Guide
How to stop screen recording on Mac
The stop button is small and easy to miss, especially in full screen. Here’s every way to stop.
In short
Click the stop button (a circle with a square) in the menu bar at the top of the screen, or press Command-Control-Esc. If the menu bar is hidden, for example in a full-screen app, move the pointer to the top of the screen to show it, or use the shortcut.
Every way to stop
The menu bar button
A circle with a square inside, near the right of the menu bar.
Command-Control-Esc
Works even when the menu bar is hidden.
In QuickTime Player
If you started from QuickTime, the same menu bar button stops it.
If it won’t stop
- Full-screen app: the menu bar hides. Move the pointer to the very top edge, or use Command-Control-Esc.
- Still stuck: open Activity Monitor and quit “screencaptureui”. The recording up to that point may not be saved.
In ScreenRecordii, stop from the floating bar, the menu bar icon, or a shortcut you choose, and the recording is saved every two seconds as you go, so even a crash keeps what you recorded.
Questions
Where did my recording go after I stopped?
To the desktop, unless you chose another place in Options. See where screen recordings go on Mac.
Can I pause a Mac screen recording?
The built-in tools can’t pause. ScreenRecordii can pause and resume a take.
Keep reading
- How to screen record on MacThree ways to record your screen on a Mac, and which to use when.
- Where recordings are savedWhere Mac screen recordings are saved by default, how to change it, and how to find a lost one.
- Screen recording shortcutShift-Command-5 and the other shortcuts for recording a Mac’s screen.
- Mac screen recorderRecord a display, window or area with camera and sound, already zoomed, smoothed and framed.
- Edit a screen recordingTrim, crop, cut, zoom and add captions to a screen recording on a Mac.
Hit record.
ScreenRecordii is in early access for macOS 14 and later.