# Open Recorder changelog: releases, features, and fixes
Source: https://docs.openrecorder.xyz/changelog
Release notes for Open Recorder on macOS. Track new screen recording features, capture improvements, and bug fixes in each version update.
## Bug fixes
### First click starts area selection
Dragging an area now works on the first click, even when Open Recorder is not the active app or the overlay is on a secondary display. Previously, the first mouse-down could only focus the selection overlay, so you had to click again before the drag registered. See [Capture sources](/recording/capture-sources#area-capture) for how area selection works.
## Improvements
### Quiet launch
Opening Open Recorder no longer shows the recording HUD. The HUD stays hidden until you choose **Show Recorder** from the menu bar dropdown, start a new capture with **New Recording** or **New Screenshot**, or press a global capture shortcut. Open Recorder still restores your last capture source in the background, so the HUD opens with your previous setup. Onboarding still appears on first run. See [Screen recording](/recording/screen-recording#the-recording-hud) for the full list of HUD behaviors.
## New features
### Signed nightly builds
You can now try upcoming changes early with nightly builds. Each nightly is a signed and notarized app named **OpenRecorderNightly**, built on demand from the repository's **Build Nightly macOS App** GitHub Actions workflow, with downloads for both Apple Silicon and Intel kept for 30 days. Nightly installs alongside the production app with its own preferences, privacy permissions, and capture folders, so testing a nightly never touches your existing setup. Nightly builds do not update automatically.
## Improvements
### Faster styled exports
Exports that use rounded corners, a facecam, a wallpaper, or a blurred background now finish roughly 20 to 30 percent faster. Open Recorder builds the rounded masks for the recording and facecam once per export and reuses them for every frame instead of recreating them frame by frame. Longer recordings benefit most: in testing, a ten-minute 1080p styled export dropped from about 100 seconds to 64 seconds. Exported video quality is unchanged. See [Backgrounds](/editing/backgrounds) for the styling options.
### Smaller, optimized app package
Open Recorder is now packaged with release optimizations enabled, which shrinks the download by about 5 MB.
## New features
### Quit Open Recorder from the HUD
Right-click anywhere on the recording HUD and choose **Quit Open Recorder** to exit the app. The menu item is available whether the HUD is idle or a recording is in progress, so you no longer need to switch to the menu bar to quit. See [Screen recording](/recording/screen-recording) for the full list of HUD interactions.
## Improvements
### Faster styled video exports
Exports that apply a static background, such as a wallpaper, gradient, or solid color, now render noticeably faster. Open Recorder renders the background once and reuses it for every frame instead of recomposing it frame by frame. Exports with video backgrounds and unstyled exports are unaffected.
## New features
### Adaptive automatic zoom
Automatic zoom now plans a smooth camera path across each interaction instead of zooming on isolated clicks. Related actions stay in view together, pans ease between nearby targets, and low-value moments no longer trigger a zoom. A new **Maximum zoom** slider in **Settings** limits generated magnification from 1× to 3× (default 2×). Setting it to 1× disables generated zooms entirely.
The timeline's **Regenerate automatic zooms** button re-analyzes the recording while preserving your manual zoom regions and any automatic regions you have edited. The inspector labels those regions **Edited · protected**. Regeneration applies as a single undoable edit. See [Zoom effects](/editing/zoom-effects) for the full guide.
### Delete all zooms at once
The zoom inspector's **Delete** button now includes a dropdown with a **Delete All Zoom Levels** option, so you can clear every zoom region from the timeline in one action instead of deleting them one by one. See [Zoom effects](/editing/zoom-effects#delete-zoom-regions) for details.
## Bug fixes
### Readable release notes in the in-app updater
The update window now shows formatted release notes grouped into New, Improved, and Fixed sections. Previously, it displayed raw commit text that was hard to read.
