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Keynote Narration recording problems

If I pause when narrating a presentation by clicking on the red record button, and then rewind on the timeline and start re-recording, the recording is no longer saved - the recording is only saved up to the point when the narration was originally paused.


This is the same bug reported in this conversation 15 months ago, which is now locked:

Keynote Narration recording problems. - Apple Community


The workaround suggested by the author works: i.e. to restart a recording after the pause, hit record then the pause button twice (once to pause and once to unpause). But this seems to be a bug that has gone unfixed for over a year. When will the bug be fixed?

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 12.6

Posted on Jan 1, 2023 12:19 AM

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Posted on Jan 28, 2023 5:59 AM

I'v just replied to a similar post with this way of recording a voiceover:


An alternative way of doing this is to record the narration direct on to each separate slide:

We always use this method as it is more acute and flexible and the sound can be replaced very easily and quickly.



  • first create the slide auto advance by using Record Slideshow, but do not record sound. Turn the sound down to zero the external mic being used in Apple menu > System Settings > Sound > Input




  • second, create the sound recordings direct on to each slide using: Insert > Record Audio

Remember to set the external mic back to the correct recording level again in System Settings



6 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Jan 28, 2023 5:59 AM in response to charlescor

I'v just replied to a similar post with this way of recording a voiceover:


An alternative way of doing this is to record the narration direct on to each separate slide:

We always use this method as it is more acute and flexible and the sound can be replaced very easily and quickly.



  • first create the slide auto advance by using Record Slideshow, but do not record sound. Turn the sound down to zero the external mic being used in Apple menu > System Settings > Sound > Input




  • second, create the sound recordings direct on to each slide using: Insert > Record Audio

Remember to set the external mic back to the correct recording level again in System Settings



Jan 1, 2023 3:28 PM in response to charlescor

No such problems on any of our systems here, using 5 different Mac OS and numerous Keynote versions.


Some things to try:

  • do not use any antivirus, cleaning or optimising software
  • do not use Chrome browser
  • reset Keynote as follows:

complete all of the following steps in the order listed:


  1. close all applications
  2. uninstall Keynote; for this procedure to work, an application removal tool must be used, App Delete has a free trial and works for this procedure. It can be downloaded from the developer’s website here:  App Delete
  3. empty the Trash (Finder > Empty Trash)
  4. restart the Mac (Apple Menu > Restart);  Immediately after the Apple startup sound, press the shift key on the keyboard, release shift when the Apple icon appears. Start up will take longer than usual as the Mac is performing a software repair of the start up drive
  5. After the Mac is fully powered up, restart the Mac normally:   Apple Menu > Restart
  6. reinstall Keynote from the Mac App Store Application
  7. Restart the Mac again









Jan 27, 2023 6:37 AM in response to charlescor

You can easily mimic it.

  • Open "record slideshow" from the play menu.
  • Start recording your voice, move to next slide
  • Then stop the recording (Imagine you did a mistake or spelled incorrectly a word)
  • You need to go back slightly, just before you made a mistake to start the recording again
  • Then you start recording (keynote ask you if you are sure because you will erase the part after that point)
  • You answer Yes/OK

At that moment, you will notice that the mic level indicator at the bottom left is not moving anymore.

You can continue, but nothing is happening.

After you finish, if you want to listen to recording, it will stop at the point that you rewinded before.


Note : I have a recording showing that, but I am not able to share it in this post

Jan 27, 2023 12:43 AM in response to rachik

Were you only getting the problem with slideshows longer than around 5 minutes? I'm finding the problem incredibly difficult to replicate consistently, but it seems that the problem mostly occurs when I have a video of over 5 minutes which I rewind and start re-recording from a point after 4 minutes 30 seconds. Short videos seem to be ok...most of the time.


(In fairness to them, the iWork team have got back to me and asked me to help them debug.... but I haven't had time yet!)

Keynote Narration recording problems

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