(Last Updated On: February 28, 2024)

Recording screen and audio (both system audio and audio from microphone) is commonly used in recording video demonstrations. Doing that on Windows with ActivePresenter is a trivial task. However, in order to record system audio on macOS, you will need some extra steps. Let’s get to know it. 

Download Soundflower

To record system sound on macOS with ActivePresenter, you need to install a third-party software called Soundflower. It’s actually an open source system add-on for Mac computers that allows you to route what is playing on the computer digitally back to the input without using a cable.

Soundflower is totally free and you can download it from here.

Install Soundflower 1

Install Soundflower

After downloading, it’s time to install it on your Mac. To install Soundflower:

Step 1: Double-click the downloaded DMG file to mount it.

Step 2: In the DMG itself, double-click the PKG file.

Note: If you see a warning saying that Soundflower cannot be opened due to your Security Preferences, right-click or control-click over the PKG file and choose Open, then choose Open again.

Install Soundflower 2
Install Soundflower 3
Install Soundflower 4
Add Audio Device 1

Set up Your macOS

In this phase, you need to configure your Mac to route the sound to Soundflower output device and speaker simultaneously.

To do that, take the following steps: 

  1. From the Finder, choose Utilities from the Go menu and open the Audio MIDI Setup application.
  2. Click the Add (+) button at the bottom-left corner in the Audio Devices window and choose Create Multi-Output Device.
Add Audio Device 2

3. Select the newly created device. After that, in the Use column of the list on the right of the window, select Built-in Output and Soundflower (2ch).

4. Right-click the Multi-Output Device and select the two following items in the popup menu: Use this device for sound output and Play alerts and sound effects through this device.

Add Audio Device 3

Record System Audio with ActivePresenter

After setting up with previous steps, the system sound now is routed to the Soundflower output. Soundflower in its turn routes the sound from Soundflower output to Soundflower input automatically.

Now, select the Record System Audio option. ActivePresenter will capture all sound from Soundflower input as a soundtrack.

Note: You can still record your voice from Microphone while recording system audio.

  • In ActivePresenter 6:
Recording System Sound - Mac OS
  • In the latest ActivePresenter version, select Background Music to record system audio
record system audio on macOS

So, you know how to record system audio on macOS with ActivePresenter. Download the app today and start to create interesting projects with this feature. Contact us if you have any obstacles, we’re here to help.

Download ActivePresenter

See also:

Record Screen as Video
Record System Audio and Narration