Free Online Screen Recorder
Screen Recorder for Mac — In the Browser, Nothing to Install
macOS already has QuickTime, and OBS is free — so why a browser recorder? Because for the 30-second job ("record this tab, send the file"), opening a URL beats setting up an app. Region selection, webcam overlay, pause & resume and trim come along for free, and nothing stays installed when you're done.
Open CastLens and record nowThe one setup step: Screen Recording permission
macOS requires you to grant Screen Recording to the browser itself, once. When you first record, the system asks; if that prompt was ever dismissed, macOS stays silent forever and captures fail quietly. Fix: System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen Recording → enable your browser (toggle off/on if it looks enabled), then fully quit and reopen it — the grant only applies to freshly started apps.
Audio on macOS: the honest matrix
Tab audio always works — share a Chrome tab and its sound is captured. Whole-system audio needs Chrome 141+ on macOS 14.2+ (choose "Entire screen" and enable audio in the picker). Safari records the screen with microphone; full system audio there still needs a virtual audio device. Windows has none of these wrinkles.
Retina, regions and the floating console
On Retina displays the capture is full-resolution; the region selector works in source pixels, so a "1000×600" region is exactly that in the output file. While you draw the region, a small always-on-top window floats above your actual screen — you frame the real content, then record, pause and stop from that same floating panel without coming back to the website.
When to use QuickTime, OBS, or this
QuickTime: zero features, always there, fine for full-screen-only captures. OBS: scenes, overlays, streaming — worth its setup time when you do that regularly. A browser recorder: fastest path from "I need this recorded" to a trimmed file, with nothing installed afterwards. Most Mac users need the third one 90% of the time.
FAQ
Does it work in Safari on Mac?
Yes — Safari supports screen recording via the same standard API, outputs MP4, and needs the same one-time Screen Recording permission. Chrome and Edge work equally well; Firefox on macOS saves WebM.
Why is my DRM video (Netflix, etc.) recorded black?
Content protection intentionally blocks capture of protected video paths — this applies to every recorder on macOS, including OBS and QuickTime. Non-DRM content (your own apps, tabs, most sites) records normally.
How do I fix "recording fails silently" on macOS?
That's the permission quirk: macOS asks once and never re-prompts. Toggle the browser's Screen Recording switch off and on in System Settings → Privacy & Security, then fully quit (⌘Q) and reopen the browser. This site detects the failure and walks you through it.
Is Retina quality preserved?
Yes. Capture runs at the display's native resolution, and region sizes are exact in output pixels — a 1440×900 region on a 2× display yields a 1440×900 video (crisp, since the source was 2880×1800).
Does it work on Apple Silicon?
Yes, M-series and Intel Macs behave identically — encoding uses the same MediaRecorder pipeline Chrome provides on both. Hardware encoding keeps fan noise low on M-chips even at 1080p30.