How to Record Screen on Mac Using iMovie & Best Alternative

Rel updated on Jun 18, 2024 to EaseUS RecExperts

Recording screen on a Mac should not cost you a big chunk of time. With this guide, learn to use iMovie as well as discover the best alternative for screen recording with advanced features, better UI, and easier navigation. Find out how to capture audio and save your screen recordings in the desired format.

Screen recording on Mac sounds like the perfect fantasy to Mac users. The process becomes even easier with a reliable third-party app like iMovie.

Designed for Mac users, iMovie is the perfect screen recorder for anyone trying to spark beauty in their dull & dead screen recordings.

Whether you want to record your favorite movies or capture little models from your video meetings, the iMovie screen recorder is the best option for you.

In this guide, we will cover the nitty-gritty of how to record screen on mac using iMovie and the best alternatives to fulfill all your needs.

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How to Record a Video in iMovie on Mac

Unlike other screen recorders, recording videos on iMovie doesn't involve much hassle. Whether you're a YouTuber or a video editor, recording videos using iMovie should be your best bet to make. 

It's easy, quick, and gives desired results, so anyone can record a video on the iMovie and become a pro at screen recording. 

Step 1. Upload the media

  • Open the iMovie app on your Mac.
  • Click the Import Media button at the center.
  • This will take you to a window where you can upload the required media. 

Step 2. Use the in-built camera feature 

  • To use the in-built camera recording button, open the "cameras" option on the Mac. 
  • To do that, go to the cameras section and click on the red live video window to start recording immediately. 

Step 3. Click the import to option 

Using the in-built camera recording button, you can now import the desired video. 

iMovie offers you three options for importing the video, including project media, existing events, or creating a new event. 

Step 4. Start recording a video 

Once all the initial setup is done, the next and final step is to click on the red button that will start the live recording of the video. 

Step 5. Stop The Recording

Once recorded, click on the stop button to stop the recording and make any edits if required. 

You can watch the video tutorial we showed below to get the method better.

How to Record Screen with Audio on Mac Using iMovie

If you want to record the screen on Mac with audio using iMovie, you will find it's an untouchable mission. Due to the safety consideration, Mac does not support users recording internal audio. You can only use the Voiceover function to add or record audio in iMovie instead of recording video with audio.

But here is another way for you to record screens with audio to meet your needs. In the next part, we will introduce the best iMovie alternative, which can perform screen recording with audio in a greater way.

Pro Tip: The Best iMovie Alternative for Record Screen

Although iMovie does a great job of screen recording on Mac, it offers limited functions. It’s better for users who want advanced recording functions to choose another reliable, useful, and compatible screen recorder for Mac.

EaseUS RecExperts for Mac is all you need. The user-friendly interface makes it easy to browse through, while the vast range of customization features helps achieve the desired look and feel for the recorded video. 

It supports recording Twitter space, zoom, PPT, gameplay and so on, and provide editing functions for you to trim Snapchat video or other videos you recorded before. Above all, EaseUS RecExperts can capture your screen with sound on Mac without any other plug-ins. With its help, you can select the audio source from the system or other microphones with great ease and export the media into any format you want.

You can refer to the following table to judge the advantages and disadvantages of iMovie and EaseUS RecExperts.

Feature iMovie EaseUS RecExperts
Purpose Video Editing Video Recording
User-Friendliness Intuitive and easy-to-use interface Simple and straightforward
Platform Compatibility MacOS, iOS Windows, Mac
Video Editing Features Trimming, splitting, adding transitions, text, and audio effects Limited to basic editing functions like trimming and cutting
Screen Recording Features No built-in screen recording functions Can record the full screen, selected window, or custom region
Audio Recording Not support recording with audio Supports recording audio with microphone or system audio
File Formats Supported MP4, MOV, and other common video formats All common video and audio formats
Price Free with a Mac or iOS Free version offered
Pros
  • Intuitive interface
  • Versatile video editing features
  • Supports a wide range of file formats
  • Easy to use
  • Supports multiple audio recording options
  • Offers basic editing functions
Cons
  • Limited to MacOS
  • Lacks built-in screen recording features
  • Can not record with audio
  • Lacks advanced video editing features

Here are the easy steps for you to record your screen with audio by using EaseUS RecExperts.

Step 1. Download and launch EaseUS RecExperts on your Mac. To capture the whole screen, click on the "Full Screen" button from the main interface. If you want to customize the recording area, choose the "Region" button. 

Step 2. To record the screen with audio, hit the Sound icon from the bottom left side of the toolbar. The audio resources can be your external sound or system audio. Based on your needs, enable the target option. 

Step 3. Before capturing, you can change the output format of the recorded video by clicking "Settings" from the main interface. Then, scroll down the menu of Output format for Video. Choose the output type as you like. 

Step 4. Once done, click the REC button to begin recording. It captures anything displayed on your Mac screen. When you are done, click the Stop button. Then you can watch the recorded video from "Recordings". 

Conclusion

Recording screens should not be the hardest part of using a Mac. With the right software, screen recording can be easy and fun. 

This post shows you how to record screen on mac using iMovie. While iMovie is best for screen recording for beginners and first-time users, it's best to keep a professional screen recorder like EaseUS RecExperts at the back. 

FAQs 

1. How do I record the screen with internal audio? 

Recording a screen with internal audio involves only a few steps. It starts by searching for the screen recorder feature on your Mac. Press Command + Shift + 5 to the Screen Record interface. From there, click on Options and select Internal Microphone under the Microphone section.

Once done, now start recording by selecting the Record button.

Clicking the Stop button in the menu bar to stop the recording.

The recorded screen and audio will be saved to your desktop as a video file.

Note: The Screen Record feature is built into macOS. Hence, you will later require MacOS Mojave to access the saved recordings.

2. How do you record screen and sound on Mac QuickTime?

Recording sound and screen together can be a tricky process, but there are third-party apps to help with that. Learn how to record videos and audio on your Mac using Quicktime player here:

Open QuickTime Player.

Navigate to File and select New Screen Recording.

Identify the small down arrow next to the record button. Click on that and select Internal Microphone or External Microphone as the recording source.

Once done, click the record button to start the recording.

To stop the recording, click the stop button in the menu bar.

The recorded screen and audio will be saved as a QuickTime movie file.