What Is a Screencast? Definition, Types and Examples

A screencast is a video recording of a computer screen, usually with a voice explaining what's happening, made so someone else can watch how a task is done or how a piece of software works. The word blends "screen" and "broadcast." Software tutorials, product demos, code walkthroughs and bug-report videos are all screencasts.

On a Mac you can make a basic one without installing anything. Press ⇧⌘5 (Command-Shift-5), choose Record Entire Screen or Record Selected Portion, and click Record. For zooms, a webcam or a more polished look, you need a dedicated recorder. Both options are covered below.

What a screencast includes

Most screencasts combine some of these parts:

• The screen video: a whole display, one window, or a selected area.
• The cursor: where you point and click, so viewers can follow along.
• Narration: your voice explaining each step. Some short screencasts skip it and use text on screen instead.
• Your face (optional): a small webcam overlay in a corner, common in demos and courses.
• Edits (optional): trimmed starts and ends, cut mistakes, zooms on the important part, text labels, blurred private data.

A screencast is made to be watched later, often by people you'll never talk to live. That is the difference from screen sharing in a video call. It is also different from "casting" or mirroring your screen to a TV, which happens live and records nothing.

Screencast vs screen recording vs screenshot

People use "screencast" and "screen recording" interchangeably, and that's fine in conversation. The useful distinction is purpose: every screencast is a screen recording, but a raw clip of your screen only becomes a screencast when it is made for an audience.

If the answer to someone's question fits in one image, send a screenshot. People can scan a picture in seconds, but they have to sit through a video. A screencast earns its length when the order of steps matters or when motion shows something a still image can't.

Common types of screencasts

Each has its own guide on this site. Start with how to make a software tutorial video, what a product demo video is, recording a bug report video, code walkthroughs for pull requests and help-center videos. For more formats, see our list of screen recording video ideas.

What makes a good screencast

Text people can read. Viewers often watch in a small player: a Slack embed, a help-center page, a phone. A 1920-pixel-wide video shown 640 pixels wide is scaled to one third, and small UI text becomes a blur. Record a window or a smaller area instead of a whole large display, increase the font size in the app you're showing, and zoom in on the part that matters. Our guide on making text readable in screen recordings goes further.

One task per video. "How to export a report" is a screencast. "Everything in the reports section" is several. Write a short outline or script before you record so you don't wander. If reading from a script feels stiff, see how to read a script while recording.

A clean screen. Close unrelated apps and browser tabs, turn on Do Not Disturb from Control Center so notifications don't appear mid-take, and check for private data such as emails, API keys and customer names. Our checklist for preparing your Mac for a clean recording covers the details.

Clear audio. Muddy sound is harder to sit through than a plain-looking video. Keep the microphone close, record in a quiet room, and test a few seconds before the real take.

A cursor viewers can follow. Move deliberately and pause briefly before you click. Fast, wandering mouse movement makes it hard to see what you just did.

No dead time. Trim the fumbling at the start and the reach for the stop button at the end. Cut long waits and mistakes.

For a list of what usually goes wrong, see 5 screen recording mistakes that make tutorials look amateur.

How to make a screencast on a Mac

With the built-in Screenshot toolbar (free)

1. Press ⇧⌘5 to open the Screenshot toolbar.
2. Click Record Entire Screen, or click Record Selected Portion and drag the frame around the area you want.
3. Click Options and set your microphone, Show Mouse Clicks and the save location.
4. Click Record.
5. To stop, click the stop button in the menu bar or press ⌃⌘⎋ (Control-Command-Escape).

The recording is saved as a .mov file, on the Desktop unless you chose another location under Options. To trim the ends, click the thumbnail that appears in the corner of the screen after recording, or open the file in QuickTime Player and choose Edit > Trim. In QuickTime Player, File > New Screen Recording opens the same toolbar. If you can't find a recording, see where screen recordings go on Mac.

This is enough for a bug report, a quick answer to a teammate, or an internal clip nobody needs to admire. What it doesn't give you is polish: no zooming in on clicks, no camera option in the toolbar, no text or background, and QuickTime Player's editing covers only basic jobs like trimming. If you also need the sound your Mac is playing, read how to record internal audio on Mac first. Our full walkthrough of the free options is in how to screen record on Mac.

With Screen Bolt (when the screencast needs to look edited)

We make Screen Bolt, a Mac screen recorder with a timeline editor. It suits screencasts that other people will judge you by, like product demos, tutorials and launch videos, because it zooms in on your clicks automatically and records your webcam alongside the screen. It needs macOS 14 Sonoma or later.

1. Open Screen Bolt. A small floating recording bar appears. It is hidden from your recording.
2. Click Display, Window or Area. With more than one display, Display opens a menu where you pick the screen. For Window, click the window you want in the picker and press Return. For Area, drag over the part of the screen you want and press Return. A window is recorded on its own, even if another window covers it.
3. To show your face, click Camera and choose a camera. A round live preview floats on screen so you can check framing; it isn't captured in the screen video. An iPhone works as a camera through Continuity Camera, and if you have two or more cameras you can add one under Second camera.
4. Click Mic and choose your microphone. If you need sound from your Mac too, click Audio and choose Record system audio from all apps.
5. Click the red record button. When you're done, click the stop button in the bar.

The editor then opens with zoom regions already created from your mouse clicks. Clicks within 1 second and 200 pixels of each other are merged into one zoom, and each zoom holds for at least 1.8 seconds, so a quick run of clicks becomes one smooth move instead of a jittery series. While zoomed in, the view follows your cursor. Auto zoom is explained in more detail in what auto zoom is. A few things to know about the zooms:

• They come from clicks only. Typing does not trigger a zoom, so for a section where you mostly type, press ⌘K (Command-K) to add a zoom at the playhead.
• In the Zoom panel, Default Level sets how far new zooms go in (1.2× to 6.0×, 2.0× by default). Right-click a region on the zoom track to change its level or delete it.
• Turning off Auto Zoom on Click in the Zoom panel switches off every zoom, including ones you added by hand. To drop a single zoom, delete that region instead.
• Auto zoom works on recordings made in Screen Bolt. A video you import has no click data, so you add zoom regions by hand.

Your camera shows up in the editor as a picture-in-picture card. In the Webcam panel you can move it to any of the four corners and change its size and shape.

When the edit is done, click Export and choose MP4, MOV or GIF. The free version lets you record without a time limit, but exports carry a "Made with Screen Bolt" watermark, are capped at 3 minutes and 720p, and can't be GIFs. The 3-minute cap is checked against the full recording, so trimming a longer take below 3 minutes doesn't get around it. A Pro license is $79, one-time, as of November 2026 (see pricing).

Which to use

• Use the built-in toolbar if the screencast is for one person or your team, it only needs to be clear and not polished, and trimming is all the editing you need.
• Use Screen Bolt if viewers will watch in small players and need zooms to read anything, you want your webcam in the shot, or the video represents your product in public.
• Compare other recorders in our roundups of the best screen recorders for Mac and the best free screen recorders for Mac if neither fits.

FAQ

Is a screencast the same as a screen recording?

In everyday use, yes. Strictly, a screencast is a screen recording made for an audience, usually with narration and some editing, while a screen recording can be any raw capture of your screen.

Does a screencast need narration?

No. Short screencasts often work without sound, using text on screen instead, for example a looping GIF in a GitHub README. For anything longer than a few steps, a voice explaining why you click each thing helps viewers follow.

What format should I save a screencast in?

MP4 with H.264 plays almost everywhere, which makes it a safe default for sharing. See MP4 vs MOV for when the other format makes sense.