## New features
### Record any key combination as a global shortcut
Global shortcuts are no longer limited to preset combinations. Click a shortcut field on the **Shortcuts** tab in **Settings**, then press the keys you want. The field previews modifiers as you hold them, saves the combination when you release the keys, and Esc cancels recording. Open Recorder validates the combination and shows an error under the field if it conflicts with another action, a menu command, or a shortcut reserved by macOS or registered by another application.
Letter, number, and symbol keys require ⌘, ⌃, or ⌥, while function keys such as F5 can be assigned on their own. **Restore Default Shortcuts** resets every action to its default combination. See [Keyboard shortcuts](/reference/keyboard-shortcuts) for the defaults and full validation rules.
## Updates
### Tabbed Settings window
Settings is now organized into three tabs in a wider window: **General** for recording and folder options, **Shortcuts** for the global capture shortcuts, and **System** for macOS permissions. See [Keyboard shortcuts](/reference/keyboard-shortcuts) for what lives on the Shortcuts tab.
Previously, all settings appeared in a single scrolling list.
## New features
### Open Settings from the menu bar
The menu bar dropdown now includes a **Settings…** item that opens the Settings window. You can also press ⌘ , while an Open Recorder window is focused.
## Bug fixes
### No more stacked area selection overlays
Choosing the **Area** tab while an area selection overlay is already open no longer stacks a second overlay. Open Recorder now brings the existing overlay to the front instead. See [Capture sources](/recording/capture-sources) for how area selection works.
## Bug fixes
### Escape cancels the recording countdown
Pressing Esc during the recording countdown now cancels the recording before capture begins. The countdown overlay closes and the HUD returns to its ready state, so you can adjust the setup and start again. Previously, Esc only canceled area selection, and the countdown always ran to completion. See [Screen recording](/recording/screen-recording) for countdown behavior.
### Dragged area captures match the selection outline
Screenshots and recordings of a dragged area now capture exactly the region inside the selection outline. Previously, the captured area could be offset from the visible selection by a pixel, most noticeably with odd-sized selections. Recording dimensions are still rounded to even values as required by the video encoder.
## New features
### Auto-zoom follows cursor activity in every preset
Auto-zoom now reacts to cursor activity, such as hovering over a menu or dropdown, in every zoom preset instead of only the Guided preset. Each preset applies its own confidence threshold, so subtler presets still filter out low-confidence moments.
### 12 new photo wallpapers
The **Image** background tab adds 12 new wallpapers, including aurora, ocean waves, starry night, autumn forest, desert dunes, tropical beach, snowy peaks, and lavender field. See [Backgrounds](/editing/backgrounds) for how to apply them.
### More gradients and solid colors
The background picker adds 12 new gradients and 6 new solid colors, covering families like gold, wine, steel blue, espresso, and aurora teal.
## Bug fixes
### Video-loop backgrounds now animate
The **Video** background tab's loops (Aurora, Particles, Cyber Neon, and Gradient Mesh) previously rendered as still images. Each loop now plays a real animated video.
### Recording HUD stays visible while recording
The recording HUD, with the Stop button and timer, no longer disappears when the countdown starts. Previously it could stay hidden for the entire recording, leaving the ⌘R hotkey as the only way to stop. The HUD also no longer reappears on top of the editor after you finish a recording. See [Screen recording](/recording/screen-recording) for HUD behavior.
## Bug fixes
### Capture overlays stay above full-screen apps
Additional fixes keep the recording HUD and countdown overlay on top of full-screen apps, resolving remaining cases where they could still drop behind a full-screen Space.
## Bug fixes
### HUD and countdown overlay over full-screen apps
The recording HUD and the countdown overlay now reliably appear on top of other apps' full-screen Spaces. Previously, either could stay hidden behind a full-screen app, leaving you without recording controls or a visible countdown. See [Screen recording](/recording/screen-recording) for how the HUD behaves during capture.
### Camera stays off when the HUD toggle is off
The camera no longer turns on during a recording when the HUD camera toggle is off. The camera bubble now only arms itself when you have enabled the camera in the HUD.
