If OBS records video but no system sound on a Mac, the first thing to check is not a setting — it is which version of OBS you are running on which version of macOS. Desktop audio capture on macOS is gated by that pair, and OBS's own documentation spells the combinations out. If your pair is not one of the supported ones, nothing you change in the mixer will produce sound, because there is no capture happening to route.
What "desktop audio" actually is on macOS
Desktop audio means the sound other applications produce — a browser tab, a game, a call app — as opposed to your microphone. In OBS on macOS it arrives through a capture source you add to a scene.
That detail drives everything else on this page. Because the audio is attached to a source, its behaviour follows the source: the source's availability depends on your versions, and the source's state in the scene determines whether the audio survives at all.
The version matrix, straight from OBS's guide
OBS's knowledge base page macOS Desktop Audio Capture Guide states three bands. The quotes below are verbatim:
| Your setup | What the guide says |
|---|---|
| OBS Studio 30 on macOS 13 (Ventura) and higher | "you can use the new macOS Audio Capture Source. You can choose to capture all desktop audio or just a certain application." |
| OBS Studio 28 and 29 on macOS 13 (Ventura) and higher | "you can capture desktop audio or just the audio coming from a single application." |
| Older versions of macOS | "In order to capture desktop audio on older versions of macOS, you will require additional software. There are many options, including free and non-free software." |
Three things worth pulling out of that table.
The macOS 13 (Ventura) floor applies to both supported bands. Updating OBS alone does not get you desktop audio if the machine is below that macOS version — the guide puts those users in the third row regardless of their OBS build.
The third row is a real answer, not a dead end. On older macOS, OBS is telling you the capability lives outside OBS. The guide does not name a specific product, so neither will this page: check the official documentation rather than a forum thread.
The named source differs by band. The OBS 30 row introduces the macOS Audio Capture Source by name; the guide's instructions for capturing sound without showing video refer to the macOS Screen Capture Source (quoted below). If you are on a build newer than the versions named above, confirm against the official documentation what your build ships rather than assuming.
The fastest fix
Work in this order. It is short on purpose — most of the diagnosis is the first step.
- Read both version numbers. Your OBS version and your macOS version, together. Find your row in the table above.
- Add the source your row names, and choose whether you want all desktop audio or a single application. Both supported bands offer that choice.
- Look at the mixer, not at the settings. The guide says: "The audio will automatically be added to the audio mixer." So a working capture shows up on its own. If no new channel appears after adding the source, the capture is not working — stop adjusting output settings and go back to step 1.
That third step is the real test: it turns a vague "no audio" into one of two specific answers — either OBS is receiving the sound and something downstream lost it, or OBS never received it.
If you already have a silent recording on disk, pull the audio out of the file and listen:
Try it right here
Runs in your browser. Your file is not uploaded anywhere.
Be precise about what this proves. The tool extracts the first audio track only (-map 0:a:0 internally). Sound in the result means track 1 carried audio. Silence means track 1 specifically is empty — it does not reach track 2, so it is evidence about one track, not a verdict on the whole file. For other tracks you need a tool that lets you choose, or the command line: extracting audio with FFmpeg covers -map 0:a:1.
The sentence that explains most "it worked yesterday" cases
The guide contains one line that solves a surprising number of these reports:
"If the source is hidden, the audio will be removed."
Read literally, that is a design rule, not a bug: on macOS the audio is bound to the source being shown, not merely to the source existing. A source that is present in your scene but not visible contributes nothing to the mixer.
So if you want sound without the screen in your recording, do not hide the source. The guide gives two supported ways instead:
"Place the macOS Screen Capture Source behind all other sources, or"
"Edit the macOS Screen Capture Source's transformation to set the size to zero width by zero height"
Both leave the source shown — covered or scaled to nothing, but not hidden — which is exactly the distinction the rule above turns on. The guide gives both as alternatives.
Other causes, in order of likelihood
Once the capture is confirmed working in the mixer, the remaining causes are not macOS-specific.
The audio is in the file, on a track your player ignores. OBS can write several audio tracks into one recording. Its guide states: "all standard video players will only play back one audio track at a time so if you are not planning on processing every video through an editor before publishing it, send all of your audio sources to track 1." A recording that plays silently in QuickTime can be perfectly intact — just routed somewhere your player does not read. The full diagnosis is in OBS recording has no audio, and the track limits are covered in how many audio tracks OBS records.
You changed the assignment but not the enablement — or the reverse. These are two different screens, and doing only one of them produces the confusing "I did set up tracks and it still came out wrong" outcome. Per the official instructions, tracks are assigned per source in Advanced Audio Properties (the gear icon at the bottom left of the Audio Mixer dock; the guide notes "you can also access this from Edit in the menu bar"), and enabled for recording in Settings → Output.
Sound exists but only on one side. OBS's Audio Mixer Guide gives a clean test for this: "If only the first meter lights up, your viewers will only hear that source in their left channel. You can enable "Downmix to Mono" in the Advanced Audio section of the Audio Mixer to force 1 channel audio to 2 channels." The same page notes that "OBS Studio defaults to Stereo audio," configurable in the Audio section of Settings, and that "You will only see volume meters up to the number of channels configured" — so the meter itself is telling you the channel count.
How to tell it worked
Do not trust the preview. OBS's own advice is to verify against the file:
"Finally, be sure to record a session as you normally would and then listen back to the file before going live."
Concretely: a short test recording with everything in the state it will be in for real — same applications open, same scene layout with nothing tucked away — then playback in the player the recording will actually be watched in, not in an editor that happily reads every track.
While recording, watch the meters. The Audio Mixer Guide describes the peak indicator as: "Top Dot (Static/Moving): Peak Displays the loudest the meter has been in 20 seconds, a great way to see if you're clipping." A meter that never moves during the test is the cheapest possible answer — nothing is being captured, and no export setting will change that.
FAQ
Why is OBS not recording desktop audio on my Mac? Most often because your OBS and macOS versions are not a supported pair. OBS's guide describes desktop audio capture for OBS 30 and for OBS 28/29 on macOS 13 (Ventura) and higher; on older versions of macOS it says you "will require additional software." Check both version numbers before changing settings.
Can OBS capture Mac system sound without installing anything else? On macOS 13 (Ventura) and higher with the OBS versions named in the guide, yes — you add the capture source and, in the guide's words, "The audio will automatically be added to the audio mixer." For older versions of macOS, the guide says additional software is required.
Why did my audio disappear after I hid the source? Because that is documented behaviour: "If the source is hidden, the audio will be removed." Hiding the source removes its audio along with its video.
How do I record desktop audio without the screen appearing in the video? Keep the source shown rather than hidden. OBS's guide gives two options: place the macOS Screen Capture Source behind all other sources, or set its transformation size to zero width by zero height.
Why does my Mac recording only have sound in one ear? That is a channel issue, not a capture issue. If only the first meter lights up, the source is being heard in the left channel only; OBS documents enabling "Downmix to Mono" in the Advanced Audio section of the Audio Mixer to force 1 channel audio to 2 channels.
Quotes from OBS's own knowledge base — the macOS Desktop Audio Capture Guide, the Multiple Audio Track Recording Guide, and the Audio Mixer Guide — checked 16 September 2026; start at OBS Help for current pages. Related: extract audio from video, more fix guides, or all Clapr tools.
