How to Add a Voiceover to a Screen Recording on Mac

The fastest way to add a voiceover to a screen recording on Mac is to narrate while you record. Press ⇧⌘5 (Shift-Command-5), click Options, choose your microphone under Microphone, then click Record.

You may want to script your narration, redo single lines or clean up the sound. In that case, record the screen first and your voice second, then place the voice under the video in an editor that can mix audio tracks. QuickTime Player can record both parts, but it can't layer a separate audio file under an existing video.

Live narration vs a separate voiceover

Each approach suits a different kind of video.

Narrate live if:

• The video is short and informal, like a bug report, a quick walkthrough or an async update.
• You talk easily while clicking, and an occasional "um" doesn't matter.
• You want one take and no editing.

Record the voiceover separately if:

• You're making a product demo, a tutorial or a course lesson that people will watch more than once.
• You stumble when you talk and click at the same time.
• You want to fix one sentence without redoing the whole screen recording.
• You plan to cut or speed up the footage and want the narration to match the final edit.

There's also a middle path. Record live with a script in front of you, then fix the rough spots in the editor. See how to read a script while recording.

Record live narration with the built-in tools

macOS includes a free screen recorder in the Screenshot toolbar, and QuickTime Player opens the same toolbar.

1. Press ⇧⌘5, or open QuickTime Player and choose File > New Screen Recording.
2. Choose Record Entire Screen or Record Selected Portion in the toolbar.
3. Click Options.
4. Under Microphone, choose your mic. If None is selected, your voice won't be recorded.
5. Click Record and talk as you work.
6. To stop, click the stop button in the menu bar or press ⌃⌘⎋ (Control-Command-Escape).

Limits of the built-in route:

• There is no pause button. A mistake means trimming afterwards or starting a new take.
• There is no noise reduction and no volume control for your voice.
• QuickTime can't put a second audio file under the video. To add a voiceover after recording, you need an editor.

If you need your Mac's own sound in the recording as well as your voice, see how to record internal audio on Mac. For the full built-in walkthrough, see QuickTime screen recording with audio.

Record live narration in Screen Bolt

We make Screen Bolt, a Mac screen recorder with a timeline editor. It saves your mic as its own audio track, separate from system audio. That means you can clean up and balance your voice after you record.

1. In the recording bar, click Mic and choose your microphone. The system default is marked (default).
2. Speak to test. While the mic is on, a thin level meter shows at the bottom of the Mic button.
3. Click Audio and choose Record system audio from all apps or Don't record system audio. Pick "all apps" only if the app you're demoing makes sounds you want viewers to hear.
4. Choose Display, Window or Area.
5. Click the red record button and narrate as you go.
6. If you lose your place, click Pause, collect your thoughts, then click Resume. The pause gap is removed from the recording.
7. Click Stop. By default the editor opens.

If a take goes badly, Discard and restart in the recording bar deletes it and takes you back to setup.

For scripted narration, click Script (or press ⇧⌘T, Shift-Command-T) to open the teleprompter. Its window isn't captured in the recording. It starts scrolling when the recording starts and pauses when you pause.

Clean up your voice

In the editor, open the Audio panel (⌘4) and find Audio Enhance. All of these options are off by default:

• Noise Reduction reduces background noise. It runs on your Mac.
• Voice Clarity filters out low rumble below 100 Hz, adds presence around 3 kHz and compresses your voice so loud and quiet words are closer in level.
• Volume Normalization brings your voice to a consistent loudness (about −16 LUFS).
• Auto Audio Enhance turns on all three at once. You can switch each one off again afterwards.

These settings apply to the microphone track only, and they're included in the export. If macOS Voice Isolation was on when you recorded, Screen Bolt skips its own noise reduction for that recording because your mic was already denoised. More detail: remove background noise from a screen recording.

Record the narration separately

The usual order is to record the screen without narration, edit the picture, then narrate over the edited version. That way your voice matches what viewers actually see.

Step 1: Record the screen without your voice

In Screen Bolt, click Mic and choose Don't record microphone, then record as usual. You can also leave the mic on as a scratch track to remind yourself what you meant to say, then remove it later.

Step 2: Edit the picture first

Trim, cut and set the playback speed before you record any narration. Your narration will be timed against this edit, so changing the edit later means re-timing your voice.

Watch out for two things:

• Speed ramps (slow motion or fast forward on a marked In/Out range) play in the editor preview but are not included in exported files. The exported video won't match the preview there, so narration timed to it will be off. Use the whole-video speed instead, which is exported. See how to speed up a screen recording.
• The J and L keys change that whole-video speed, and the change is saved and exported. Before you narrate, check that the speed menu shows the speed you intended.

Step 3: Record your voice

Any Mac audio recorder works. QuickTime Player is already installed:

1. Open QuickTime Player and choose File > New Audio Recording.
2. Click the small arrow next to the record button and choose your microphone.
3. Click record, read your narration, then click stop.
4. Choose File > Save.