### Facecam start reliability
Fixed a race between camera prewarm and recording start that could break the facecam session, and stopped leaking the camera bubble and capture session when facecam recording failed to start.
## New features
### Recording HUD over full-screen apps
The recording HUD now displays on top of full-screen macOS apps and follows you across Spaces. You can start, control, and stop recordings without leaving a full-screen app. Learn more in [Screen recording](/recording/screen-recording).
### Multi-monitor area selection
Area capture now works across every connected display. When you choose the **Area** tab in the **Choose Source** picker, Open Recorder shows a drag overlay on all displays at once. Drag on any screen to define the capture region, and press Esc to cancel. A live badge shows the selection size in pixels. See [Capture sources](/recording/capture-sources) for details.
# Background presets and custom image or video uploads
Source: https://docs.openrecorder.xyz/editing/backgrounds
Choose wallpaper, video loop, solid color, or gradient backgrounds in the Open Recorder editor, or upload your own image or video file.
Open Recorder composites your recording or screenshot on top of a background layer. Pick a background in the **Appearance** tab of the video editor inspector. The screenshot editor uses the same background picker.
## Choose a background
The **Background** section shows a row of tabs. Each tab switches the grid below it to a different preset category:
| Tab | Contents |
| ------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Image** | Bundled wallpaper images |
| **Video** | Bundled looping video backgrounds: Aurora, Particles, Cyber Neon, and Gradient Mesh |
| **Color** | Solid color swatches, plus a **Custom Solid Color** picker for any color |
| **Gradient** | Linear and radial gradient presets |
| **None** | Transparent background |
Click a tile to apply it. The editor preview updates immediately. Click **Reset** to return to the default wallpaper.
## Upload a custom image or video
Click the **+** button next to the background tabs to use your own file as the background. In the file dialog, choose:
* An image in PNG or JPEG format
* A video in MP4, MOV, or M4V format
Open Recorder applies the file as the background right away and switches to the **Image** or **Video** tab to match the file type. The upload appears with its filename as the label.
Custom backgrounds are referenced from their original location on disk. They are not copied into the app. If you move or delete the file, the background can no longer load, so keep the file in place until you finish exporting.
## Preview and export behavior
* Backgrounds scale to fill the stage. Files that do not match the stage aspect ratio are cropped, not letterboxed.
* Video backgrounds, both bundled loops and custom uploads, play on a continuous loop in the editor preview.
* Exported videos and screenshots render video backgrounds as a still frame taken from the start of the clip.
* Background blur, stage padding, shadow, and corner roundness from the **Frame** controls apply on top of whichever background you choose, including custom uploads.
# Automatic zoom and zoom region editing
Source: https://docs.openrecorder.xyz/editing/zoom-effects
Enable adaptive automatic zoom, limit magnification with the Maximum zoom slider, regenerate zooms without losing edits, and delete zooms in bulk.
Open Recorder adds zoom regions to the timeline that magnify part of the recording during playback and export. Zooms can be generated automatically from your recorded pointer activity, or added and adjusted manually in the editor.
## Enable automatic zoom
New recordings receive adaptive automatic zooms when **Create zooms automatically** is enabled in **Settings → Recording**. The generator analyzes recorded clicks and cursor movement, groups related actions into interactions, and plans a smooth camera path for each one. Related actions stay in view together, pans ease between nearby targets, and low-value moments do not trigger a zoom.
Two settings in the same section shape the result:
* **Auto zoom style** controls motion timing for generated zooms.
* **Maximum zoom** limits generated magnification. The slider ranges from 1× to 3×, with a default of 2×. Lower limits preserve more surrounding context. Setting the limit to 1× disables generated zooms entirely.
Automatic zoom relies on pointer telemetry captured during recording. Imported videos without telemetry receive no automatic regions.
## Regenerate automatic zooms
The timeline toolbar includes a **Regenerate automatic zooms** button, marked with a sparkle icon. Click it to re-analyze the recording's telemetry with your current settings and replace the generated zooms. While analysis runs, the button shows **Generating zooms…** and is disabled.
