How to record your screen with keystrokes showing on Mac

What macOS gives you (and doesn't)

The free route: KeyCastr plus any recorder

KeyCastr is a free, open-source keystroke visualizer for Mac (BSD 3-Clause license, actively maintained). It doesn't record anything itself; it just draws a bezel of the keys you press on screen, so a display or region recording can include it when the overlay is inside the captured area. Whatever it draws is recorded, so check what it will show before you type a password on camera.

• Download KeyCastr and move it to Applications.
• Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Input Monitoring and enable it for KeyCastr; on macOS 10.15 and later this is what lets it see key presses, and it's a one-time grant.
• Launch KeyCastr and pick a screen edge and bezel style, positioned clear of whatever you're demoing.
• Start recording in ⇧⌘5, QuickTime Player, or, if you want more control over sources and scenes, OBS (free and open source, and it runs natively on macOS as of August 2026; see obsproject.com). Record the display or a region that includes the overlay. An isolated window capture may exclude a separate overlay window. Make a short test recording before the full take.

Where the free route stops

It works, but it's two apps doing one job. You install and permission a separate visualizer, remember to launch it before every recording, and position it so it doesn't sit on top of the content you're showing. If you also want clicks marked, that's Show Mouse Clicks in the recorder's own options running alongside KeyCastr, two settings in two places to get right before you hit record. None of that is difficult once, but it adds up across a lot of tutorials, and it's easy to start a take and only notice the overlay was off after you stop.

Recorders with the overlay built in: CleanShot X and Screen Studio

The other way round the two-app problem is a recorder that draws the keys itself. Not every screenshot app qualifies: Shottr, a popular free one, doesn't record the screen at all.

CleanShot X

CleanShot X's recorder has both overlays as options. Capture Clicks marks each click in a color, size and style you choose; Capture Keystrokes shows the keys in a position, size and dark or light style you choose, either every key or only command-key shortcuts. Since version 5.0 (September 2026) its Studio Mode editor also lets you adjust the cursor size, the keystrokes and the camera after recording, so an overlay that came out too big or in the wrong corner can be fixed without a retake. That is something neither KeyCastr nor Snapline can do. It is paid: a one-time license for the core app, with cloud plans by subscription.

Screen Studio

Screen Studio is a subscription screen recorder built for polished product demos and tutorials. It can record the keyboard shortcuts you press and display them in the video, alongside its automatic zoom and cursor smoothing. It takes no screenshots, so it's the pick when the recording is a demo video you'll edit and export rather than a quick take.

Which one to use

• Any recorder, free: KeyCastr, above.
• You want to fix the overlay after the take: CleanShot X 5.0 or later.
• A polished demo video with zooms: Screen Studio.
• Keys and clicks drawn straight into a recording you send as it is, with no editing pass: Snapline, below.

Built-in overlays: Snapline

Snapline draws both overlays into its own screen recording, so there's nothing extra to install or position.

Before you switch it on: the capsule shows every key you press except Snapline's own shortcuts, including what you type into a password field, and once it is drawn into the frames it cannot be taken out. Pause the recording, or switch Show Keystrokes off, before typing anything sensitive. Then:

• Press ⌥⌘R (rebindable) to start recording a region, window, or display.
• On the Record Screen bar, switch on Show Keystrokes to draw a capsule of the keys pressed at the bottom of the movie, rendered in the same ⌃⌥⇧⌘ symbols as the app's Shortcuts pane. Switch on Highlight Clicks alongside it for a ring at every click, on display and region recordings. A window recording still gets the keystroke capsule, but not the rings.
• The first time you enable Show Keystrokes, macOS asks for Input Monitoring, once. If it's refused, the recording proceeds without the capsule and says so; keystrokes are drawn into the movie and never stored or transmitted separately.
• Because the overlays are drawn into the frames themselves, trims, GIF conversion, and shares all keep them.

If the field you are typing into is small on screen, zoom in while you type: put the pointer on it and press ⌥⌘Z mid-take, and the recording pushes in to 2× on whatever the pointer is over; a second press eases it back out. The zoom is composited into the frames like the overlays, so trims and GIFs keep it and it can't be removed afterwards. How to zoom in during a screen recording on Mac sets it beside the free iMovie route and the recorders that add zooms after the take.

Snapline is free to try in full for 14 days (after the trial, capture unlocks with a one-time license: no subscription, no account) and requires macOS 14 or later. Screen Recording is the only permission recording itself needs; Input Monitoring is asked for only if Show Keystrokes is switched on.

Questions

Does the built-in Mac screen recorder show keystrokes?

No. ⇧⌘5 and QuickTime Player can show mouse clicks as a circle, but neither has ever had a way to display which keys are being pressed.

What's a good KeyCastr alternative for Mac?

KeyCastr itself is free, open source, and actively maintained, and is the standard choice if you want an overlay that works with any recorder. If you'd rather not run and permission a second app, use a recorder with the overlay built in: CleanShot X (keys and clicks, adjustable after recording since version 5.0), Screen Studio (keyboard shortcuts in polished demo videos), or Snapline (a keystroke capsule and a click-highlight ring drawn into its own recording).

Can I show mouse clicks in a screen recording on Mac?

Yes, and unlike keystrokes this one is built in: Show Mouse Clicks in the Screenshot app's or QuickTime's recording options. Snapline's equivalent is Highlight Clicks, alongside its keystroke overlay, on display and region recordings.

Can I change or remove the keystroke overlay after recording?

In CleanShot X 5.0 or later, yes: its Studio Mode editor adjusts the keystrokes, cursor size, and camera after the take. KeyCastr's overlay is captured as part of the screen, and Snapline draws its overlays into the frames, so with either one a change means recording again. Decide before you press record.

Does a keystroke overlay show passwords typed on screen?

It shows whatever keys you press, including into a password field, since it has no way to know what a keystroke was for. Pause the recording, or switch the overlay off, before typing anything sensitive.