Voice Memos or any recording app you already use works too.

Tips that save retakes:

• Record in sections. Save one file per step or scene. If one line is wrong, you only redo that file.
• Keep the video's sound out of your mic. If you play the video while narrating, wear headphones, or mute the preview with the volume control in the Screen Bolt editor.
• Get the sound right before you import. Screen Bolt's Audio Enhance works only on the mic track recorded with the screen, not on imported files. A quiet room and a good mic matter more for this route. See choosing a microphone for screen recording and using Voice Isolation on Mac.

Add the voiceover to your screen recording

1. Open your project in the Screen Bolt editor.
2. Click Add Audio Track and pick your narration file. Screen Bolt accepts audio files, including MP3, WAV and AIFF. You can also open the Media panel, click Import Media, then drag the file onto the timeline, or click its thumbnail to insert it at the playhead.
3. Drag the clip along the timeline until the narration lines up with the action on screen.
4. Drag the clip's edges to trim silence at the start or end.
5. To remove a fumbled sentence, move the playhead to it, right-click the clip and choose Split at Playhead. Then select the bad piece and press Delete.
6. To swap in a re-recorded section, delete the old piece, import the new file and drag it into the same spot.

If you recorded a scratch mic track and no longer want it, right-click the microphone row and choose Remove Microphone. You can also set Microphone volume to 0% in the Audio panel.

If you can't see the audio rows, open the timeline's visible-timelines menu (its label shows how many timelines are visible) and turn on Show Audio Track and Show Overlay Tracks.

Balance voice, system audio and music

Your voice should be the clearest thing in the mix, with everything else underneath it.

• System audio: in the Audio panel, lower System Audio volume until app sounds are audible but never compete with your words. If the app makes no sound viewers need, set it to 0%.
• Live mic: turn on Volume Normalization so your level is steady, then adjust Microphone volume if needed.
• Imported voiceover: select the clip and set its Volume. Normalization doesn't apply to imported files, so judge the level by ear against the rest.
• Music: import it the same way and keep its volume well below the voice. Use Fade In and Fade Out (up to 3 seconds each) so it doesn't start or stop abruptly. To lower the music while you talk, split the music clip and turn down the piece under your voice. The volume change is instant, so make the split during a pause. Full steps: add music to a screen recording.
• Check each track: click the S (solo) button on a track row to hear that track alone, then play everything together.

For background on loudness targets, see what loudness normalization is.

Export the video with your voiceover

1. Click Export in the editor toolbar.
2. Choose MP4 under Format. It plays everywhere.
3. Choose a Quality. The free version exports at 720p only.
4. Check the Save to folder (Desktop by default) and click Export.

The export includes your mic track with any Audio Enhance settings, imported audio clips with their volume and fades, and system audio at the level you set. Audio is AAC, 48 kHz stereo. More options are on the export help page.

Don't use the toolbar's Share button to send the finished video. It shares the raw recording.mov, without your edits or voiceover. Export first, then share the exported file.

To get your narration as a separate file, right-click the microphone row and choose Export Microphone Audio…. This saves the raw track as .m4a, without enhancement or volume changes.

Screen Bolt's free version includes every editor feature used here. Its exports are capped at 3 minutes and 720p and carry a watermark. Pro removes those limits for $79 one-time, as of November 2026 (see pricing).

If it doesn't work

No voice in the built-in recording. The microphone under Options in the ⇧⌘5 toolbar was probably set to None. Pick your mic and record again. For other causes, see Mac screen recording has no sound.

Screen Bolt says "Microphone access is required to record mic audio." Open System Settings, search for "Microphone", and turn on Screen Bolt in the list. You can also open Help > Screen Bolt Help and click Open Settings next to Microphone. Then start a new recording.

An amber banner says "Recording without microphone". The recording went ahead without your mic, and the banner gives the reason. If it says the mic may be in use by another app, quit other apps that use the mic, such as a call app. You can also choose a different mic in the Mic menu.

Audio Enhance didn't change the imported voiceover. That's expected, because it only processes the mic track recorded with the screen. Clean up the file before importing it, or narrate live in Screen Bolt instead.

The narration is out of sync in the exported file. Check for speed ramps, which show in the preview but aren't exported. Remove them, use the whole-video speed instead, and re-align the narration.

A free export is refused even though you trimmed the video under 3 minutes. The export sheet checks the full recording length, not the trimmed result. Record shorter takes, or upgrade to Pro.

FAQ

Can I replace the voice I recorded live with a new voiceover? Yes. Right-click the microphone row and choose Remove Microphone, or set its volume to 0%. Then add your new narration with Add Audio Track.

Can QuickTime Player add a voiceover to an existing video? No. QuickTime can record your screen with a mic, or record audio on its own, but it can't mix a separate audio file under a video. You need an editor for that step.

Should I narrate live or separately for a product demo? Narrate separately if the video will live on a landing page or in a help center. You can redo single lines and time them to the final edit. For quick internal videos, live narration in one take is usually enough.