How to Record a Webinar or Live Class on Mac

To record a webinar on a Mac, open Rebrief for Mac, start a recording from the menu bar when the session begins, and stop it at the end. Rebrief records the audio your Mac plays and your microphone, then makes a transcript and notes on your Mac. It records audio only, not the video or slides. If you are only watching, start the recording by hand. Check the host's terms before you record.

This works with any webinar or class platform, including ones that run in a browser tab, because Rebrief records what the Mac plays rather than joining the session.

Check the host's terms first

Many providers offer a replay, a transcript or handouts. If an official copy covers what you need and you're allowed to keep it, use that. When you need your own recording, check that the host allows recording and keeping it after the course ends, including what classmates say. Paying for access does not by itself give you permission to copy the session.

How to record a webinar on Mac, step by step

1. Set up before the session. Rebrief needs an Apple Silicon Mac with macOS 15 or later. Allow the microphone and Screen and System Audio Recording, and let the models finish downloading. The support page covers setup.
2. Do a short test with the webinar app or browser you'll use, and listen back to check the presenter is audible.
3. Silence notifications and other audio. Rebrief records everything the Mac plays.
4. Start the recording from the menu bar before the session begins. Automatic recording only starts when an app uses your microphone and speakers at the same time, so a webinar you only watch won't trigger it.
5. Keep the Mac awake. A recording stops before the Mac sleeps and has a hard limit of eight hours.
6. Stop the recording at the end. Rebrief writes the transcript, then the notes.

Free recordings stop at 15 minutes and are still transcribed in full. Buy the one-time unlock before a longer webinar.

Saving a webinar before the replay expires

If a replay is about to expire and you're allowed to keep a copy, play it on your Mac while Rebrief records, with a manual start. Rebrief can't download a session from a link or recover a replay you no longer have access to, so leave enough time to play the part you need before the deadline. Save any permitted slides or worksheets separately, since the recording holds only audio.

Keeping the instructor's answer to your question

Live Q&A is often the part worth keeping, because the answer to your question isn't in the prepared lessons. Start recording before the questions begin, and keep going until the instructor finishes the last relevant reply. The first answer may rest on an assumption your follow-up changes. Rebrief records your microphone and the session audio as separate tracks, so both your question and the answer are there. A question typed only in the chat is not, unless someone reads it aloud.

Here is an example, written for this post. The instructor first says to remove repeated email addresses from an exercise's customer list. You explain that your file holds orders, and the instructor corrects the advice: keep those rows, because one customer can place several orders. A useful note reads: "Keep the order rows in my export. The first advice to remove repeated emails assumed a customer list."

That correction is the part to save. Write down what you asked, what the instructor finally advised, and any condition that limits it. Check the note against the transcript, and listen again where a word like "only" or "unless" changes what you should do. Keep your own next steps apart from what the instructor said. If the answer depends on a slide, keep a permitted copy beside the note.

Finding the answer later

Open the notes once processing finishes, then check the exact passage where your question was answered before relying on the summary. To find it across many sessions, use Ask with a specific question, such as "What did the instructor say about repeated entries in the course export?" Ask shows the transcript lines its answer came from, and selecting one opens the recording at that moment. If it finds the prepared lesson instead of the Q&A, add the session name. Our guide to searching past transcripts by asking questions goes into more detail.

Name each recording after the course and session. Everything stays on your Mac, and you can export the transcript as Markdown, plain text, SRT or WebVTT, save both audio tracks, and copy the notes as Markdown into your course materials. Before access ends, close the course page and check that you can still find the question, the correction and the final answer.

Common questions

Does Rebrief record the webinar video or slides?

No. It records audio only: your microphone and what your Mac plays. Save permitted slides or handouts separately.

Can I record a webinar that plays in a browser?

Yes. Rebrief records the audio your Mac plays, so a browser tab works the same way as a desktop app. Start the recording by hand if you are only listening.

Why didn't the recording start automatically?

Automatic recording needs an app to use your microphone and speakers at the same time, and it has to be switched on during setup. Watching a webinar only uses the speakers, so start it from the menu bar.

Is the transcript live?

No. Rebrief transcribes after you stop recording, on your Mac. It doesn't show captions during the session.

Ask before you record

Rebrief doesn't appear in the session or announce itself, so tell the host and follow their rules on recording and keeping sessions. Recording laws differ by place, and classmates' voices may be on the recording.

Next step

Record a permitted session under 15 minutes, find one answer in the transcript, and check it against the audio. For recorded lectures you want to study offline, see how to record and transcribe lectures on Mac.