Regeneration preserves your work:
* Manual zoom regions are kept.
* Automatic regions you have edited are kept. The zoom inspector labels these regions **Edited · protected** in the **Type** row.
* New generated regions skip the intervals those protected regions occupy.
The result applies as a single edit, so one undo restores the previous zooms.
Editing an automatic region protects it from future regeneration. Changing its timing retimes the saved camera path, changing its depth rescales the magnification, and changing its focus pins the target.
## Delete zoom regions
Select a zoom region on the timeline to open it in the inspector. The **Delete** button removes the selected region.
To clear every zoom region at once, click the dropdown arrow on the right side of the **Delete** button and choose **Delete All Zoom Levels**. The bulk deletion removes all zoom regions, manual and automatic, as a single edit. One undo restores all of them.
# Open Recorder: macOS screen recorder and screenshot tool
Source: https://docs.openrecorder.xyz/index
Capture screens, windows, and selected areas on macOS, then edit recordings and screenshots with backgrounds, zoom effects, and export options.
Open Recorder is a macOS app for capturing screens, windows, and selected areas, then turning those captures into shareable videos and screenshots.
## What you can do
* Record a display, window, or selected area with microphone, system audio, camera, cursor, and click capture controls.
* Capture screenshots from displays, windows, or selected areas.
* Edit recordings with backgrounds, framing, crop controls, cursor overlays, zooms, timeline edits, and facecam clips.
* Export projects as MOV, MP4, GIF, or PNG files.
## Build from source
Open Recorder requires macOS, Xcode command line tools with Swift 6.2 or later, and Rust 1.93 or later.
```bash theme={null}
pnpm run setup
make build-macos
make dev-macos
```
See the [Open Recorder repository](https://github.com/imbhargav5/open-recorder) for the full build, packaging, and contribution instructions.
# Choosing a capture source: screen, window, or area
Source: https://docs.openrecorder.xyz/recording/capture-sources
Pick a screen, window, or dragged area in the Choose Source picker as the source for Open Recorder screen recordings and screenshots on macOS.
Open Recorder captures from three kinds of sources: screens, windows, and areas. All three live in the unified **Choose Source** picker. Open it by clicking the source chip in the recording HUD, or by starting any capture that needs a source.
## The Choose Source picker
The picker shows a **Choose what to capture** grid with three tabs:
* **Screens**: every connected display, with a thumbnail for each.
* **Windows**: open app windows you can capture individually.
* **Area**: a free-form region you drag out on any display.
Selecting a source stores it on the HUD source chip. Open Recorder remembers your setup for the next capture.
### Screens
The **Screens** tab lists all connected displays. With a single display, the picker shows one large preview. With more than two displays, the grid scrolls so every screen stays reachable.
Entire-screen captures started from shortcuts also route through this tab, so you always confirm which display gets captured before the recording or screenshot begins.
### Windows
The **Windows** tab lists open windows with their app name and title. Pick one to capture just that window.
### Area capture
The **Area** tab starts an interactive drag selection. Open Recorder dims every connected display and shows a **Drag to select an area** overlay on each one.
* Drag on any display to define the capture region. Area selection is not bound to a single screen.
* A badge below the selection shows the live size in pixels, for example `1280 × 720 px`.
* Release the mouse to set the area. In screenshot mode, Open Recorder captures immediately. In recording mode started from a drag-record shortcut, recording starts as soon as you release.
* Press Esc on any display to cancel the selection.
The selection overlay displays over full-screen apps and follows Space changes, so you can select an area inside a full-screen app. If you connect or disconnect a display while selecting, Open Recorder rebuilds the overlay to match the new display layout.
# Record your screen, a window, or an area on macOS
Source: https://docs.openrecorder.xyz/recording/screen-recording
Start, pause, and stop macOS screen recordings from the Open Recorder HUD, with steps for choosing a source and troubleshooting blocked captures.
