Limelight
What is a Digital Whiteboard?
A digital whiteboard is an on-screen canvas where you can draw, write, and sketch with a mouse, trackpad, or stylus, much like a physical whiteboard.
A digital whiteboard gives you a blank surface for freehand drawing, diagrams, and quick notes. Teachers, presenters, and teams use them to explain ideas visually during a class, meeting, or brainstorming session.
Most digital whiteboards are standalone apps with their own blank canvas, and some support multiple people drawing together. A related but different approach is to draw directly over whatever is already on your screen, so the whole desktop becomes your surface rather than a separate blank page.
Limelight works in that second way on macOS. From the menu bar you start freehand drawing on top of any app, so you can sketch over a slide, a webpage, or a demo as if the screen were your whiteboard, then clear it with a shortcut. It is a pure overlay, so nothing on screen is altered or saved by Limelight.
Why Limelight
- ▸A digital whiteboard is an on-screen canvas for drawing and notes
- ▸Many are standalone blank-canvas apps, some collaborative
- ▸Limelight instead draws freehand over any app on screen
- ▸Start from the menu bar and clear everything with ⌃⌥C
Cursor spotlight free · from $2.99/mo or $34 lifetime · macOS 14+
Or get Pro — from $2.99/mo · See how it works →
free to start, then go Pro from $2.99/mo or a $34 one-time lifetime license. macOS 14+, notarized by Apple.
FAQ
- Is Limelight a full digital whiteboard app?
- Limelight is a live overlay that lets you draw freehand over any app, so the whole screen acts as a whiteboard. It is not a separate blank-canvas or collaborative whiteboard app.
- Can I erase what I draw on screen?
- Yes. Limelight's annotations are a pure overlay and clear instantly with ⌃⌥C, leaving the underlying content untouched.