How to record a Zoom meeting on a Mac — including the other person’s voice
If you have tried this already, you have probably discovered the annoying part: the obvious tools record you and nobody else. Here is why, and the four routes that actually work.
- Zoom’s own recording is controlled by the host. Zoom’s documentation is blunt about it: “The host must record the meeting or grant the ability to record to a participant.”
- QuickTime Player cannot record the other side of a call. Its audio recorder offers exactly one input control — a microphone — and macOS screen recording is the same.
- To capture both sides you need something that taps your Mac’s audio output: either a virtual audio device you install and wire up yourself (BlackHole, Loopback), or an app that asks macOS for system-audio permission directly.
- Narada does the second. It records your microphone and your Mac’s output as two separate tracks, transcribes them on-device, and never joins the call.
- Whichever route you take, tell the other side you are recording. In many places that is the law, and in all places it is the difference between notes and a problem.
There are four ways to end a Zoom call with a recording of it on your Mac, and they are not equally good. Two of them quietly record only your half of the conversation, which you tend to find out afterwards.
The short version of why this is awkward
macOS treats “the sound going into your microphone” and “the sound coming out of your speakers” as two completely different things, with different privacy rules. Recording your own microphone is ordinary. Recording what your Mac is playing means recording audio that belongs to other people in the call, so Apple puts it behind a separate permission — and does not offer it in any of its own recording apps.
You can check this yourself in about a minute. Apple’s documentation for QuickTime Player’s audio recorder lists one input control: “Microphone: Choose a microphone (if you have more than one available).” The screen-recording documentation is the same — “Below Microphone, select the microphone you want to use” — with no system-audio option anywhere. Voice Memos says the same thing in different words: “use the built-in microphone, a supported headset, or an external mic.”
So the answer to “why is my recording missing everyone else” is not that you did it wrong. It is that Apple’s tools were not built to do it.
The capability does exist in macOS. It is just reserved for third-party apps that ask for it: Apple’s own privacy documentation describes a control where “you can decide which apps and websites are allowed to record your screen and audio”, and where an app may be allowed “both your screen and audio, or just your audio”. That last clause is the one that matters here.
Route 1 — Zoom’s own recording
The simplest option, when it is available to you.
What it does. Records the meeting’s audio and video, with everyone in it, and saves it to your Mac after the call.
The catch. You need permission. Zoom’s support page for computer recording states it plainly: “The host must record the meeting or grant the ability to record to a participant.” If you are not hosting, you either ask, or the Record button is not there. The prerequisites Zoom lists are otherwise modest — a “Basic (Free) account or above” and a current desktop app.
When it is the right answer. You are the host, the recording is for the group, and you want the video too.
When it is not. You are a guest on someone else’s call. You want a recording of every meeting without asking permission from a rotating cast of hosts each time. Or you want the recording to live in your own folder rather than in Zoom’s.
Route 2 — a virtual audio device (BlackHole, Loopback)
This is the classic answer, and the one most search results will hand you. It works, and it is fiddly.
The idea: install a virtual audio device that pretends to be a pair of speakers, send your Mac’s output into it, and record from it. Because you still want to hear the call, you also build a Multi-Output Device in Audio MIDI Setup that sends the sound to your headphones and to the virtual device at once. Then you point QuickTime, or an audio app, at the virtual device as its input.
Cost of the detour, honestly stated:
- You are changing your Mac’s audio output, so if you forget to change it back, everything else you play goes somewhere strange.
- A Multi-Output Device has no volume control from the keyboard, and its member devices can drift out of sync.
- To get your own microphone and the call’s audio in one file, you have to build an Aggregate Device on top of the whole arrangement.
- Both halves end up mixed into a single track, so nothing afterwards can tell your voice from theirs.
That last point is worth dwelling on if you care about the transcript rather than the audio. A single mixed track is much harder to attribute, and speaker separation on a mixed recording is guesswork.
When it is the right answer. You already run this setup for other reasons, or you need raw audio to edit in a DAW.
Route 3 — an app that taps system audio directly
Instead of rerouting your Mac’s sound, an app can ask macOS for the system-audio permission and read the output stream where it already is. Nothing about your audio setup changes. Your headphones keep working. There is no virtual device to remember.
