How to Stop Screen Recording on Mac (Shortcut and Fixes)

To stop a screen recording on a Mac, click the Stop button (a square inside a circle) in the menu bar, or press ⌃⌘Esc (Control-Command-Escape). Both work for recordings started from the Screenshot toolbar (⇧⌘5) and from QuickTime Player. Unless you chose another location, the file saves to your Desktop.

If a third-party app like Screen Bolt is doing the recording, stop it with that app's own controls. This page covers each case, what to do when the Stop button has disappeared, and what to do when a recording didn't save.

Click the Stop button in the menu bar

When you record with the built-in Screenshot toolbar (⇧⌘5), macOS hides the toolbar and puts a small Stop button near the right end of the menu bar.

1. If the menu bar isn't visible, move the pointer to the top edge of the screen.
2. Click the Stop button (square inside a circle).
3. Wait for the thumbnail in the bottom-right corner to slide away, or swipe it to the right. The file isn't written until the floating thumbnail is gone. If you turned off Show Floating Thumbnail in the toolbar's Options menu, the file saves straight away.

The file is a .mov named "Screen Recording" followed by the date and time. If you can't find it, see where screen recordings go on Mac.

Stop screen recording with a keyboard shortcut: Control-Command-Esc

Press ⌃⌘Esc (Control-Command-Escape) to stop a recording made with the Screenshot toolbar or QuickTime Player. It does the same thing as clicking Stop, and it works when you can't see the menu bar.

Don't confuse it with ⌥⌘Esc (Option-Command-Escape). That shortcut opens the Force Quit window and does not stop the recording.

⌃⌘Esc belongs to macOS's own recorder. Third-party recorders have their own stop button or shortcut, so use those instead.

Stop a QuickTime screen recording

In QuickTime Player, File > New Screen Recording opens the same Screenshot toolbar you get with ⇧⌘5, so you stop it the same way.

1. Click Stop in the menu bar, or press ⌃⌘Esc.
2. Check where the recording went. That depends on the Save to choice in the toolbar's Options menu.
3. If the recording opened in a QuickTime Player window, choose File > Save to keep it as a file in a folder you pick.

To trim the clip or check your audio settings, see our guide to QuickTime screen recording.

Which stop method to use

When the Stop button is missing

The recording is usually still running and the button is just out of sight. Press ⌃⌘Esc first. If that doesn't stop it, check these causes.

You're in a full-screen app. Full-screen apps hide the menu bar. Move the pointer to the very top of the screen and hold it there until the menu bar drops down.

The menu bar hides automatically. It behaves the same way: move the pointer to the top edge. To change the setting, open System Settings and search for "menu bar".

The icon is hidden behind the notch. On MacBooks with a camera notch, menu bar icons that don't fit get hidden, and the Stop button can be one of them. Switch to an app with short menus, such as Finder, to free up space. You can also quit menu bar apps you don't need, or just press ⌃⌘Esc.

A different app is recording. The macOS Stop button doesn't control third-party recorders. Use that app's stop control. Quitting the app is a last resort, because the file may be lost or incomplete.

You can't find Screen Bolt's recording bar. Click Screen Bolt in the Dock to make it the active app, then press ⌃⌘↩ to stop. Window ▸ Reset windows positions moves the bar back to the center of the screen.

Stop or discard a Screen Bolt recording

Screen Bolt is our screen recorder. It doesn't put a Stop button in the menu bar. You control it from its floating recording bar. While you record, the bar shrinks to a red status dot, a MM:SS timer, a Pause button, a Stop button, a Discard and restart button and a teleprompter toggle (hover over a button to see its name). The bar is left out of the recording, so it can stay on screen.

To stop and keep the recording:

1. Click Stop on the recording bar.
2. Wait while the bar shows "Finishing...". Screen Bolt is writing the file during this step.

The editor then opens with your recording. If you set After recording to Export to file, Screen Bolt exports the video straight away, saves it inside the project and shows it in Finder.

