MacPipAnswer
Why does Clacky ask for Screen Recording permission?
Clacky asks for Screen Recording because its screen recorder and its screenshots need to see your screen to capture it, and it asks only the first time you use one of them.
Click and keyboard sounds and the click ripple don’t need it. Recordings are saved in Movies › Clacky and screenshots in Pictures › Clacky Screenshots, on your Mac, and are never uploaded.
What needs it and what doesn’t
Only the two tools that capture your screen use this permission.
| Feature | Needs Screen Recording? | Needs macOS |
|---|---|---|
| Click, keyboard and scroll sounds | No (Input Monitoring) | 13 Ventura or later |
| Click ripple | No | 13 Ventura or later |
| Screenshots, Grab Text, Scrolling Capture | Yes | 14 Sonoma or later |
| Screen recorder | Yes, plus the microphone only if you pick one | 15 Sequoia or later |
| Clackyland | No | 13 Ventura or later |
How to allow it
You can say yes the first time you record or take a screenshot. It takes a few seconds.
- Choose Record Screen… in Clacky’s menu-bar menu, or take a screenshot with Clacky.
- macOS shows its own prompt. Choose Open System Settings.
- Switch Clacky on in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen & System Audio Recording (called Screen Recording on macOS 14 and earlier).
- macOS quits and reopens Clacky to apply it. That’s normal, and the recorder or Screenshots comes back by itself.
When Clacky looks at your screen
Clacky looks at your screen while you record or take a screenshot. While it records, its menu-bar icon turns into a red dot with the time, and a small pill shows the time with Stop. Its own bar, countdown and pill are left out of the video.
Everything it captures is saved as a file in your folders. Nothing is uploaded, and sharing is always your move: Share… opens the macOS share sheet and the app you pick takes it from there. The privacy page lists every case.
If you said no, or it stopped working
After the first ask, Clacky doesn’t pester macOS again. It shows a short note that points to the right place in System Settings instead.
If a recording shows only your wallpaper and no windows, the permission has gone stale, which can happen after an update. In System Settings, switch Clacky off and on again, or remove it with the minus button and allow it again. More in why can’t my Mac record the screen?
Questions
Does Clacky upload my recordings or screenshots?
Can I use Clacky without Screen Recording?
Why does the macOS setting say System Audio?
Does the click ripple show up in other recorders?
Facts checked on 5 November 2026.
Related
- Why does Clacky need Input Monitoring?Clacky needs Input Monitoring to notice clicks, scrolls and key presses in other apps and play a sound for each. It never records which keys you type.
- Mac can’t record the screenThe app needs Screen Recording access in System Settings → Privacy & Security. Turn it on, quit and reopen the app. If you only see wallpaper, that’s why.
- Where does Clacky save my screen recordings and screenshots?Recordings go to Movies › Clacky (~/Movies/Clacky) and screenshots to Pictures › Clacky Screenshots. You can change both folders. Nothing is uploaded.
- Does Clacky listen to my microphone?No. Clacky opens the microphone only when you pick one for a screen recording. Quiet during calls only checks whether another app is using the mic.
- Screen RecorderRecord the full screen, one window or an area, with your clicks heard and their ripples seen. Saved to Movies › Clacky.
- How to record your Mac screen with internal audioWhy Mac screen recordings come out silent, and four ways to record the Mac’s own sound with the picture: the Screenshot toolbar, OBS, BlackHole and Clacky.
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