decides “which apps and websites are allowed to record your screen and audio”. Until an app is switched on in that list, macOS does not hand it the real picture. A black frame, or a desktop with no windows on it, is the commonly reported result; Apple does not describe what the app sees.

The fix is the same for every app.

1. Open System Settings > Privacy & Security > Screen & System Audio Recording.
2. Turn on the recorder. For a recorder that runs inside a web page, turn on the browser: Chrome, Firefox, Edge, or Arc.
3. If the app is not in the list, click the add button below the list and choose it from Applications.
4. Quit the app completely with Command-Q and open it again.
5. In OBS, open the properties of the macOS Screen Capture source and reselect the method (Display Capture, Application Capture, or Window Capture) and the display or window. OBS’s documentation lists this source for macOS 13 and later. A window in full screen or a hidden app appears in the list only when “Show fullscreen and hidden windows / applications” is ticked.

Recording goes black with an external display

With two screens, a black or empty recording is often the right recording of the wrong display. Check which screen your recorder is pointed at before you look for a deeper fault. In a third-party recorder the display is a setting; with the built-in toolbar, record ten seconds and see which screen you got.

Apple documents no black-screen issue specific to external displays. Its general advice before troubleshooting applies: unplug nonessential devices, including docks and adapters, test with the built-in display alone, then reconnect one device at a time.

If the picture goes black partway through a long, hands-off recording, look at System Settings > Lock Screen. “Turn display off on battery when inactive” and “Turn display off on power adapter when inactive” control when the screen switches off. Apple does not say what happens to a recording at that moment, so set both to a longer time before a session where you will not touch the Mac.

Too dark, too bright, or black video in a browser tab

Not every bad picture is a black screen. On macOS 26 Tahoe or later, supported Macs offer a Capture Format in Options. Apple’s Mac User Guide explains the trade-off: HDR captures more brightness and color but needs an HDR display to show it, and an HDR recording shown on an SDR display plays with slightly reduced quality. For a file you will share, choose SDR, which Apple labels Most Compatible and records in H.264.

For streaming video in Chrome, Edge, or Firefox, a widely repeated tip is to turn off the browser’s graphics or hardware acceleration setting and relaunch. Apple does not document this, and it is not a way around content protection: a protected stream stays black. Treat it as a test for your own unprotected content, such as a web app or a video you made, that records black in one browser and fine in another.

Before you re-record a black recording

A black file cannot be repaired afterwards: the picture was never captured. Confirm the fix with a short test before you repeat the full session.

• Record ten seconds of the exact window you need, play it back, and look at the picture, not only the thumbnail.
• If the window is protected, plan around it: describe the scene, use a still you have the right to use, or link to the source.
• After granting permission, reopen the recorder. A switch changed while the app is running often has no effect until it restarts.
• On macOS 26 or later, set Capture Format to SDR for anything going to another person.

How Qreata shows a dead screen source before the take

Qreata has no special handling for protected content: whatever macOS blocks for other recorders, such as a film in the Apple TV app, stays blank in a Qreata recording too. It cannot repair a black file from another recorder either. What it does is stop you from recording nothing by accident.

Its preflight panel checks the screen recording permission and the capture source before you start. The Active source check then tests live frames from the screen, and recording is blocked if the source delivers no data. A missing permission is caught in the launcher, not discovered after a 30-minute session.

Qreata records one display at a time, chosen as Display, Window, Application, or Area, so with two screens you pick the display on purpose. It runs on Apple Silicon Macs with macOS 14 or later and is in beta. The trial lasts 7 days with no watermark, and the license costs $49 once.

Questions about this workflow