Free keystroke visualizer for Mac
Show the keys you press, on screen.
Limelight is a free keystroke visualizer for Mac. The shortcuts you press appear as clean badges on screen, live, over any app — so the people watching your tutorial, lesson, or stream see exactly what you did.
Free browser tool · macOS 14+ app
A free way to show keystrokes on your Mac screen.
- ✓Shows shortcut keys as on-screen badges
- ✓Free keystroke visualizer right in your browser
- ✓Mac & Windows key labels, OBS green-screen mode
- ✓Hides ordinary typing — only shortcuts show
- ✓Native Mac app shows keys over any desktop app
- ✓No account, nothing uploaded
Why use a keystroke visualizer on Mac?
If you teach online, record coding tutorials, or stream, your audience constantly wonders "what did you just press?" Neither macOS nor the browser shows the keys behind a shortcut, so viewers rewind, guess, or give up.
A keystroke visualizer solves this by drawing each key combination on screen the instant you press it. Your shortcuts become visible, your tutorials become followable, and nobody has to ask.
Two free ways to do it
Start with the free browser tool: it runs entirely in your browser, shows Mac or Windows keys, has an OBS green-screen mode for streamers, and uploads nothing. Perfect when what you are demonstrating is also in the browser, or when you composite in OBS.
For everything else, Limelight is a native macOS menu-bar app that shows your keystrokes over any desktop app — your IDE, a design tool, a terminal — live, with one global hotkey (⌃⌥2). It only displays shortcut combinations and special keys, so your ordinary typing and passwords stay private.
A clean, free alternative to paid key-display apps
Most Mac keystroke apps are paid. Limelight gives you a free browser visualizer up front, and the desktop keystroke display is part of a Pro unlock ($2.99/mo or $34 lifetime) — no subscription required, ever. The cursor spotlight in the same app is free forever.
Whether you are making a screencast, teaching a class, or streaming a coding session, showing your keys is the difference between a tutorial people can follow and one they have to rewind.
Shortcuts only
Shows ⌘C, ⌘⇧P and special keys as badges, while hiding ordinary typing so recordings stay clean.
Mac & Windows
Switch between macOS glyphs (⌘ ⌥ ⇧ ⌃) and Windows labels (Ctrl, Alt, Shift, Win).
OBS green-screen
A chroma-key theme lets streamers drop the background and float keys over their stream.
Over any app
The Mac app shows keystrokes on top of your IDE, design tool, terminal — anything.
How to use it
- 1Open the free keystroke visualizer in your browser and press Start — it captures keys globally.
- 2For desktop apps, download Limelight free and press ⌃⌥2 to show keystrokes over anything.
- 3Go fullscreen or use the green-screen theme, then share or record — your keys are now on screen.
FAQ
- Is the keystroke visualizer free?
- The browser keystroke visualizer is completely free with no sign-up. In the Mac app, the on-screen keystroke display is part of the Pro unlock ($2.99/mo or $34 lifetime); the cursor spotlight is free forever.
- Does it show everything I type?
- No. By default it shows shortcut combinations and special keys, not ordinary typing, so your text and passwords stay private and recordings stay clean.
- Can I use it with OBS or for streaming?
- Yes. The browser tool has a green-screen theme — go fullscreen, add it as a Window Capture in OBS, and apply a Chroma Key filter to float your keystrokes over your stream.
- Can it show keystrokes over other desktop apps?
- The browser tool captures within the page. The Limelight Mac app shows your keystrokes over any app on your whole screen, live, with one hotkey.
- Is this a KeyCastr alternative?
- Yes — it covers the same need (showing keys on screen) with a free browser tool plus a native Mac app that works over any application and adds a cursor spotlight, drawing, and more.
Free browser tool · macOS 14+ app · from $2.99/mo or $34 lifetime