Limelight
What is a Cursor Spotlight?
A cursor spotlight is a glowing region of emphasis that travels with your mouse pointer, making it easy to follow on a shared or recorded screen.
A cursor spotlight is a visual effect that keeps a bright, focused area centered on the mouse pointer at all times. As you move the mouse, the spotlight moves with it, so the viewer eye is continuously guided to where you are pointing. The effect ranges from a subtle glow to a fully lit circle against a dimmed background, but the defining trait is that it tracks the cursor live rather than reacting only to clicks.
A cursor spotlight is closely related to a cursor highlight and a mouse spotlight, and the terms often overlap. It is different from a mouse trail, which leaves a fading streak behind the pointer, and from a pointer magnifier, which zooms in on the area under the cursor. The spotlight changes how visible the pointer is, not how large the underlying content appears.
Cursor spotlights are a staple of screen presenting, software walkthroughs, and online teaching, where the audience watches your screen and needs to find the pointer instantly. Limelight is built around exactly this: its cursor spotlight is a soft glowing highlight that follows your pointer, switched on with the hotkey ⌃⌥1. It runs as a macOS menu-bar overlay on top of any app and any recorder, so the spotlight appears wherever you present.
Why Limelight
- ▸A cursor spotlight is a glowing area that follows the mouse pointer in real time.
- ▸It guides viewer attention to the pointer during demos, lectures, and recordings.
- ▸It is not a mouse trail or magnifier; it neither leaves streaks nor zooms in.
- ▸Limelight cursor spotlight toggles with ⌃⌥1 and overlays any macOS app.
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FAQ
- How is a cursor spotlight turned on in Limelight?
- Press the global hotkey ⌃⌥1 to toggle the cursor spotlight on or off while presenting or recording.
- Does the cursor spotlight work over any application?
- Yes. Limelight is a menu-bar overlay, so the spotlight appears on top of whatever macOS app is on screen.
- Will the cursor spotlight slow down my Mac?
- Limelight is a lightweight native SwiftUI app that runs in the menu bar, designed to overlay smoothly without recording or uploading anything.