How do you record a meeting on a Mac, both sides of the call?

Why both sides need separate capture

A meeting has two audio sources from your point of view. There is your own voice, which comes in through the microphone, and there is everyone else, which comes out of your speakers or headphones as system audio. macOS deliberately keeps these apart. Any app can ask for the microphone, but capturing the audio your Mac is playing needs a specific permission, because it would otherwise be an easy way to snoop.

That separation is the whole reason recording a meeting is fiddlier than it looks. A screen recorder grabs your microphone happily and leaves the other people silent, which gives you a recording of yourself asking questions into the void.

Recording only your side

If you just need your own audio, the built-in tools are enough. QuickTime Player can do an audio-only recording from your microphone, and Voice Memos does the same. Neither one captures the other people on the call, so this is only useful for dictation or your half of a conversation.

Recording the whole call

To capture everyone, you need something that taps system audio as well as the microphone. There are two broad approaches. One is to install a virtual audio driver that routes your Mac’s output into a recordable input, then record that alongside your mic. It works, but it is a setup step and it is easy to misconfigure.

The simpler approach is a dedicated recorder that taps system audio directly through the permission macOS provides, and records your microphone at the same time on a separate track. Two tracks is the detail that matters. When your voice and the other people are kept apart, the recording, and any transcript made from it, can tell who said what.

Getting a transcript, not just audio

Audio on its own is a chore to work with later. Most people actually want the text. You can record first and transcribe afterwards with a separate tool, or use a recorder that transcribes for you when you stop. Doing it on-device keeps the meeting private, since the audio is never uploaded to be turned into text.

A quick word on consent

Being able to record is not the same as being allowed to. Recording rules vary by country and state, and some require everyone on the call to agree. Whether the meeting app shows a recording notice has no bearing on the law. Check the rules where you and the other people are, and when in doubt, say you are recording and get a clear yes.