How to Record Computer Audio with Audacity

The short answer

Audacity records from the recording device you select, not automatically from whatever you hear. Computer audio in this context means system playback: music, a browser tab, a meeting, or other sound already coming out of speakers or headphones. That source is separate from a microphone. To capture it, point Audacity at a loopback, stereo-mix, or virtual-audio input that mirrors output, then record while that sound is playing.

The phrase is easy to mix up with three different jobs. Recording a microphone plugged into the computer captures your voice and room sound. Recording system playback captures the computer’s own output. Recording both at once needs a mix of those inputs, which many built-in setups do not provide. If you leave the default microphone selected, Audacity will record the room, including speaker bleed, instead of a clean internal copy of playback.

What you need before you press Record

Install Audacity and confirm the operating system will let it use audio devices. On Windows, allow the app access to the microphone in privacy settings even when the goal is system sound, because the OS treats many recording endpoints as microphone-class devices. On macOS, grant Audacity microphone access in System Settings; without that permission the input list can appear while meters stay dead. On Linux, your user account needs access to the active sound server, typically PulseAudio, PipeWire, or JACK.

You also need a capture path that is actually a copy of output. Windows often exposes this as a WASAPI loopback device named after your speakers or headphones, or as Stereo Mix if that endpoint is enabled in the Sound Control Panel. macOS does not give Audacity a built-in system-audio input; you need a virtual audio device and you must route system output through it. Linux usually offers a monitor source for the current output device.

Play something identifiable before you troubleshoot silence: a music track or a video with steady sound. If nothing is playing, a correct loopback still looks like a failed test. Decide whether you need to keep hearing the sound while you record. Loopback can record output you are already hearing. A virtual device used as the system output can send sound into Audacity and leave your headphones quiet until you also monitor that device.

Windows: record system sound

WASAPI loopback is the usual Windows method in current Audacity. It records what is being sent to a specific playback device.

• Open Audacity and find the Device Toolbar. If it is hidden, show it from the View menu under Toolbars.
• Set Audio Host to Windows WASAPI.
• Set Recording Device to the playback device you actually use, with loopback in the name, for example your speakers or headphones loopback.
• Set Recording Channels to stereo when the source is stereo.
• Set Playback Device to those same speakers or headphones if you want to hear the program while it plays.
• Match the project sample rate at the bottom of the Audacity window to the rate the Windows sound device is using, commonly 44100 or 48000 Hz.
• Start the computer audio, then press Record. Watch the recording meters.
• Press Stop, then press Play in Audacity to hear the new track.

If WASAPI loopback is missing, enable Stereo Mix. Open Windows Sound settings, open the older Sound Control Panel, open the Recording tab, and show disabled and disconnected devices. Enable Stereo Mix if it appears, set it as the default recording device or select it in Audacity, and use MME or DirectSound as the host. Stereo Mix captures a mix of what the sound card is playing; it is absent on many machines, which is why loopback is the more reliable first try.

Turn off Software Playthrough in Audacity’s transport options if you hear a delayed echo of the same sound. Playthrough is for monitoring a microphone, and it fights loopback.

macOS: route playback into a virtual input

Audacity on macOS records from Core Audio inputs. System playback is not one of those inputs until you add a virtual device and send output through it.

• Install a virtual audio device that creates a loopback or multi-output path, then restart if the installer requires it.
• In macOS Sound settings, set Output to that virtual device, or to a multi-output device that includes both the virtual device and your headphones or speakers so you can still hear playback.
• Open Audacity, set Audio Host to Core Audio, and set Recording Device to the virtual device.
• Grant Audacity microphone access if macOS prompts, or enable it in System Settings under Privacy and Security.
• Start playback, press Record, and confirm the recording meters move with the sound.
• Stop and play the Audacity track through your real output device to confirm the capture.

If meters never move, the Mac is still sending sound to built-in speakers or to a headset that the virtual device is not included in. Both the system output and Audacity’s recording device have to be the same virtual path. After recording, switch macOS output back to your headphones or speakers so other apps behave as they did before.

Linux: record a monitor source

On PulseAudio or PipeWire, the capture you want is usually a monitor of the output device, not the built-in microphone.

