To record your iPhone screen on a Mac, connect the iPhone with a USB cable, unlock it and tap Trust, then open TinyRecorder, click Mobile Device and click your iPhone’s name. The recording starts right away and is saved as a video file on your Mac. The same steps work for an iPad.

TinyRecorder is a free, open-source Mac app. It runs on the Mac only: there is no iPhone app, and nothing gets installed on your phone.

Your options

There are three common ways to record an iPhone or iPad screen. Each has its place.

The built-in iOS screen recorder. Add Screen Recording to Control Center on the iPhone, then tap it to record. The video is saved to the Photos app on the phone. It’s the simplest choice when you don’t need a Mac at all.

QuickTime Player. Connect the iPhone, open QuickTime Player on the Mac, choose File › New Movie Recording, click the arrow next to the record button, and choose the iPhone as the camera. To record the phone’s sound, choose the iPhone as the microphone too. Apple describes this in the QuickTime Player User Guide. It’s already on every Mac and works well.

TinyRecorder. Also records over USB to your Mac, with a few conveniences: the device list is one click away in the same toolbar you use for screen recordings, the phone’s sound is included by default, the file is saved straight to your output folder in MP4 or MOV, and you can stop with a menu bar click or a hotkey. For a broader comparison, see QuickTime vs TinyRecorder.

Recording on the Mac makes sense when the video belongs on the Mac anyway: for a tutorial you’ll edit there, an app demo, or a bug report.

What you need

  • A Mac running macOS 12.3 or later, with TinyRecorder installed.
  • An iPhone or iPad and a USB cable that carries data (some charging-only cables don’t).
  • Camera permission for TinyRecorder. macOS treats a connected iPhone or iPad as a camera-type device, so TinyRecorder uses the Camera permission here, not Screen Recording.

How to record iPhone screen on Mac, step by step

  1. Connect the iPhone or iPad to the Mac with the USB cable.
  2. Unlock the device. If it asks whether to trust this computer, tap Trust and enter your passcode.
  3. Open TinyRecorder. In the toolbar, click Mobile Device.

TinyRecorder recording toolbar with System Audio, Screen, Screen Area, Application, Window, Mobile Device and Preferences

  1. A small menu lists the connected devices by name. If you plug a device in while the menu is open, the list updates.
  2. Optional: turn on Mute to leave out the device’s sound, and choose a Preset (Low, Medium or High) for the video quality. High is the default.
  3. Click the device’s name. The first time, macOS asks for Camera access; click Allow. The recording starts, and a live preview of the device’s screen opens on your Mac.
  4. Use the iPhone or iPad as usual. Everything on its screen is recorded.
  5. To stop, click the TinyRecorder icon in the menu bar, or press your Stop Recording shortcut (set it in Settings › Hotkey). A notification shows where the file was saved.

The video uses the format and encoder from Settings › Output: MP4 or MOV, H.264 or H.265. If the Mac has no hardware H.265 encoder, TinyRecorder falls back to H.264 for device recordings.

When to use Mute

The menu itself says it: if you are on a call, enable Mute. Otherwise the call audio from the phone ends up in your recording. Mute is also useful when you plan to add a voice-over later and want a silent track to start from.

Record an iPad screen on Mac

An iPad works exactly the same way: connect it, unlock it, trust the Mac, click Mobile Device and click the iPad’s name. Newer iPads use USB-C, so a USB-C to USB-C cable is enough on most current Macs.

If something doesn’t work

The device is not listed

The menu shows “No Devices Found!” when TinyRecorder can’t see a device.

  • Unlock the iPhone or iPad before you open the menu.
  • If the device asks whether to trust this computer, tap Trust. If you tapped Don’t Trust earlier, unplug and reconnect to get the prompt again.
  • Try another cable or port. Avoid hubs if you can, and use a cable that supports data.
  • Unplug the device, wait a few seconds, and plug it back in.
  • Close other apps that might be using the device as a camera, such as QuickTime Player with a movie recording open.

The recording is black

  • Check that TinyRecorder has Camera access in System Settings › Privacy & Security › Camera. If it was denied, turn it on and try again.
  • Keep the device unlocked when you click its name.
  • Some apps block their video from being captured, for example apps that play protected video. Their content may appear black even when everything else records fine.

There is no sound

  • Make sure Mute is off before you click the device name. The setting applies when the recording starts.
  • Turn up the volume on the device and make sure the app you’re recording is actually playing sound.

TinyRecorder won’t open the first time

TinyRecorder isn’t notarized by Apple, so macOS blocks a downloaded DMG once. On macOS 15 and later, go to System Settings › Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway. On macOS 12 to 14, right-click the app and choose Open. The one-line Terminal install on the download page avoids this step.

More answers are in the FAQ.

Recording the Mac too

If your tutorial also shows something on the Mac, record that separately with Screen, Screen Area or Window. See how to record a window on Mac. To include the Mac’s own sound in those recordings, read how to screen record on Mac with internal audio.

Next steps

Download TinyRecorder, plug in your iPhone, and click Mobile Device. It’s free, with no account and no watermark, and the source code is on GitHub.