Skip to main content

Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.openrecorder.xyz/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

Open Recorder is a native macOS app built with Swift and Rust that lets you record your display, a window, or a hand-drawn area; capture screenshots; and export the result as a polished MOV file. Everything stays on your Mac — no account, no cloud upload, no subscription. Project metadata, recording registration, screenshot indexing, and export bookkeeping are handled by a lightweight background service, while the main app focuses on the capture UI, recording controls, playback, and Finder integrations.

Installation

Download and install Open Recorder on your Mac.

Permissions

Grant Screen Recording and Accessibility access.

Record your screen

Capture a display, window, or region.

Export video

Export a polished MOV at the resolution you need.

​
What Open Recorder can do

  • Record a display, window, or area — choose a full display, a specific application window, or draw a custom region on screen before you start recording.
  • Capture screenshots — take a screenshot of a full display, a window, or a hand-selected area, saved automatically to ~/Pictures/Open Recorder.
  • Project library — browse all your recordings and screenshots in a native project library. Each capture gets a .openrecorder metadata file managed by the Rust service.
  • Timeline editor — trim clips, add zoom regions with smooth ramp-in and ramp-out animations, place text annotations, and adjust clip speed — all on a visual timeline.
  • Background styling — wrap your recording in a gradient, solid color, wallpaper image, or transparent background, with controls for padding, border radius, shadow, and inset.
  • Cursor overlay — record cursor telemetry during capture and render a styled cursor overlay on top of your export, with position synchronized frame-by-frame.
  • Export at multiple resolutions and frame rates — export as a MOV file at 480p, 720p, 1080p, or 4K, at 15, 24, 30, or 60 FPS (default: 1080p at 30 FPS).

​
Local-first storage

Open Recorder stores everything on your Mac. No data leaves your machine.
ContentLocation
Recordings~/Movies/Open Recorder
Screenshots~/Pictures/Open Recorder
Project metadata~/Library/Application Support/Open Recorder
You can open any of these folders directly from Settings → Folders inside the app. Nothing is uploaded to any external service.