## Prerequisites
* macOS Screen Recording permission granted to Open Recorder. You can open the relevant privacy pane from inside the app. After granting access, restart the app so macOS refreshes the permission state.
## Start a recording
1. Open the recording HUD. The HUD stays hidden when Open Recorder launches. Choose **Show Recorder** or **New Recording** from the menu bar dropdown, or press a global capture shortcut, to bring it up.
2. Use the mode switcher to choose between recording and screenshot mode.
3. Click the source chip labeled **Choose Source** to open the source picker.
4. Pick a screen, a window, or drag an area in the **Choose Source** picker. See [Capture sources](/recording/capture-sources) for details on each tab.
5. Toggle system audio, microphone, and camera as needed.
6. Start the recording.
After you start, Open Recorder shows a countdown overlay before capture begins. Press Esc during the countdown to cancel. The overlay closes, no recording starts, and the HUD returns to its ready state so you can adjust the setup and start again.
Choosing a display always goes through the unified **Choose Source** picker. This includes starting an entire-screen recording or screenshot from a shortcut. Open Recorder shows the picker with the **Screens** tab selected so you can confirm which display to capture.
## The recording HUD
The HUD is the floating control strip that holds the mode switcher, source chip, audio and camera toggles, and the capture button.
* Open Recorder launches quietly. The HUD stays hidden when the app starts and appears when you choose **Show Recorder** from the menu bar dropdown, start a new capture with **New Recording** or **New Screenshot**, or press a global capture shortcut. Open Recorder restores your last capture source in the background, so the HUD opens with your previous setup. On first run, onboarding still appears so you can grant permissions.
* The HUD displays over full-screen macOS apps. You can start and control recordings without leaving a full-screen app.
* The HUD joins all Spaces. It stays visible and interactive when you swipe between Spaces or click into another app.
* Drag the HUD by its handle to reposition it. Open Recorder keeps it on screen when display geometry changes.
* Right-click anywhere on the HUD and choose **Quit Open Recorder** to exit the app. The menu item is available while the HUD is idle and while a recording is in progress.
## Stop a recording
Stop the recording from the HUD or with the same shortcut that started it. Open Recorder saves the capture and opens it in the editor.
## Troubleshooting
If capture is blocked after granting Screen Recording permission, restart Open Recorder. macOS only refreshes the permission state for an app process after a relaunch.
# Open Recorder FAQ: monitors, permissions, and file locations
Source: https://docs.openrecorder.xyz/reference/faq
Common Open Recorder questions: multi-monitor support, full-screen recording, Screen Recording permission fixes, export errors, and save locations.
## Does Open Recorder support multiple monitors?
Yes. Multi-monitor setups are supported across the capture flow:
* The **Screens** tab of the **Choose Source** picker lists every connected display. The grid scrolls when you have more than two displays.
* Area selection spans all connected displays. When you start an area capture, Open Recorder shows the drag overlay on every screen, and you can drag the capture region on any of them.
* If you connect or disconnect a display during area selection, Open Recorder rebuilds the overlay to match the new layout.
## Can I record while an app is in full screen?
Yes. The recording HUD displays over full-screen macOS apps and stays interactive when you swipe between Spaces. The area selection overlay also appears over full-screen apps, so you can drag a capture region inside them.
## Why is my capture blocked after granting Screen Recording permission?
macOS only refreshes an app's Screen Recording permission state after the app relaunches. Restart Open Recorder after granting access.
## Why does my export fail with "Source video frame is unavailable"?
This error comes from the export renderer. Open Recorder re-renders every frame during export when a project uses a background, frame effects (stage padding, corner roundness, shadow, or background blur), or a camera overlay. The error means the renderer requested a frame from your original recording and macOS could not decode one from the source file.
To resolve it:
1. Confirm the recording's source media still exists on disk. Projects whose files were moved or deleted show a **Media missing** label in the project library and cannot be opened or exported.
2. Keep the recording file, and any [custom background video](/editing/backgrounds#upload-a-custom-image-or-video), in its original location until the export finishes.
