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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.

macOS requires apps to explicitly request permission before they can capture your screen or monitor input events. Open Recorder needs two permissions — Screen Recording and Accessibility — and walks you through both on first launch via an onboarding screen. Neither permission is optional: Screen Recording is required to capture any video or screenshot, and Accessibility is required for cursor overlay and shortcut detection while recording.

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Required permissions

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Screen Recording

Screen Recording permission lets Open Recorder capture video frames from your display, window, or selected area using the macOS screen capture APIs. Without it, no recording or screenshot can start. On first launch, the onboarding screen shows an Allow Screen Recording button. Clicking it triggers the macOS system prompt. If you have already seen that prompt (even in a previous session), the button label changes to Open Screen Recording Settings, which takes you directly to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen Recording so you can toggle the app on manually. After granting Screen Recording, you need to restart Open Recorder so macOS refreshes the permission state for the app process.

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Accessibility

Accessibility permission lets Open Recorder monitor cursor position and detect global shortcut keystrokes while a recording session is active. This data is used to render the cursor overlay on your exported video and to support auto-zoom. The onboarding screen shows an Allow Accessibility Access button. Clicking it triggers the macOS Accessibility prompt. If the prompt has already been shown, the button label changes to Open Accessibility Settings.

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Granting permissions step by step

1

Open Open Recorder

Launch Open Recorder from /Applications. The onboarding screen appears automatically on first launch. It shows two permission rows — Screen Recording and Accessibility — each with its own action button.
2

Allow Screen Recording

Click Allow Screen Recording. macOS opens a system dialog asking you to confirm. After dismissing it, go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen Recording and toggle on Open Recorder.
3

Allow Accessibility

Click Allow Accessibility Access. macOS opens System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility. Toggle on Open Recorder in that list.
4

Restart the app

Quit and reopen Open Recorder. macOS refreshes the Screen Recording permission state on app launch, so the restart is required for that permission to take effect.
5

Continue

Once both permission rows show a checkmark, the Continue button becomes active. Click it to finish onboarding and open the main app.

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Reviewing permissions later

You can revisit permissions at any time from Settings → Permissions, which provides three buttons:
  • Screen Recording — opens System Settings directly to the Screen Recording pane
  • Accessibility — opens System Settings directly to the Accessibility pane
  • Review Permissions — reopens the onboarding screen so you can check the current state of both permissions
If you deny a permission in macOS, you must re-open the relevant Privacy & Security pane manually. Open Recorder cannot re-trigger the system prompt after the first denial.