Screen Recording Shows a Black Screen on Mac? How to Fix It

A black screen recording on a Mac usually has one of two causes. Either the recording app doesn't have Screen Recording permission, or it has permission but hasn't been quit and reopened since you granted it. To fix it, open System Settings ▸ Privacy & Security, turn on the app under Screen Recording (called Screen & System Audio Recording on newer macOS versions), then quit the app with ⌘Q (Command-Q) and open it again.

If only a movie or streaming video is black and the rest of the screen records normally, permissions aren't the cause. That video is copy-protected, and macOS keeps it out of screen captures on purpose.

Why a Mac screen recording shows a black screen

macOS doesn't let an app capture your screen until you approve it. If an app has no approval, or has an approval that macOS no longer matches to it, you get a failed recording, a black frame, or a recording of only your wallpaper. Which one you see depends on the app and the macOS version.

Start by making a short test with the built-in tool:

1. Press ⇧⌘5 (Command-Shift-5).
2. Click Record Entire Screen, then click Record.
3. After a few seconds, click the stop button in the menu bar.

Compare the result with the table to find your case:

Turn on Screen Recording permission

Symptom: in one app, the whole recording is black or shows only the desktop. In Screen Bolt, the recording usually doesn't start. A red banner under the recording bar says "Failed to get screen sources: …" or "Failed to start recording: …". If the permission is removed while you're recording, Screen Bolt stops and says "Screen Recording permission was revoked".

Why: each recorder needs its own Screen Recording approval. Granting it to one app doesn't cover the others. Browser-based recorders need the permission granted to the browser.

Fix:

1. Open the Apple menu and choose System Settings.
2. Click Privacy & Security in the sidebar.
3. Click Screen Recording. On macOS 15 Sequoia and later, this item is called Screen & System Audio Recording. If you can't find it, type "Screen Recording" into the System Settings search field.
4. Turn on the switch next to your recording app. Enter your password or use Touch ID if macOS asks.
5. If the app isn't in the list, click + below the list, select the app in your Applications folder, and click Open.
6. Quit and reopen the app (see the next section). In Screen Bolt you can check the permission without opening System Settings. Choose Help ▸ Screen Bolt Help. The Permissions panel shows Screen Recording as "Granted" or "Denied", and its Open Settings button opens the correct System Settings pane.

OBS shows a black screen on Mac

The fix is the same for OBS Studio. OBS must be listed and switched on under Screen Recording, and you need to quit it completely and reopen it. If OBS's own source settings are the problem, see the documentation on obsproject.com. As of November 2026, OBS requires macOS 13.0 or newer.

Quit and reopen the app after granting

Symptom: you just turned the switch on, but the recording is still black or you still see the same error.

Why: many apps only check for a new Screen Recording grant when they start. On macOS 14 Sonoma, Screen Bolt needs a full relaunch before the grant takes effect.

Fix:

1. Quit the app with ⌘Q. Closing its window isn't always enough. In Screen Bolt, the close button on the recording bar quits the app.
2. Open the app again.
3. Make a short test recording.

On macOS 15 Sequoia, macOS asks again roughly once a month whether an app may keep recording your screen. If a recorder that worked last week suddenly fails, look for a waiting prompt and check that the switch is still on. For more on this, see why your Mac keeps asking for Screen Recording access.

Reset the permission if the switch is already on

Symptom: the app is listed and switched on, you relaunched it, and the recording is still black. This can happen after an app update or after you move the app to a different folder.

Why: macOS can keep a permission entry that no longer matches the copy of the app you're running.

Fix in System Settings:

1. Open the Screen Recording list again (steps above).
2. Turn the app's switch off, then on.
3. If that doesn't help, select the app, click − to remove it, then add it back with +.
4. Quit and reopen the app.

Fix in Terminal: quit the app first. The command below clears Screen Bolt's Screen Recording decision, so macOS asks again the next time the app tries to capture your screen.

Always include the bundle identifier. If you run tccutil reset ScreenCapture without one, it clears Screen Recording permission for every app on your Mac.

tccutil reset ScreenCapture com.screenbolt.Screen-Bolt

To reset a different app, you need its bundle identifier. This command prints it. Replace AppName with the app's name as it appears in Applications:

osascript -e 'id of app "AppName"'

The reset only removes that app's permission. To restore it, open the app and grant access when macOS asks, or turn the switch back on in System Settings. Then relaunch the app.

