Recording Your Screen in Zella

Animated illustration of starting a Zella recording with the menu-bar panel, REC indicator and 3-2-1 countdown

Quick answer: Click the Zella icon in your menu bar to open the Setup panel. Toggle your sources (Screen · Camera · Mic), pick Full or Region with an aspect preset (16:9, 9:16, 1:1…), choose a quality (720p / 1080p / 4K), then press ⌘ ⇧ R to start. Click the red square in the floating toolbar to stop — the editor opens automatically with your clip.

On this page: open the panel · choose sources · full vs region · quality · start · stop · what good looks like · FAQ

How to open the recording Setup panel

Click the Zella icon in your menu bar (top-right of the screen). The “Ready to record” Setup panel appears — everything you need to start is here.

Annotated diagram of Zella's Setup panel showing source toggles, Full/Region switch, aspect presets, quality tiers, and the Start Recording button with numbered callouts

Figure: ① choose sources, ② Full or Region, ③ aspect preset, ④ quality tier, ⑤ Start (⌘⇧R).

How to choose what to record

Toggle the sources you want at the icon row:

🖵 Screen — capture your display.
📷 Camera — include your webcam (a bubble over the screen, or camera-only with Screen off).
🎙 Mic — record your microphone and system audio.

Common combos: tutorial with voice = Screen + Mic · creator shot = Screen + Camera + Mic · talking head = Camera + Mic · silent UI GIF = Screen only.

How to record full screen or a region

Use the Full / Region switch:

Full — your entire display.
Region — a rectangle you draw. Pick an aspect preset (16:9 YouTube, 9:16 TikTok, 4:5 Instagram, 1:1 Square) or Free to drag a custom size. Drag the dashed overlay to position it; the label shows the live size, e.g. 1280×720 [720p].

Choosing a preset also pre-selects the matching export platform later — a 9:16 capture is already pointed at TikTok/Reels.

How to set recording quality

Pick 720p, 1080p, or 4K. Use 1080p for most social and tutorial content, 4K for high-detail UI, 720p for tiny GIFs and quick async clips. (Zella records a region at its native pixels for smooth video; the quality tier applies at export.)

How to start recording

Two ways:

Press ⌘ ⇧ R (the reliable way), or
Click the Start Recording button.

Zella calibrates A/V timing, then begins. The Setup panel hides and a floating toolbar with a live timer appears.

How to stop recording

Click the red square (■ Stop) in the floating toolbar. Zella finalizes the file and opens the Studio editor with your recording loaded. See pause, resume & stop for the toolbar in detail.

What does a good recording look like?

~15 fps adaptive — Zella drops unchanged frames to keep files small, so a static screen legitimately shows fewer frames and still plays smoothly.
In sync — audio lines up with on-screen action and (for camera bubbles) with your lips.
Complete — opens and plays start to finish.

Why record locally with Zella (the benefit)

For content creators and video editors, recording in Zella means: no cloud upload (your footage stays on your Mac and stays private), no subscription, the recording opens straight into a full editor (no export-import dance), and the file is already platform-aware from the aspect you chose. You go from idea to a finished, captioned, platform-sized video without leaving one app.

Screen recording FAQ

How do I record my screen on a Mac with audio? Turn on Screen and Mic in the Setup panel; system audio is mixed automatically.

How do I record a vertical (9:16) video for TikTok? Set Region, choose the 9:16 preset, position the overlay, and record — or record 16:9 and reframe to TikTok later.

Where is my recording saved? In your output folder (default ~/Desktop/Zella). Change it with the Change link in the panel.

The Start Recording button doesn’t respond — what do I do? Use the keyboard shortcut ⌘⇧R; the panel is a non-activating window.

Do I need to grant permissions? Yes, once — Screen Recording, Camera, Mic, and Speech (for captions). See Installation & Permissions.

Pro tips & gotchas

Pick the aspect preset that matches your platform before recording — it sets the default reframe/platform used at export.
Use Region for a tight crop: a smaller capture area is smoother on older GPUs than full-screen.
Stop with the red square in the floating toolbar (or the menu-bar icon) — the editor opens automatically with your clip.
⌘⇧R starts/stops without opening the panel — handy once your settings are dialed in.