This is what Narada does, and the design has three consequences worth knowing:
- Two tracks, not one. Your microphone and the call’s audio are recorded separately, then transcribed separately. Your own lines are attributed to you because they came from your own microphone, and the other side gets separated into distinct voices — labelled
Speaker 1,Speaker 2and so on, since the app has no way to know their names and does not pretend otherwise. - No bot joins. Nothing appears in the participant list, because nothing was invited. This is the difference between recording your Mac and recording the meeting.
- No Screen Recording permission. It records audio, not pixels, so it asks for Microphone and System Audio Recording and nothing else.
Transcription happens on the Mac, in 25 European languages, using a speech model that runs through Core ML rather than a server. The audio file never leaves the machine.
Route 4 — a bot notetaker
Fireflies, Otter’s assistant, Fathom and the rest work differently: they join your Zoom call as a participant, and the recording happens on their servers.
The trade is straightforward. You get transcription, summaries and integrations without touching your Mac’s audio settings — and in exchange there is a visible third party in the attendee list, your audio is uploaded, and a fair number of companies block those bots at the IT level. If the meeting is with a client who has never met you before, the bot is a conversation of its own.
Which one to pick
| You want | Route | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| A shared recording of a call you host | Zoom’s own recording | Guests cannot start it without your permission |
| Raw audio to edit later | Virtual audio device | Both sides mixed into one track; audio settings to undo |
| A transcript and notes for every call, without asking anyone | System-audio app (Narada) | Requires macOS 15.6+; you still tell people you’re recording |
| Team-wide notes pushed into a CRM | Bot notetaker | Visible in the participant list; audio uploaded; often blocked |
| Just your own thoughts after the call | Voice Memos | Microphone only, which here is the point |
Before you record anything
Recording law varies by country and by state, and in some places it turns on whether every participant consented rather than just one. This is not legal advice and nobody selling software is qualified to give you any — but the practical version is short: say out loud, at the start, that you are recording. It takes four seconds and it settles the question.
Narada keeps a reminder on screen for the whole recording for exactly this reason, and the app cannot make a recording lawful on your behalf. That part is yours.
Sources
- Apple Support, Record audio in QuickTime Player on Mac — the microphone-only input control — https://support.apple.com/guide/quicktime-player/record-audio-qtp3a7cbdc0d/mac
- Apple Support, Take a screenshot or screen recording on Mac — microphone-only audio option — https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/take-a-screenshot-or-screen-recording-mh26782/mac
- Apple Support, Record audio in Voice Memos on Mac — supported input devices — https://support.apple.com/guide/voice-memos/record-audio-vmm4ea2b3d0e/mac
- Apple Support, Control access to screen and system audio recording on Mac — the audio-only permission — https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/control-access-to-screen-and-system-audio-recording-mchld6aa7d23/mac
- Zoom Support, Starting a computer recording — “The host must record the meeting or grant the ability to record to a participant.”
All five were checked on 4 August 2026.
Questions people ask about this
Can I record a Zoom meeting if I am not the host?
Not with Zoom’s own recorder — Zoom’s support documentation says the host must record or explicitly grant the ability to a participant. You can always record your own Mac’s audio with a separate tool, which is what the rest of this guide is about, but you should tell the other participants you are doing it.
Why does my QuickTime recording only have my voice in it?
Because that is all QuickTime captures. Its New Audio Recording window offers a single input choice — a microphone — and macOS screen recording likewise only offers microphone input. Neither has an option for the audio your Mac is playing.
Do I need BlackHole or Loopback?
Only if your recorder cannot capture system audio itself. A virtual audio device works, but it reroutes your Mac’s output through a device you have to build in Audio MIDI Setup, and a wrong setting means silent headphones or a silent recording. An app that requests macOS’s system-audio permission skips that whole detour.
Does recording a Zoom call need Screen Recording permission?
It depends on the tool. Screen recorders ask for Screen Recording. Narada does not record your screen and does not ask for that permission — it asks for Microphone and System Audio Recording, which is the audio-only half of the same privacy control.
Where does the recording end up?
With Zoom’s local recording, in a Zoom folder in your Documents after the meeting ends and the file finishes converting. With Narada, in a folder you choose, one subfolder per meeting, holding an .m4a file plus the transcript and summary as plain text.
Try it on your next call
Narada records your Mac's audio and your microphone, transcribes on-device, and hands you the decisions and follow-ups. Free to use, no account, no bot in the meeting.