Spotcursor — Cursor Highlight and Click Effects for Mac

Spotcursor makes the Mac pointer easy to follow for anyone watching. A halo sits round it, every click sends out a ripple, a spotlight can dim everything else, and the shortcuts being pressed can appear on screen. It is made for presentations, live demos and screen recordings, and it lives in the menu bar.

A halo that follows

A soft circle stays with the pointer on every display and every Space, including full-screen apps. It is drawn on a click-through overlay, so nothing underneath changes. Control-Option-H hides it in an instant.

Every click, easy to follow

With Click ripples on, a left click sends out one quick solid ring and a right click a slower, dashed double ring, so the two are easy to tell apart on a recording.

One thing at a time

Control-Option-S dims the whole screen except for a soft circle round the pointer, and the circle moves with it. Radius sets the size of the bright circle and Dim sets how dark the rest goes. Spotlight always starts switched off, so a screen never stays dark by surprise.

Shortcuts, shown as pressed

Turn on keystrokes and each shortcut, such as ?C or ??4, appears in a dark pill near the bottom of the screen, then fades. Pressing the same one again counts up, as in ?V ×2. It is off by default, shows only shortcuts unless Every key is switched on, and nothing is ever saved or logged.

Ring, fill or both

Choose a ring, a fill or both, drag Size and Opacity until the halo is easy to see without hiding what is underneath, and pick black, white, grey or one highlight colour of your own.

All from the menu bar

One panel holds the halo, ripples, spotlight and keystrokes, with Open at Login at the bottom. Every setting is remembered between launches, apart from Spotlight.

How it works

• Open it and the halo is already there, a soft grey circle following the pointer on every display and every Space, full-screen apps included.
• Click the menu bar icon for every setting: halo style, size, opacity and colour, click ripples, spotlight and keystrokes. Right-click it for quick switches.
• Press Control-Option-H to hide or show the halo from any app, and Control-Option-S to turn the spotlight on and off.
• Set Show to While holding Fn, Option, Control or Command, and the halo appears only while that key is held.
• Click through it. The overlay never takes a click, so everything underneath works exactly as before.

Opening it the first time

Spotcursor is signed and notarized by Apple, so it opens with a normal double-click. The halo, click ripples and spotlight need no permissions at all. Only the optional keystroke pills need Input Monitoring, and the panel offers a Grant Access button when they are switched on.

Does it show up in screen recordings?

Most recorders capture it. If a recorder is set to leave out other apps' windows, allow Spotcursor in that recorder's settings.

Does it record what I type?

No. Keystroke pills are off by default and show only shortcuts unless Every key is switched on. Keys are drawn on screen for a moment and are never saved, logged or sent anywhere. The app has no account and never connects to the internet.

Will it slow the Mac down?

In testing it used about 1% of the processor with the halo on.

What if a shortcut does nothing?

Another app already owns Control-Option-H or Control-Option-S. Use the switches in the panel, or right-click the menu bar icon, instead.

Which Macs does it run on?

Any Mac with Apple silicon or Intel running macOS 13 Ventura or later.