Limelight
What is Window Capture?
Window capture is a capture mode that records or streams just one chosen application window, ignoring everything else on screen.
Window capture tells recording or streaming software to grab the pixels of a single application window. The captured output follows that window as it moves and stays clean even if other apps, notifications, or the desktop appear in front of it on your own display. It is a common source type in OBS and in most conferencing apps.
Window capture differs from display capture, which records an entire monitor, and from region capture, which records a fixed rectangle of the screen regardless of which window sits there. Window capture is tied to a specific app, so closing or minimizing that window ends the feed.
In presenting, streaming, and demos, window capture keeps a shared view focused on one tool while you keep private material out of frame. It is a feature of the capture engine, not of overlay software. Limelight sits above whatever you share: its cursor spotlight, keystroke display, and annotations render on the live screen, but Limelight itself does not capture, record, or stream any window.
Why Limelight
- ▸Follows a chosen window as it moves, keeping the rest of the screen private
- ▸Breaks or pauses if the target window is closed or minimized
- ▸Supported as a source type in OBS Studio and major conferencing apps
- ▸Different from full-display capture and from fixed-region capture
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FAQ
- Why does window capture sometimes show a black screen?
- Hardware-accelerated apps and certain GPU paths can render in a way that the capture engine cannot read, producing black. Switching capture method or disabling acceleration usually fixes it.
- Does Limelight capture windows?
- No. Limelight is a macOS menu-bar overlay for on-screen highlighting and annotation. Window capture is handled by your recording or conferencing app.