Protected video records black

Symptom: the recording is fine except for one rectangle, usually a movie, a TV show or a streaming video, which is black.

Why: copy-protected (DRM) video is kept out of screen captures on purpose. The protection works at the capture level, so it doesn't matter which recorder you use. The built-in Screenshot toolbar, Screen Bolt and OBS all show the same black area.

Fix: no permission or setting changes this, and we don't cover workarounds. If you need footage of your own product's video player, play an unprotected test file instead.

Some apps also hide their own windows from screen capture. Screen Bolt hides its recording bar, camera preview bubbles and teleprompter so they don't appear in your video. Hidden windows like these usually don't show up in the recording at all, rather than appearing as black boxes.

Check the display, window and effects you picked

Symptom: the recording shows another monitor or an empty desktop, or part of the frame is blank or dark.

Fixes in Screen Bolt:

• More than one display. When several displays are connected, the Display button becomes a menu that lists each screen by name and resolution. The selected screen has a checkmark, so make sure it's the one you want. The Record display shortcut ⌥⌘3 (Option-Command-3) always records the first display, no matter what you picked in the menu. For more, see how to screen record one monitor on a Mac.
• Window mode. Screen Bolt records the chosen window by itself, even when other windows cover it. The picker only lists windows that are on screen and at least 150×150 pt, so it won't offer a minimized window. Restore the window first.
• A frosted or blank rectangle in the video. This is probably a live blur zone. Blur zones do appear in the recording, and the default intensity, Full (100%), hides everything underneath. A red count badge on the Blur button means zones are active. To remove them, right-click Blur and choose Clear All Zones.
• Everything outside one box is dark in the editor or export. Look under Effects for a Focus Region. It dims everything outside its rectangle, and a high Dim Amount makes that area almost black. A blur region set to the Solid Color style also covers its area with a solid fill.

The recording didn't finish

Symptom: the file is very short, won't open, or shows nothing. Screen Bolt may have shown "Recording stopped: the writer failed (…). The output file may be truncated." or "The recording could not be finalized, so there is nothing to edit."

Why: something interrupted the recording. Quitting Screen Bolt while it's recording also leaves an unfinished recording.

Fix:

1. If Screen Bolt is still open, choose File ▸ Recover unfinished recordings... now, before you quit. Screen Bolt deletes leftover temporary recordings every time it launches, so this menu only finds files from the current session.
2. If the recording opens, export it right away. Edits to a recovered video aren't saved as a project.

If Screen Bolt says "No unfinished recordings", there's nothing left in its temporary folder to recover. For other places to look, see how to recover a lost screen recording on Mac.

The file plays black elsewhere

Symptom: the video plays fine on your Mac, but another app or computer plays the sound over a black picture.

Why: that player probably can't decode the video codec. Screen Bolt's MOV export uses HEVC, which some players don't support.

Fix: export again with Format set to MP4 (H.264). The export sheet describes this format as "Plays everywhere. Best default for sharing." For the trade-offs, see our H.264 vs HEVC comparison.

Still black: who to contact and what to send

Restart your Mac and make one more test recording with ⇧⌘5. Then decide who to contact:

• Contact Apple Support if the built-in tool also records ordinary apps (not protected video) as black after a restart. That means the problem is in macOS, not in one app. Give them your macOS version and Mac model, say whether an external display is connected, and tell them that recordings from the Screenshot toolbar are black.
• Contact the app's developer if only one app records black, even though the permission is on, you've relaunched the app, and you've reset the permission.

To contact us about Screen Bolt:

1. Choose Help ▸ Report an Issue…. This opens a pre-filled email draft that already includes your diagnostics: app version and build, macOS version, Mac model, and the status of all four permissions. Nothing is sent until you send the email yourself.
2. If you'd rather use another mail app, choose Help ▸ Screen Bolt Help, click Copy Diagnostics, and paste the result into your message.
3. Describe what's black (the whole frame, one area or one display). Include the source you used (Display, Window or Area), the exact text of any banner, and whether a ⇧⌘5 recording of the same screen works.

You can also start from the Screen Bolt support page or the troubleshooting docs. If recording fails in some other way, for example it won't start or stops partway through, see screen recording not working on Mac.

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Screen Bolt runs on macOS 14 and later, and the free version has no time limit. Free exports are watermarked and capped at 720p and 3 minutes. Download Screen Bolt.