• Start Audacity and begin recording, or enable monitoring, with a generic input selected.
• Open the system volume or PulseAudio volume control and find Audacity’s recording stream.
• Point that stream at Monitor of your current output device, such as monitor of speakers or headphones.
• Alternatively, choose that monitor device directly in Audacity’s Recording Device list if it is already listed.
• Play system audio and confirm Audacity’s meters follow it.
• Stop and play the recorded track.

JACK setups need a patch from the system output or from the playing application into Audacity’s inputs. If the monitor source is missing, the sound server is not exposing monitors, or Audacity is attached to a different sound server than the app that is playing.

How you know it worked

Treat three checks as separate. A device appearing in the recording list only means Audacity can see an endpoint. Meters that move in time with playback mean the chosen endpoint is carrying input activity. Playing the recorded track and hearing the same programme, at the right speed and without a room echo, means you captured intelligible system audio.

• Success: the recording meter rises and falls with the sound you started, the waveform is a visible shape rather than a flat line, and Audacity playback matches what the computer was playing.
• Too quiet: the waveform is a thin ribbon and playback is faint; raise the source volume, the Windows or macOS device level, or Audacity’s recording slider, then record again.
• Clipping: the meter hits the far right and stays red, or the waveform is squared off at the top and bottom; lower the source or recording level and record again.
• Wrong source: you hear yourself, keyboard noise, or speaker rumble from the room; that is the microphone, so change the recording device to loopback, stereo mix, or a monitor.
• Wrong rate or host: the recording is silent, truncated, or plays at the wrong speed; match host, device, and project sample rate to the device’s current format.

No verified numeric input-level target was supplied for this setup. Use the meters you have: keep peaks out of the clip region at the top of the scale, and keep the signal clearly above a flat line. Do not treat a moving meter as proof that a video-call app will use the same device, and do not treat a good Audacity recording as a camera test. This procedure does not check webcam access, video capture, or how a meeting app mixes your microphone with remote audio.

If it is silent, distorted, or the wrong mix

What you observe	What it usually means	What to change
Device list has no loopback, stereo mix, or monitor	The OS is offering only microphones	Switch host to WASAPI on Windows, enable Stereo Mix if present, add a virtual device on macOS, or select a monitor source on Linux
Meters move, recording is still empty after Stop	You were monitoring without recording, or the track was muted	Press the red Record button, then unmute the recorded track and play it
You hear the programme twice, with a delay	Software playthrough is combining live output with the recording path	Disable Software Playthrough
Call audio is missing other people or missing you	The call app is using a different input than Audacity	Record system playback for remote sound, or the microphone for your voice; capturing both needs a mix or a virtual device that combines them
Windows records some apps and skips others	Exclusive-mode or protected playback is bypassing the loopback device	Disable exclusive mode for the playback device in the Sound Control Panel, and know that some protected streams will not appear in loopback

Close extra copies of Audacity if the device is greyed out. Only one app can hold some hosts in exclusive mode. After a successful test, export from File with a format you can open later, such as WAV for an uncompressed archive or MP3 if that encoder is available in your Audacity install. Exporting is a separate step from hitting Stop; the project file is not a substitute for an exported audio file.

Limits and the next useful action

A clean Audacity capture of computer audio shows that this PC can tap playback through the path you selected. It does not configure Zoom, Teams, Meet, or a browser call, and those apps will keep using whichever microphone and speaker you chose inside them. If the real goal is a better call, open that app’s audio settings and pick the microphone and speakers there, then do a live check with the other participant. If the real goal is your voice, select the microphone in Audacity instead of loopback. If the real goal is a picture or virtual backdrop, that work happens in the camera app or photo editor; Audacity does not set physical, virtual, or edited backgrounds.

Recording other people’s voices from a call or from streaming audio can require consent and may be blocked by the player or the meeting app. If loopback captures everything except that programme, the limitation is in the playback path, and switching Audacity settings will not override it. Once the meters and the playback check pass, the immediate job is done: save the export, then restore your normal output device so the rest of the computer sounds the way it did before the test.