3. Retry the export. If it still fails, set the background to **None** and turn off the frame effects listed above. That exports the recording without re-rendering, which confirms whether the source recording itself can be read.
## Where are my captures saved?
Screenshots are saved under `~/Pictures/Open Recorder`. Recordings are registered as projects that you can reopen in the built-in editor.
# Keyboard shortcuts for screen recording and screenshots
Source: https://docs.openrecorder.xyz/reference/keyboard-shortcuts
Global macOS keyboard shortcuts for screenshots and screen recording in Open Recorder, plus the pre-recording HUD and shortcut customization.
Open Recorder registers global capture shortcuts that work from any application while the app is running. It also provides standard in-app shortcuts for the editor and project library.
## Global capture shortcuts
These shortcuts trigger captures without switching to the Open Recorder window.
| Shortcut | Action | What it does |
| -------------------------------------- | -------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| ⌥ ⇧ 3 | Device Screenshot | Captures a screenshot of a display. |
| ⌥ ⇧ 4 | Drag Screenshot | Lets you select a custom area and captures it as a screenshot. |
| ⌥ ⇧ 5 | Device Screen Record | Opens the screen recorder with a display selected and shows the capture HUD in pre-recording mode. |
| ⌥ ⇧ 6 | Drag Screen Record | Lets you drag an area to record. Recording starts once you finish drawing the selection, using your current capture settings. |
| ⌥ ⇧ R | Toggle Recording | Starts the recording that is set up in the HUD, or stops the active recording. |
Pressing ⌥ ⇧ 5 or ⌥ ⇧ 6 while a recording is in progress stops that recording instead of starting a new capture.
### Pre-recording HUD
The Device Screen Record shortcut no longer starts an instant recording. It opens the capture HUD in pre-recording mode so you can review the setup before capture begins. From the HUD you can:
* Change the capture source (display, window, or area).
* Toggle system audio on or off.
* Toggle the microphone on or off and pick a microphone device.
* Toggle the camera on or off for a facecam track.
Click **Record** in the HUD, or press ⌥ ⇧ R, to start the recording with the options you selected.
Press Esc during the recording countdown to cancel before capture begins. The HUD returns to its ready state without starting a recording. Esc also cancels an in-progress area selection.
### Customizing global shortcuts
Change any global shortcut in **Settings** on the **Shortcuts** tab, under **Global Shortcuts**. Open Settings from the menu bar dropdown with **Settings…** or press ⌘ , while an Open Recorder window is focused.
To record a new shortcut:
1. Click the shortcut field next to an action. The field shows **Press shortcut…** and previews modifiers as you hold them.
2. Press the key combination you want. Open Recorder saves it as soon as you release the keys.
3. Press Esc to cancel recording and keep the current shortcut.
You can record any key combination instead of picking from presets. Open Recorder validates the combination and shows an error under the field if it rejects it:
* The combination must include ⌘, ⌃, or ⌥. Function keys (F1–F20) can be used on their own.
* The combination cannot already be assigned to another Open Recorder action.
* The combination cannot match an Open Recorder menu command, such as ⌘ N.
* The combination cannot be reserved by macOS or registered by another application.
**Restore Default Shortcuts** resets all five actions to the defaults listed above.
## In-app shortcuts
These shortcuts work while an Open Recorder window is focused.
| Shortcut | Action |
| -------------------------------------- | -------------- |
| ⌘ N | New recording |
| ⇧ ⌘ N | New screenshot |
| ⌘ O | Open project |
| ⌘ 1 | Show projects |
| ⌘ 2 | Show editor |
| ⌘ , | Open settings |
The menu bar dropdown also includes a **Settings…** item that opens the Settings window. Settings is organized into three tabs: **General** for recording and folder options, **Shortcuts** for the global capture shortcuts, and **System** for macOS permissions.
While a recording is active, the menu bar item also exposes **Stop Recording** with ⌘ R.