How to record a demo video on a Mac
From a blank desktop to a finished product video in seven steps, with the editing done for you.
A demo video is the fastest way to explain software, and the slowest thing to produce by hand: record, scrub, cut the pauses, add zooms so viewers can see what you clicked, add music, export, and do it all again when the UI changes. This guide uses Capta, a free macOS screen recorder that makes the edit from what you did while recording, so the manual part is about ten minutes.
What you need
- A Mac with macOS 14 or later and Apple silicon (M1 or newer). Capta does not run on Intel Macs.
- The Capta download, 2.5 MB, free, no account.
- The app you want to show, with data that looks real.
- A microphone if you want narration. The Mac's built-in mic is fine.
Install Capta and grant three permissions
Download the 2.5 MB DMG from capta.cam, drag Capta to Applications and open it. It is signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple, so Gatekeeper opens it without a warning. On first launch Capta asks for three permissions and explains each: Screen Recording for the footage, Input Monitoring so your clicks and typing can drive the edit, and Accessibility so each zoom frames the actual button you pressed. Grant them in System Settings → Privacy & Security.
macOS applies a fresh Screen Recording grant only to newly launched apps. If Capta still will not record, quit and reopen it once; the permission screen has a Relaunch button for exactly this.
Stage what you want to show
Open your app with realistic data, close unrelated windows and put the window where you want it. Decide on one flow: sign-up to first result, or the one feature the release is about. Two minutes of a single flow makes a better demo than ten minutes of everything. You do not need to rehearse pauses out; Capta removes them.
Open the capture panel with ⌥⌘5
Press ⌥⌘5. The capture panel appears at the bottom of the screen. Under Record pick Screen, Window or Area. Under With, switch on Mic if you will narrate, Camera if you want to appear in a corner bubble, and Audio if the app's own sounds matter. A window you record stays framed even if you drag it mid-take.
Record with ⌥⌘R
Press ⌥⌘R or the Record button in the panel. A three-second countdown gives you time to get your hands in place, and notifications are muted while you record. Then show the product the way you would show a friend, and talk if the mic is on. Mistyped a word? Keep going: typing is sped up in the edit and pauses are cut. Press ⌥⌘R again, or the floating Stop pill, to finish.
Check the automatic edit
The recording opens in the editor with the edit already made. Each click you made is a zoom bar on the timeline, sized to the button or field you pressed. Dead air is gone, typing and loading run at double speed with eased ramps, and if you narrated, your words sit on the captions lane. Play it once. If a zoom lands somewhere you do not want, drag it, stretch its edge, right-click to change its level, or switch it off. The Camera control (Subtle, Balanced, Dramatic) sets how far every zoom pushes in.
Add music, a background and a title card
In Sound, pick one of the three built-in tracks, search Creative Commons music with preview, or drop in your own file. Capta reads its tempo on your Mac and nudges each cut onto the beat; if you narrated, the music ducks under your voice. In Style, choose a gradient, mesh, pattern, your desktop picture or one of the Mac wallpapers, with padding, corners and shadow to taste. In Cards, pick one of six title and end card designs; with Apple Intelligence on, one click writes the title from what happened on screen.
Export in 4K, or share a link
Press Export and choose MP4 or GIF, 16:9 for a landing page, vertical or square for social, up to 4K at 60 fps. Export is the only render; everything before it was a live preview. If you would rather send a link, press Share: Capta copies the export into your own iCloud Drive and Apple's sharing sheet hands you a view-only URL. Nothing goes to any server of Capta's.
An orange dot on the Export button means the file on disk is older than your latest settings. Export again to refresh it.
If you only need raw footage
macOS can record the screen on its own: press ⇧⌘5 for the built-in screenshot toolbar and choose Record Entire Screen or Record Selected Portion. You get an unedited .mov in QuickTime, which is fine for a bug report. Capta is for when the recording has to become a video someone else will watch: the zooms, cuts, captions and music are the point.
Common questions
How long should a product demo be?
Thirty to ninety seconds for a landing page, up to three minutes for a feature walkthrough. Because Capta cuts pauses and speeds up typing, a three-minute take often comes back as ninety seconds.
Can I fix the recording afterwards?
Yes. Every zoom is editable, the filmstrip has trim handles, captions can be retyped line by line, and every change is undoable. Export bakes the result whenever you are happy.
Does anything get uploaded?
No. Recording, analysis, transcription and rendering run on your Mac. Share copies the finished file into your own iCloud Drive, and only when you press it. The privacy page lists every network call the app can make.
One shortcut to record, one click to export.