How to record a FaceTime call on your Mac

For an audio call with one other person, click More during the call, then Call Recording. Both of you hear a notice that the call is being recorded, and the recording and its transcript are saved to a Call Recordings folder in Notes. That's Apple's own way, and it's free.

Apple doesn't document a recorder inside FaceTime for video calls or group calls. For those, the options are the Mac's screen recorder or an app that records the call's sound:

• A FaceTime audio call with one person: Apple's Call Recording.
• An iPhone call answered on your Mac: the same Call Recording, in the Phone app.
• A FaceTime video call: the Screenshot toolbar, with Include System Audio on macOS 27 or later.
• Only the sound, with each side apart: an app like Piezo or Audio Hijack.

Some of the guides people find for this date from 2018 and recommend apps that are gone. Everything here comes from Apple's and Rogue Amoeba's own pages, checked October 16, 2026. We make Koi, a Mac app that records calls, and say below where it fits.

From Apple's FaceTime guide:

1. Start or answer a FaceTime audio call with one other person.
2. Click the More button, then click Call Recording. You both hear a notice that the call is being recorded.
3. To stop, click More again, then click Stop.
4. Open Notes and go to the Call Recordings folder. Select the call's note and click Play to listen, or read its transcript there.

With Apple Intelligence, you can also get a summary of the recorded call. Apple notes that Apple Intelligence isn't available in every language or region, and some features have usage limits.

Don't see Call Recording under More? It's for audio calls with one other person, so it won't be there on a video call or a group call. Apple documents it for macOS Tahoe 26 and later, so check for a macOS update too.

If your Mac answers calls from your iPhone, the Phone app on the Mac can record them the same way. Per Apple's Phone guide, during a call click More, then Call Recording, and stop with Stop or by hanging up. Both people hear a notice, and the recording goes to the Call Recordings folder in Notes.

It needs your iPhone and Mac signed in to the same Apple Account and on the same Wi-Fi network, your iPhone set to allow calls on your Mac, and FaceTime signed in with your phone number turned on, on both. Apple also says to check the macOS Feature Availability page, since recording isn't in every language and region. And it asks you to make sure the other person is willing to be recorded.

The Screenshot toolbar, built into macOS, records the FaceTime window:

1. Start the FaceTime call.
2. Press Shift-Command-5.
3. Choose Record Selected Window (macOS Tahoe 26 or later), or Record Entire Screen.
4. Click Options. Pick your microphone for your own voice. On macOS 27 Golden Gate or later, also choose Include System Audio, so the other person is in it too.
5. Click Record, then click the FaceTime window. To stop, click Stop in the menu bar or press Command-Control-Esc.

The recording is saved to your desktop as a .mov. Include System Audio comes from Apple's screen recording how-to, which says it needs macOS 27 or later. On Tahoe 26 and earlier, the only sound option is a microphone, which hears your voice and only as much of the other person as leaks out of your speakers, and none of them with headphones on. Make a short test call first. This route doesn't announce itself, and there's no transcript.

Two that say so on their own pages:

• Piezo records FaceTime, Zoom and other call apps in one click and saves each side to its own channel. It runs on macOS 14.4 to 27 and costs $29.
• Audio Hijack lists FaceTime among the call apps it records out of the box, and can transcribe on your Mac. It costs $69 and takes more setup.

Not every recorder can. MacWhisper's own documentation says FaceTime isn't available to it because of privacy restrictions in macOS, so check an app's page for FaceTime by name before you buy it for this. For every way to capture the Mac's sound, see how to record internal audio on a Mac.

Koi's Record calls is made for online calls in apps like Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams. It records your microphone as You and what the Mac plays as Them, transcribes both on your Mac, films the screen if you pick Audio and video, and with your yes writes a summary and your to-dos. No bot joins.

Koi's Online call records whatever app the Mac plays, FaceTime included, and the dock offers to record when a FaceTime call starts. If your calls are on Zoom, Meet or Teams, see recording a Zoom meeting, recording Google Meet or recording a Teams meeting.

It depends on where you and the other person are. In many places, everyone on a call has to agree before it's recorded. This isn't legal advice, so check the rules where you are.

Apple's Call Recording handles the telling: both people hear a notice. The Screenshot toolbar and recording apps don't, so it's on you. Ask before you start, wait for a yes, and don't record if they say no.

• It's a video call or a group call. Apple's Call Recording is for audio calls with one other person.
• Your macOS is older than the version Apple's guide describes. Check Software Update.
• Your language or region isn't supported yet. Apple points to its macOS Feature Availability page.
• Your screen recording has no sound from the other person. On Tahoe 26 and earlier, the Screenshot toolbar only records a microphone.
• A recording app isn't allowed to hear the Mac. Check System Settings, Privacy & Security, Screen & System Audio Recording.

• An audio call with one person? Apple's Call Recording. It's free, it tells them, and you get a transcript.
• An iPhone call on your Mac? The Phone app's Call Recording.
• A video call, on macOS 27? The Screenshot toolbar with Include System Audio.
• The sound only, each side apart, for editing? Piezo.

Recording other apps too? See every way to record a meeting on a Mac.