You can also press ⌃⌘↩ (Control-Command-Return), which is the Record ▸ New recording... menu item. It starts a recording or stops the current one. It's a menu shortcut, not a global hotkey, so it only works while Screen Bolt is the active app. If you're working in another app, click Stop on the bar instead.

To throw the take away, click Discard and restart. Screen Bolt deletes the recording, creates no project and returns you to the setup bar.

To take a break without stopping, click Pause. The status dot turns amber. When you resume, the paused gap is left out of the recording. See how to pause a screen recording on Mac for other ways to pause. After you stop, the recording is saved as a project named Screen Bolt <date> at <time>.screenbolt in your projects folder. The default folder is ~/Screen Bolt Projects. To change it, go to Settings ▸ Recording ▸ Save new projects to. Your edited video only becomes a separate MP4, MOV or GIF file when you export it.

Don't quit Screen Bolt (⌘Q) while it's recording. As of version 1.11.5, quitting during an active recording closes the app without finishing the file. Always click Stop first.

The Recording help page has more on the recording bar.

The recording didn't save: what now

Built-in recordings (Screenshot toolbar or QuickTime)

• The thumbnail was still showing. The file is written only after the floating thumbnail goes away. If you shut down or logged out while it was on screen, the recording may never have been saved.
• It saved somewhere else. Press ⇧⌘5, click Options, and see which location is checked under Save to. If you recorded from QuickTime, the recording may still be sitting unsaved in an open QuickTime Player window.
• The Mac ran low on disk space or the app crashed. The file may be missing or incomplete. Our guide to recovering a lost screen recording shows where to look.

If recordings end before you press Stop, see Mac screen recording stops by itself.

Screen Bolt recordings

• "The recording could not be finalized, so there is nothing to edit." The file couldn't be completed, so you'll need to record again.

• "Recording stopped unexpectedly" or "the writer failed". The message adds "The output file may be truncated." First look in your projects folder (File ▸ Show previous projects). If the recording isn't there, try File ▸ Recover unfinished recordings... before you quit the app.

• The Screen Recording permission was revoked. Screen Bolt stops and asks you to re-grant access in System Settings > Privacy & Security. Grant it, then start a new recording.

• You quit Screen Bolt mid-recording. The unfinished file may still be in the macOS temporary folder as ScreenBolt_<timestamp>.mov. Screen Bolt deletes these leftovers the next time it launches, so copy the file somewhere safe before you reopen the app. This command opens your temporary folder in Finder:

  open "$TMPDIR"
  

  It only opens a Finder window and changes no settings. An unfinished file may be incomplete or may not play.

• You chose "Export to file" and nothing appeared. A successful quick export is saved inside the project, not on the Desktop. If the export is blocked, it fails without a message. For example, the free version can't export a recording longer than 3 minutes. The recording itself is still in your projects folder: choose File ▸ Open last project (⌥⌘Z) to open it in the editor.

• You recovered a file but your edits disappeared. Videos opened with Recover unfinished recordings... load into the editor without creating a project, so edits aren't saved. Export the result before you close the editor.

The troubleshooting page lists the other recording and export errors.

FAQ

What is the shortcut to stop screen recording on a Mac? ⌃⌘Esc (Control-Command-Escape). It stops recordings made with the Screenshot toolbar and QuickTime Player. Third-party recorders have their own controls.

How do I cancel a recording instead of saving it? With the built-in tool, stop the recording, then Control-click the floating thumbnail and choose Delete. If the file has already saved, move it to the Trash. In Screen Bolt, click Discard and restart.

Why does ⌃⌘Esc do nothing? Usually another app is doing the recording. Stop it from that app. In Screen Bolt, click Stop on its recording bar, or press ⌃⌘↩ while Screen Bolt is the active app.

Where does the recording go after I stop it? Built-in recordings go to the Desktop by default. Screen Bolt saves a project in ~/Screen Bolt Projects. Exports go to the folder you pick in the Export sheet, which is the Desktop by default.

If you're setting up your next recording, start with how to screen record on Mac. Screen Bolt's free version records without a time limit. Its exports are watermarked, capped at 720p and 3 minutes, and can't be GIFs. The pricing section shows what the Pro license adds.