Highlight mouse clicks and resize the cursor after you record
Qreata records the cursor as data and draws it again in the editor. Its size, whether it shows at all, and the highlight on each click are settings you change after the take, not choices you lock in before pressing Record.
7-day trial · $49 once · no subscription · Apple Silicon · macOS 14+The short answer
In Qreata the cursor of a Mac screen recording is stored as data and redrawn, so you change it after recording: turn “Show cursor” off, set “Size” anywhere from 0.5 to 2.5, and switch on “Click highlight”, a filled rose-coloured disc that grows and fades over 0.35 seconds on each click, with no extra permission. Qreata draws its own white arrow and does not capture the system cursor, so there is no I-beam or pointing hand. The built-in macOS recorder has Show Mouse Clicks, which you set before recording. Qreata costs $49 once; it has no cursor smoothing and no keystroke display.
Use it when
Viewers have to follow where you clicked, and you only find out how readable the cursor is on playback.
- You record on a large display and the video plays in a small help-center embed, where a normal cursor is a few pixels wide.
- Viewers keep asking “where did you click?” in a tutorial with many small targets.
- You forgot to turn click display on before recording and don’t want another take.
- The cursor wanders over the text people are trying to read, and the video is better without it.
It won’t help when
You need the cursor to move differently or look different, not just bigger or highlighted.
- You want shaky mouse movement smoothed. Qreata doesn’t smooth the cursor.
- You want the keys you pressed shown on screen. There is no keystroke display.
- You want the I-beam, the pointing hand or a custom cursor style. Qreata always draws its own white arrow, and it has no hide-when-idle option.
- The video was recorded in another app. Qreata doesn’t import video files.
What can you change about the cursor after recording?
Most recorders film the cursor as part of the screen picture, so it is as fixed as any other pixel. Qreata records where the cursor was and when you clicked as data next to the screen track, then draws the cursor in the editor. That is why the four cursor settings below stay open after the take and can be changed again next month, as long as you keep the project.
The settings apply to the cursor Qreata draws: its own white arrow, 24 px tall at “Size” 1.0 in a 1080p export. The system cursor is not captured. Nothing about the screen recording underneath is altered, and each change shows in the preview before you export.
| Setting | Range | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| “Show cursor” | On or off | Draws the cursor in the video or leaves it out |
| “Size” | 0.5 to 2.5 | Shrinks or enlarges the drawn cursor; 1.0 is a 24 px arrow at 1080p output |
| “Click highlight” | On or off | Adds a filled rose-coloured disc that grows and fades over 0.35 seconds on each click; its size follows “Size” |
| “Auto-zoom on clicks” | On or off | Builds a 2-second, 2× zoom for each group of clicks |
How to highlight mouse clicks in a screen recording on Mac
The highlight is drawn from the clicks Qreata recorded. Left-button clicks are always recorded, so there is nothing to set up before the take and the highlight is one toggle afterwards. The macOS Accessibility permission is not required; it only makes click timing more precise.
- Optional: before recording, allow Qreata under System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility. Clicks are recorded either way; the permission makes their timing more precise.
- Record as usual: choose “Display”, “Window”, “Application” or “Area”, and work at your normal pace. You don’t click differently for the highlight.
- Open the recording in the editor and find the cursor settings: “Show cursor”, “Size”, “Click highlight” and “Auto-zoom on clicks”.
- Turn on “Click highlight”. Each click now gets a filled rose-coloured disc that grows and fades over 0.35 seconds at the point you clicked.
- Play the video at the size viewers will see it, not full screen on your monitor. If the cursor is hard to find between clicks, raise “Size”; the top of the scale is 2.5, and the click highlight grows with it.
- Export the MP4. The cursor and the highlights are drawn into the file at that point; in the project they stay adjustable.
Example: a 4-minute settings tutorial watched in a small player
You record a 4-minute tutorial on a billing settings page on a 27-inch display, with 14 clicks on toggles and dropdowns. In your help center the video plays in a column about a third the width of your monitor. On the first playback at that size the cursor is a speck and two clicks on adjacent toggles are impossible to tell apart.
