Here’s a problem which you might be able to relate to, if you found this article through a search engine:
You want to screen-record a FaceTime call on your Mac, but then the recorded audio track would only have your voice, with the other person’s part of the conversation being recorded as completely silent.
The reason the other side of the FaceTime conversation was silent on your finished recording was because macOS does not record its own internal audio by default.
This guide fixes that with a free driver called BlackHole (officially spelled as one word). After installing and configuring Black Hole, you’ll end up with one screen recording that contains both sides of your FaceTime-call video recording.
BE AWARE: these steps match my configuration which is a MacBook Pro on macOS 26, AirPods Pro for listening, the built-in MacBook mic for my voice. Your OWN device names will differ, so please adapt as needed.
Quick Guide to BlackHole Setup
1. Install BlackHole 2ch (free). Restart your Mac.
2. In Audio MIDI Setup, create a Multi-Output Device — your headphones + BlackHole 2ch — and rename it Facetime Rec – Output.
3. Create an Aggregate Device — your real microphone + BlackHole 2ch — and rename it Facetime Rec – Input.
4. In FaceTime’s Video menu: Output → Facetime Rec – Output, Microphone → your real mic. Turn on Do Not Disturb.
5. Press Cmd+Shift+5 → Options → pick Facetime Rec – Input as the microphone.
6. Record. Both voices land in one file.
Getting BlackHole: Be Prepared For Some Hoops
The driver for BlackHole is free, but the download is a little cumbersome.
The official installer is distributed through the developer’s Discord server (a donation gets you a direct link instead). If you use Homebrew, `brew install blackhole-2ch` skips all of that. AVOID the zip file from GitHub, because that’s source code, and not an installer. I learned that one the hard way.
Whichever route you take: install the 2ch version, then restart.
BlackHole Step-By-Step: The Two Virtual Devices
Everything happens in Audio MIDI Setup (Applications → Utilities). The + button hides at the window’s very bottom-left corner — tiny, and easy to miss in dark mode.
1. Click + → Create Multi-Output Device. Tick your headphones and BlackHole 2ch, then tick Drift Correction next to BlackHole. Double-click the device’s name and rename it: ‘Facetime Rec – Output’. This lets you hear the caller while BlackHole gets a copy of their voice track.
2. Click + → Create Aggregate Device. Tick your real microphone and BlackHole 2ch. Drag the microphone to the left of BlackHole — this prevents a known mono bug.
Set ‘Clock Source’ to BlackHole 2ch and tick ‘Drift Correction’ on the mic. Rename this one: ‘Facetime Rec – Input’. Do NOT use a Bluetooth mic here: AirPods mics capture at roughly 16–24kHz, while the MacBook Pro mic records at a full 48kHz, and more kHz is better , so choose MacBook Pro’s built-in mic, instead of Airpods’.
3. Before the call: in FaceTime’s menu bar, set Video → Output to ‘Facetime Rec – Output’. This routes only FaceTime’s audio into BlackHole, so notification dings and other apps’ sounds stay out of your recording.
Want ALL system audio in the recording instead (music, dings, everything)? Switch the whole Mac’s output to ‘Facetime Rec – Output’ in Control Center. That’s also the fallback for older macOS versions where FaceTime has no Output menu.
Turn on ‘Do Not Disturb’ either way and then double check the Output setting right before you hit Record.
4. In the same Video menu, set Microphone to your real microphone — NOT Facetime Rec – Input. (Picking the Input device as FaceTime’s mic would feed the caller’s own voice back to them as echo.)
5. Press Cmd+Shift+5 → Options → Microphone → Facetime Rec – Input. Hit Record for your Screen Recording.
6. Stop the Screen Recording from the menu bar. If you used the Control Center method, switch your sound output back to whatever it normally was.
Things To Be Aware Of, Using BlackHole
Audio routed through ‘Facetime Rec – Output’ ignores your volume keys, so set a comfortable listening level before the call starts.
Both voices get mixed into one stereo track — if you need isolated tracks for editing, use something like OBS instead, which would be more granular.
Your two voices may land on opposite sides of that stereo track — one of you hard-left, the other hard-right.
Fix this stereo-separation issue in your video-editor by switching the clip’s audio from ‘Stereo’ to ‘Dual Mono’ in your video editor (in Final Cut Pro: select the clip, then change Audio Configuration from Stereo to Dual Mono).
Also: recording laws vary by location and California, for example, requires consent from everyone on the call, so if you’re video-recording a FaceTime call within that state, first ask the person if they consent to being on the video-recording call, and then you’re assured to have their permission documented on camera.
Need more help? Ask an AI you trust, or join the BlackHole Discord — the invite is on their official site.
This article is a collaboration: Claude (Anthropic’s Fable 5 model) wrote it with me (Carleton) and it ran the web research to double-check each step. Hopefully it saves you some time.
References
* [BlackHole official download page (Existential Audio)](https://existential.audio/blackhole/)
* [BlackHole on GitHub (wiki + troubleshooting)](https://github.com/ExistentialAudio/BlackHole)
* [Homebrew package manager](https://brew.sh/)
* [Apple: create a Multi-Output Device](https://support.apple.com/guide/audio-midi-setup/play-audio-through-multiple-devices-at-once-ams7c093f372/mac)
* [Apple: combine devices into an Aggregate Device](https://support.apple.com/guide/audio-midi-setup/combine-audio-devices-a-single-aggregate-ams6e21c3f61/mac)
* [Apple: how to record the screen on your Mac](https://support.apple.com/102618)