To record just one area of your Mac screen through QuickTime Player, open File > New Screen Recording, choose Record Selected Portion when the Screenshot toolbar appears, position and resize the selection, then click Record. When you finish, use the Stop button in the menu bar. QuickTime’s menu opens macOS’s Screenshot controls on current systems, so the recording options may look like the Screenshot app rather than an older QuickTime window. Apple’s QuickTime guide

Start a selected-area recording from QuickTime

  1. Open QuickTime Player from the Applications folder.

  2. In the menu bar, choose File > New Screen Recording. You can also press Control-Command-N. This opens the screen-recording controls. Apple documents that current macOS versions use the Screenshot app for these controls. Apple: Record your screen in QuickTime Player on Mac

  3. In the toolbar, click Record Selected Portion. This is the video-recording control; nearby controls for taking still screenshots do not start a video.

  4. Drag the selection frame over the part of the display you want to include. Adjust its borders to frame the content. Leave room for menus, dialogs, or pointer movement that needs to appear in the recording.

  5. Click Record in the toolbar. Perform the onscreen actions you want to capture.

  6. To end the recording, click the Stop button in the menu bar. Depending on the selected save location and macOS version, the finished recording may open in QuickTime Player or appear as a saved screen recording. Apple’s Mac screen-recording instructions

Set audio, pointer, and save options before recording

Click Options in the Screenshot toolbar before you press Record. You can select a microphone if you want to record your voice or other microphone audio, choose where to save the file, and decide whether to show the pointer or mouse clicks. A timer is also available. The selected-area frame controls which screen area is recorded; Options controls these additional recording settings. Apple: How to record the screen on Mac

If you do not need narration, check the microphone option before starting so you know what audio is included. Apple’s current general instructions describe microphone input; available audio options can vary by macOS version. Do not assume that selecting a microphone records all sound produced by apps.

If QuickTime opens a different recording window

The appearance depends on macOS. On current versions, QuickTime’s New Screen Recording command opens Screenshot’s toolbar. Choose Record Selected Portion there. In the older QuickTime recording window, click Record, drag across the area to capture, then click Start Recording inside that selected area. Apple documents both interfaces and notes that screen recording on a Mac may be performed by Screenshot or by QuickTime Player. Apple’s instructions for both interfaces

If you see the toolbar but no selected-area control, confirm that you are looking at the recording icons, not the still-image capture icons. The toolbar has separate controls for screenshots and video recording. Apple says some apps, including Apple TV, may not allow their windows to be recorded, so a protected or unavailable app window may not appear as expected. Apple Support

Save and review the clip

After stopping, review the resulting movie and confirm that the intended region and audio were captured. In the Screenshot-based flow, recordings save to the location shown in Options; Apple says the default is the desktop. In the legacy QuickTime flow, the recording opens in QuickTime Player, where you can play, edit, or share it. Apple’s recording guide

For a still image instead of a video, use the screenshot controls: press Shift-Command-5 and choose the option to capture a selected portion. That saves an image rather than recording activity over time. Apple: Take a screenshot on your Mac

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