Screen recording is a process that captures the movement of the screen, and you can view it later on your device. Mac users can screen record a video while streaming, during an online meeting, video call, live stream, game, video tutorial, webinar, and more. The screen recorder feature enables you to record any area of your screen, or you can save it as a screenshot. The best thing with Mac is it lets you record the screen along with the audio and webcam. Obviously, you can stop the screen record on your Mac computer once you are done with the recording process. There are multiple ways to stop a screen recording on your Mac, and they are dealt with in detail here.
How to Stop Screen Recording on Mac using the Screenshot feature
This is the straightforward method to stop recording the screen on Mac. In this method, you can save the recordings. To do so,
#1. Press Shift + Command + 5 to launch the Screenshot app.
#2. At the bottom of the screen, you can select either the Record Entire Screen icon for full video capture or the Record Selected Portion icon to record the part of the screen.
#3. Tap the Record option, and it will start recording the screen.
#4. To stop the screen recording on your Mac:
- Tap the Stop icon to stop recording
- Or select Command + Ctrl + Esc to stop recording
- Or press Shift + Command + 5 again to open the screenshot toolbar and then tap the Stop button on the toolbar.
How to Stop Screen Recording on Mac with QuickTime Player
You can stop the screen recording on QuickTime Player on your Mac in four ways. They are listed below.
- The direct way to stop screen recording on QuickTime
- You can use a keyboard shortcut to stop screen recording on QuickTime
- Force Quit to stop screen recording on QuickTime Player
- End Screen Recording in Activity Monitor
1. Stop Screen Recording on QuickTime Directly
#1. You can start to record your screen with QuickTime Player by simply tapping the record button on the top menu bar. Alternatively, you can select the Record button on the Recording bar.
#2. Similarly, tap the Stop button on top of the menu bar or the recording bar to stop screen recording with QuickTime Player on your Mac.
2. Using Keyboard Shortcut
[1]. Open the QuickTime Player on your Mac, tap File, and then select the New Screen Recording option from the list. Or you can press Ctrl + Command + N hotkeys simultaneously on your Mac keyboard.
[2]. Set up the screen recording settings, and then tap the red button to start recording your screen.
[3]. Click the Stop button on the recording bar to stop the screen recording.
- If you can’t find the recording bar, tap Esc on your Mac keyboard and click the Stop button. Instead, you can press Ctrl + Command + Esc hotkeys together to stop the screen recording.
[4]. Go to File >> Save option to save the recording.
3. Force Quit to Stop Screen Recording
1). Click on the Apple menu icon and select Force Quit QuickTime Player option from the list.
2). On the pop-up screen, select QuickTime Player.
3). Tap the Force Quit button at the bottom of the screen.
Note: If you Force Quit the QuickTime Player to stop the screen recording, it won’t save the recordings.
4). Alternatively, you can press Option + Command + Esc keys at the same time on your Mac keyboard to open the Force Quit Application window. Then select the QuickTime Player and hit the Force Quit button, and you can’t save your recordings.
4. End Screen Recording in Activity Monitor
#1. On your Mac computer, navigate to Finder >> Applications >> Utilities.
#2. Then select the Activity Monitor option.
- Or use Spotlight Search to find the Activity Monitor.
#3. Select the QuickTime Player on the Activity Monitor processes list.
#4. Tap the Quit button to stop the recording. In this process, you can not save your recordings.
These are the possible ways to stop the screen recording on your Mac. You can choose any one of the methods. The first two methods are straightforward ways to stop and save the screen recordings. However, in the last two methods, you can stop the screen recording, but you can’t save it.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can stop screen recording on your Mac by using the screenshot feature or with the QuickTime Player.
The shortcut key to stop screen recording on MacBook Air is by pressing the Command + Ctrl + Esc keys simultaneously. Or press the Stop button on the menu bar.
Yes, you can record the screen along with the audio on mac by choosing the microphone while recording.
To turn off screen recording on Mac, click on Apple Menu >> System Preferences >> Security & Privacy >> Privacy >> Screen Recording >> uncheck the box for the app.
In that case, force quit the screen recording by pressing the Option + Command + Esc key simultaneously. Now, select QuickTime Player and highlight it. Select Force Quit to stop recording.