In the editor you set “Size” to 2.0 and turn on “Click highlight”. Now the cursor is easy to track across the page and each of the 14 clicks gets a highlight. The two adjacent toggles still sit close together, so you use “Add zoom” and place one manual zoom over them. The take itself is untouched: no second recording, and the settings are still there if the help center layout changes.
The opposite case is a 90-second clip where you talk over a dashboard and the cursor drifts across the chart you are describing. Turn “Show cursor” off and the dashboard plays clean.
Qreata vs Show Mouse Clicks in the built-in Mac recorder
The free route is real and takes ten seconds: press Shift-Command-5, open Options and turn on Show Mouse Clicks. If you remember it before every recording and never need a larger cursor, that covers click visibility at no cost. The difference is when you decide and what you can still change afterwards.
| Question | Built-in recorder | Qreata |
|---|---|---|
| When do you decide? | Before recording, in Options | After recording, in the editor |
| Show clicks | Show Mouse Clicks in Options | “Click highlight” disc, 0.35 seconds |
| Cursor size in the video | No setting in the recorder’s Options | “Size” 0.5 to 2.5 |
| Forgot to set it | Record again | Toggle it in the project |
| Zoom on clicks | Not offered | “Auto-zoom on clicks”, switched on or off after the take |
| Price | Free with macOS | $49 once, 7-day full trial |
What the cursor tools can’t do
Qreata does not smooth cursor movement: a jittery path stays jittery, only larger. It has no hide-when-idle option, no custom cursor styles and no keystroke display, so a keyboard shortcut needs a spoken line or a manual zoom on its result. The click highlight is a single built-in look, a rose-coloured disc, that you switch on or off; only its size changes, with the cursor “Size”.
Qreata does not capture the system cursor. It always draws its own white arrow, so the I-beam over text and the pointing hand over a link never appear in the video. Left-button clicks are the ones recorded. They are recorded without the Accessibility permission; granting it only makes their timing more precise. Recording and export are always 30 fps, and the editor works only on recordings made in Qreata, on Apple Silicon Macs with macOS 14 or later.
A 10-minute test before you buy
Install the trial and record 2 minutes of your densest screen with at least five clicks. In the editor turn on “Click highlight”, push “Size” up until the cursor reads at the width of your real player, and export. Watch the MP4 where you publish.
The trial runs 7 days with every feature and needs no account to record. The Personal license is $49 once for 3 Macs with all future updates, so the cursor tools are not a monthly add-on.
Questions worth asking
How do I highlight mouse clicks in a screen recording on Mac?
Two ways. In the built-in recorder, press Shift-Command-5 and turn on Show Mouse Clicks under Options before you record. In Qreata, turn on “Click highlight” in the editor after recording; each click gets a rose-coloured disc that grows and fades over 0.35 seconds, and no Accessibility permission is needed.
Can I make the cursor bigger in a screen recording after it is recorded?
Yes, in Qreata. The cursor is stored as data and redrawn, so the “Size” setting changes it from 0.5 to 2.5 after the take. A recording made in another app can’t be changed this way, because Qreata doesn’t import video.
Can I hide the cursor in a screen recording?
Yes. Turn “Show cursor” off in the Qreata editor and the cursor is left out of the exported video. Turn it back on at any time; the project keeps the cursor data.
Does Qreata smooth cursor movement?
No. Qreata changes cursor size and visibility and highlights each click, but it doesn’t smooth the path, hide the cursor when idle or offer custom cursor styles. It always draws its own white arrow, not the system cursor.
Can Qreata show the keys I press?
No. There is no keystroke display. Say the shortcut aloud, or use “Add zoom” on the result of a keyboard step so viewers see what changed.
Are the cursor settings included in the $49 license?
Yes. Cursor size, visibility, click highlight and auto-zoom are part of the app: $49 once for 3 Macs, with a 7-day trial that includes every feature.