How to Burn DVD on Mac Free and Easily: 5 Ways with Detailed Guide

Burning a DVD on Mac might seem simple, but it often involves specific challenges. For example, you may need to preserve precious family memories, back up important files, or even create a slideshow of your travels. No matter the reason, the right tools and methods can make the process much easier and more efficient. As macOS evolves, finding a reliable way to burn DVDs on newer versions can become more complicated. In this guide, I'll walk you through the best options and software for burning DVDs on Mac, helping you complete your project smoothly.

Types of DVDs You Can Burn on Mac

To find the most suitable burning tools and methods, it is important to first clarify what type of DVD you want to burn. Based on the latest usage data from Mac users, DVD burning needs can generally be divided into the following five types:

Now that you know the different types of DVDs you can burn. Whatever type you're aiming for, the following tutorial will guide you through the process.

How to Burn a Playable DVD on Mac

Whenever I want to burn a family movie or an important event video to DVD, and I want it to look professional with custom menus, I turn to DVDFab DVD Creator. I like to use it to burn my iPhone videos to DVD, creating physical backups of those warm memories.

DVDFab DVD Creator

Allows you to burn DVDs on your Mac, offering professional DVD menu templates and extensive customization options.

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Step 1: Launch DVDFab and Load Video Source

After downloading and installing DVDFab DVD Creator on my Mac, I opened the program and switched to Creator Mode. Importing my video files was a breeze—I just dragged and dropped them into the workspace. The software recognized all my MP4 and MOV files with no issues, which was a relief since I've had compatibility problems with other tools in the past.

Step 2: Customize DVD Settings and Menu

I was impressed by how clear and well-organized the settings interface was. I selected DVD-5 for my blank discs, set the aspect ratio, and picked NTSC for compatibility with our player.

What stood out most for me was the menu customization: I could easily pick from professionally designed templates, upload a custom background image, and personalize the menu text and button style. Being able to add and sync external subtitles was a big bonus, especially for some travel videos we wanted to share with relatives.

Furthermore, DVDFab DVD Creator provides a full suite of video editing tools right within the program—allowing me to trim scenes, enhance visuals, insert watermarks, and tailor subtitles, all in one place without relying on third-party editors.

Step 3: Start Burning DVD on Mac

After double-checking the menu preview and making some last-minute tweaks, I inserted a blank DVD and hit "Start". The burning process was faster than I expected—thanks to the program's GPU acceleration—and DVDFab kept me updated with a clear progress bar along the way. I liked that I could also save the project as an ISO, making future copies even easier.

How to Burn Data DVD on Mac For Free

Sometimes, I just need to quickly back up photos, documents, or project videos onto a DVD for storage or to share files with colleagues. In these cases, using the free built-in Finder or Disk Utility on my Mac gets the job done fast, even though I know these discs won't play on a standard DVD player.

As we know, Finder is the default file manager on macOS designed to launch other apps and manages files, disks and network volumes. It also supports basic DVD burning. However, please note: DVDs burned via Finder or Disk Utility are data discs, suitable for storage or transfer, but not playable on standard DVD players.

Step 1: Insert a blank DVD and choose how to handle it

Insert the blank DVD into the optical drive.

On most systems, macOS will show an Untitled DVD icon on the desktop, and show the same disc in the Finder sidebar under Locations.

If a dialog pops up asking what to do with the blank disc, choose Open in Finder.

Step 2: Add data files to the disc 

Open a Finder window and locate the Untitled DVD in the sidebar.

In another Finder window or tab, browse to the files and folders that need to be backed up.

Drag the desired items into the Untitled DVD window.

Step 3: Burn the Data to DVD in Finder

Open the disc in Finder. In the upper right corner of the window, click the Burn button, or choose File > Burn "Untitled DVD" to Disc from the menu.

In the burn dialog, enter a disc name and set the burn speed.

Click Burn to start writing data to the DVD. Finder will show a progress bar while it writes the files to the disc.

How to Burn a DVD on Mac from a Disk Image

.dmg is a disk image format specific to macOS, commonly used for distributing Mac software installers or backing up the complete contents of a partition or disk. If I need to create a bootable system installation disc or a full software backup disc, I first create a .dmg image file and then burn it to a DVD. This can be done using macOS's built-in Disk Utility.

Stes to Burn a .dmg to DVD with Mac Disk Utility

Step 1: Open Disk Utility

Go to Applications > Utilities and find Disk Utility, or use Spotlight to search for "Disk Utility" and open it.

Step 2: Load the .dmg file in Disk Utility

From the menu bar, choose File > Open Disk Image…, locate the .dmg file you want to burn, and open it. After that, the DMG will appear in the left sidebar under Images.

Step 3: Insert a blank DVD

Insert a blank DVD into your external optical drive and wait for macOS to recognize it. It should then show up as a blank disc in the left-hand list in Disk Utility.

Step 4: Select the .dmg image to burn

In the left device list, click to select the .dmg image entry itself (the top-level image), not the mounted volume that appears underneath it.

Step 5: Start burning DVD on macOS

In the toolbar at the top of the Disk Utility window, click the Burn button. In the burn settings window that pops up, make sure the target device is the DVD burner you just inserted the disc into.

Click Burn, then wait for the progress bar to complete. When it's done, the drive will either eject the disc automatically or the newly burned disc will appear on your desktop.

Note: The burning process for .iso files is almost identical to .dmg images in Disk Utility. The main difference is that ISO is a more universal disc image format, often used for DVD-Video discs or system installation media that need to work across different platforms (Windows, Linux, etc.).

How to Burn Slideshow to DVD on Mac For Free 

If I have a set of music tracks or photos I want to compile quickly onto a DVD—or need a free, open-source burning tool for basic projects—I use SimplyBurns, even though it may be less reliable on the latest macOS.

SimplyBurns is an open-source and free DVD Maker for Mac that enables users to burn media files such as music, photos or data into a CD or DVD. Meanwhile, it can store data on a disk or rip disk on the hard disk of Mac store. Inside this tool, audio and data project, backup mode, burning image mode, disc ripping mode are available to burn slideshow to DVD on Mac or rip DVD disc to hard drive. 

💡SimplyBurns has not been updated in several years, which may result in compatibility issues with newer Mac operating systems and devices.

Steps to Burn an Album DVD on Mac with SimplyBurns

How to Burn Music to DVD on Mac (For Audio CDs)

When I want to burn a playlist for car rides or share my favorite mixes with friends in classic audio CD format, I find iTunes to be a fast and familiar way to create music discs directly from my library.

iTunes is one of the most widely used applications developed by Apple, which collects and catalogs thousands of songs, TV shows, podcasts, and movies. However, not all users are familiar with its free and quick CD/DVD burning features.

Steps to Burn Music to DVD on macOS via iTunes

Final Thought

By now, you should have a clear understanding of how to burn a DVD on a Mac, whether it's a playable DVD or a data DVD. When it comes to burning DVD on Mac with desirable results, DVDFab DVD Creator remains the top recommendation, offering a perfect balance of speed, quality, and customization.