A webinar that won’t be posted later, a sound in a browser game, a voice message in a web app, a synth that only exists in a browser tab. The sound plays in Safari or Chrome, and you want it in a file.
macOS has no built-in way to do this. This guide shows a way that records only the browser, so Slack pings and other apps stay out of the file, and covers the problems people usually hit.
I make Audio Capture, the app used in this guide. It records one app at a time, so you get the browser and nothing else, in two steps and without a driver.
Why the usual tools don’t work
QuickTime Player and Voice Memos record from an input device, usually the microphone. Recording a browser with them means recording your speakers through the microphone, together with keyboard noise and room echo.
Online recorders and browser extensions only see what the browser lets them see. They often need you to share a tab, keep the recorder open in another tab and leave both alone until the recording is done.
The cleaner way is to record the browser’s audio directly, digitally, before it reaches the speakers. Since macOS 14.4, an app can do this for one specific app, with your permission and without installing a driver.
Record a browser with Audio Capture
1. Start the sound first
Open the page and start playback. The browser should be playing sound when you choose it as a source. If the browser hasn’t played anything since it was launched, it may not appear in the list yet.
2. Choose the browser as the source
Open Audio Capture. Under Apps, each app that is currently playing sound is a separate source. Select Safari or Google Chrome.
Only the selected sources are recorded. A notification sound from Slack or Mail during the recording won’t end up in the file, because those apps weren’t selected.
If you want to comment on what you’re recording, also select your Microphone. Each source has its own volume slider, and you can adjust the balance during the recording.
3. Record
Press the red button. The first time, macOS asks for permission to record audio. Allow it. If you added the microphone, macOS also asks for microphone access separately.
While recording, you can close the window: the app stays in the menu bar and keeps recording. You can also start and stop recording from the menu bar icon without opening the window.
4. Stop and get the file
Press the button again. The file goes to the folder shown next to Save to, in the format you chose: WAV without loss of quality, or a compact M4A. The recording also appears in the list of recent recordings in the menu bar. You can play it in the built-in player, open it in Finder or drag it straight into another app.
Record one tab, not the whole browser
The browser is one source in macOS, so Audio Capture records every tab that’s playing sound in it. To keep just one tab:
- Safari: a tab that plays sound shows a speaker icon. Click the speaker icon on any other tab to mute it.
- Chrome: right-click a tab that plays sound and choose Mute site.
Or record the tab you need in one browser and keep everything else in another. Since each app is a separate source, recording Safari doesn’t pick up anything playing in Chrome.
When something goes wrong
The browser isn’t in the list. Start playback first, then look again. An app that hasn’t played any sound yet may not appear.
The file is silent. Check that the page was actually playing during the recording and that the volume on the page isn’t at zero. Then check permission: System Settings → Privacy & Security, find the audio recording permission and turn on Audio Capture. Quit and reopen the app afterwards.
Some sites record as silence. Some streaming services protect their audio, and macOS won’t give it to any recorder. That’s expected, not a setting you can change.
The browser is too quiet in the file. Check the source’s volume slider in Audio Capture and the volume of the player on the page itself.
Your voice is too loud next to the browser. Lower the microphone slider. You can do it during the recording.
Why not QuickTime, BlackHole or OBS
QuickTime with BlackHole means installing an audio driver, building a Multi-Output Device in Audio MIDI Setup and switching your Mac’s output, and the result still contains every sound the Mac played, not just the browser. The steps are in Record Mac System Audio Without BlackHole.
OBS Studio can capture a single app’s audio, but it’s built for video: scenes, sources, output formats. A lot of setup for one audio file.
Online recorders and extensions depend on what the browser lets them see, and usually need the recorder tab open next to the one you’re recording.
Audio Capture records the browser directly, in two steps, without changing anything on your Mac. A side-by-side comparison is in BlackHole Alternatives for Mac.
When you need something else
Audio Capture records sound to a file. If you need the video of a webinar too, use a screen recorder such as OBS. If you need to send browser audio live into a call or a stream, use a virtual device. Audio Capture requires macOS 14.4 or later.
Record only what you have the right to keep: your own sessions, webinars that allow recording, your own work in web apps.