The recording is silent, or only one side is there
Recordstead records two separate tracks: what the other app plays, and what your microphone hears. Almost every silence complaint is one of the two, and which one it is decides what to check. Audio that was not captured cannot be recovered, so this page is about the next recording.
Which side is missing
Section titled “Which side is missing”Play the recording back and listen for your own voice.
You can hear yourself, not them
Section titled “You can hear yourself, not them”The app track is missing, which points at System Audio Recording.
- Open Settings… (⌘,) ▸ Advanced and read the Permissions section.
- If the System Audio Recording row does not read Granted, that is the answer. Follow You said no to a permission and need to undo it.
- If it reads Not working. Toggle it off and on in System Settings., do exactly that. macOS reports the permission as granted while it is not working, and only the toggle clears it.
You can hear them, not yourself
Section titled “You can hear them, not yourself”The microphone track is missing.
- Check the Microphone row in the same Permissions section.
- If it reads Granted, check which input device is selected in Settings › Audio, and whether the microphone has a hardware mute switch.
Both are silent
Section titled “Both are silent”Check the permission rows first. Two independent failures at once is far less likely than one permission that was never granted.
Recordstead usually tells you during the call
Section titled “Recordstead usually tells you during the call”If one track goes quiet while the other keeps producing sound, you get a Capture Channel Silent notification naming the side that stopped, and what to check:
Check the app's audio output and the System Audio Recording permission.
or
Check that the mic isn't muted or disconnected.
If nothing at all is arriving, the notification is Recording Appears Silent instead.
This watch is on by default and can be switched off in Settings › Audio, as Detect silent capture channel. It reacts to one side being quiet while the other is not, so a genuinely quiet meeting does not trigger it.
Confirm the fix
Section titled “Confirm the fix”Make a short recording of any app that is playing sound and play it back, rather than waiting for the next real meeting to find out.