Record Computer Audio with Audacity on a Mac

You install Audacity on a Mac, open the recording device menu expecting to find something like “Stereo Mix” or “What U Hear”, and there is nothing there but your microphone. Every Windows tutorial you find mentions an option your Mac does not have.

This is not a bug or a missing preference. Audacity on macOS genuinely cannot record computer playback on its own, and Audacity’s own manual says so, pointing you at additional software.

Why Audacity Can’t Do This on a Mac

Audacity records from input devices. It asks the operating system for a list, and it records from whatever you pick.

On Windows, Audacity ships a WASAPI loopback host. Select it and the playback devices show up as recordable inputs, so system audio is one dropdown away. That is what all those Windows tutorials are using.

On macOS the audio host is always Core Audio, and Core Audio only lists real input devices plus any virtual ones you have installed. System audio is not an input, so it never appears. Stereo Mix is a sound card feature that has no macOS counterpart.

The fix, in every case, is to give Audacity something that looks like an input but actually carries your system audio. Or to sidestep Audacity for the capture stage entirely.

Option 1: BlackHole (free)

BlackHole is a free, open-source virtual audio driver, actively maintained, signed and notarized, and it runs on Apple Silicon and Intel. It is the direct replacement for Soundflower.

1. Download and install BlackHole from existential.audio.
2. Open Audio MIDI Setup from Spotlight.
3. Click + at the bottom left, choose Create Multi-Output Device.
4. Tick both BlackHole 2ch and your real output (Built-in Speakers or headphones).
5. In System Settings > Sound, set that Multi-Output Device as the output.
6. In Audacity, set the recording device to BlackHole 2ch and the channel count to 2 (Stereo).
7. Press record, then play your audio.

Skip step 3 and 4 and your speakers go silent, because everything is flowing into BlackHole and nowhere else. That single omission accounts for most “BlackHole is not working” posts.

Set your system output back to your speakers when you finish, or your Mac keeps using the Multi-Output Device indefinitely.

One real limitation: BlackHole captures everything mixed together. Notifications, Slack, a YouTube tab you forgot about, all of it lands in the recording, because a virtual output device only ever sees the final mix.

Option 2: Record First, Edit in Audacity ($14.99)

If your reason for opening Audacity was editing rather than capture, it is simpler to capture with a dedicated app and open the file afterwards.

Soundshine Record uses Core Audio process taps, an API added in macOS 14.4 that lets an app read audio from other apps directly. Nothing gets installed into macOS, there is no admin password, and no restart.

1. Open Soundshine Record and approve the recording permission once.
2. Pick your sources: all system audio, or individual apps by name so the Slack notification stays out. Add a mic if you need your voice too.
3. Set the format to WAV or AIFF for editing work.
4. Record.
5. Open the file from ~/Music/SoundshineRecord in Audacity.

The reason to bother: per-app capture and independent level control per source, neither of which a virtual driver can offer. Record WAV or AIFF here rather than AAC, since you are about to edit and re-export, and uncompressed audio survives that without stacking artifacts.

It needs macOS 15 or later. $14.99 one time, with a fully functional trial that adds a chime every 30 seconds.

Option 3: Loopback ($99) or Audio Hijack ($69)

Rogue Amoeba’s tools are the professional end of this. Loopback builds virtual devices out of any combination of apps and inputs, which then appear in Audacity’s device list. Audio Hijack records directly with a visual signal chain.

Both are excellent and both are considerably more than most people need to get a browser tab into Audacity. Worth it if you are building complex routing regularly.

What Not to Use

Soundflower. Every old tutorial recommends it. It has not been updated since 2014, there is no Apple Silicon build, and it depends on a kernel extension that modern macOS will not load without lowering your security policy in Recovery. See Soundflower alternatives.

A physical loopback cable. Running a 3.5mm cable from headphone out to line in is sometimes suggested. Most modern Macs have no line-in port, and it converts your audio to analog and back, which adds noise for no reason.

Settings Worth Getting Right in Audacity

Once audio is arriving, a few things save re-recording.

Set the project rate in the bottom left to 48000 Hz, matching what macOS uses. A mismatch makes Audacity resample, which is avoidable quality loss.

Set channels to 2 (Stereo). Recording a stereo source in mono collapses it and you cannot get the separation back.

Check your levels before committing to a long take. Play the loudest part and watch the meter: peaks should land around -6 dB. If it touches 0 the audio clips and no amount of editing repairs it.

Turn off Software Playthrough, under Audio Settings. With a virtual driver in the chain it creates a feedback loop.

The Short Version

Free and you do not mind a setup session: BlackHole with a Multi-Output Device.

You want per-app capture, or Audacity was only ever the editor: record with Soundshine Record and open the file in Audacity.

Complex routing on a regular basis: Loopback or Audio Hijack.

For the wider comparison, see how to record internal audio on a Mac.