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Record your microphone and computer audio on a Mac
Choose the right Eavesy capture mode, verify both sides of a conversation, and keep a recoverable recording.
By Eavesy · 4 min read · Updated
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Choose Meeting to capture your microphone and the sound your Mac plays without recording the screen. Choose Video when the screen itself matters. Talk records only your microphone, so it is not the right mode for capturing the other side of a call.
Prepare a short test
Open Eavesy with ⌘⇧Space and choose Meeting. Allow Microphone and Screen Recording or system-audio access when macOS requests it. Exact permission labels vary by macOS version. Follow your organization's rules and arrange the required participant consent before recording.
Use the microphone you intend to use for the real call. Check its input in macOS Sound settings. Play a short, permitted audio clip on your Mac while saying a few words yourself. Record for several seconds, stop, and listen to the saved audio. You should hear both sources.
Do this again after changing a headset, display, microphone, or audio routing utility. A successful test with built-in speakers does not establish that a different device setup works.
Capture the conversation
Start Meeting before the part you want to retain. It captures sound played by the Mac; it does not join a calendar event or add a participant to the call. If you use Video, everything included in the selected screen recording may be visible in the saved file, so prepare the screen accordingly.
Long signed-in recordings upload sealed audio segments while capture continues. Processing may arrive in batches. Wait for the completed cloud transcript and brief before treating them as final; on-device captions are preliminary recognition.
Verify the result
Open the recording and inspect a passage spoken by you and a passage from the remote audio. The two input tracks can be labeled You and Them. Those labels do not identify every person within the remote track.
If one side is missing, test it separately. A silent microphone calls for input and permission checks; absent remote sound calls for system-audio and output routing checks. Repeating a long meeting without a short playback test makes the diagnosis harder.
Files and processing
Local capture works without an account, subject to the required permissions. Sign in for cloud transcription, summaries, and synced access. Keep the original audio until you have checked the text; recognition can mishear names, numbers, and quiet speakers.
Choose a mode by what must be captured
| Mode | Your microphone | Computer sound | Screen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Talk | Yes | No | No |
| Meeting | Yes | Yes | No |
| Video | Yes | Yes | Yes |
A short preflight is easier to diagnose than a full missed meeting. Say “microphone test,” play a separate sound, and listen for each independently. When using headphones, the remote side should come from captured computer audio; hearing your own microphone does not prove the other side was captured.
Diagnose one missing source
| Playback result | Next check |
|---|---|
| Your voice is absent | Input selection, mute, and Microphone permission |
| Computer sound is absent | Meeting/Video mode, system-audio permission, and output routing |
| Both are audible but text is missing | Sign-in, processing state, and recognition rather than capture |
| Sound is distorted or quiet | Repeat the test with the same device and check levels and placement |
Keep the short failed test until you understand the cause. Change one setting at a time, make another ten-second capture, and compare playback. A transcript or caption is a second check; the original audio establishes what was actually recorded.