Limelight
How to Record a Product Walkthrough Video on Mac
A good walkthrough shows exactly where to click and what to press, which is precisely where flat screen captures fall short.
You can capture a walkthrough with the macOS built-in in a pinch. Shift-Command-5 records the whole screen or a selection around your app, saves a .mov to the Desktop, and stops with Control-Command-Escape. QuickTime does the same under File then New Screen Recording. The trouble is that a walkthrough lives or dies on clarity: viewers need to see the small button you clicked and the field you filled in. A flat, full-resolution capture makes those details tiny and easy to miss, so built-ins work as a rough draft but rarely as the finished guide.
Limelight is built for exactly this. It records your app locally and offline, then automatically zooms into every click, so each step of the walkthrough enlarges the moment it happens. The cursor is smoothed and spotlighted so viewers never lose it, and the whole thing sits on a clean padded background that looks professional. Crucially, Limelight bakes on-screen keystrokes into the video, so when a step involves a keyboard shortcut, the audience sees the exact keys. Most recorders, including Screen Studio, cannot show keystrokes, which makes Limelight especially strong for anything with a keyboard-driven workflow.
You can also mark up the walkthrough as you record. Limelight supports freehand annotations baked into the video, so you can circle a menu, underline a value, or draw an arrow toward the next action without any post-production. One thing to plan around: Limelight does not record audio yet, and it does not generate captions or transcripts. For a narrated walkthrough, record your voiceover separately with QuickTime or Shift-Command-5 and lay it over the silent screen capture in an editor, or ship a caption-free visual guide that relies on the on-screen zoom, keystrokes, and annotations to carry the meaning.
Refine the recording in Limelight's editor before you share it. Trim the setup, cut wrong turns with ripple-delete, speed up any repetitive typing, and adjust the zoom so it settles on the important control. Export mp4 for a help center or an onboarding email, or vertical 9:16 for an in-app tip or a social clip. Because nothing is uploaded, a walkthrough of an unreleased feature stays private on your Mac. Limelight is free to start, with Pro at $2.99 per month or a $34 one-time lifetime license.
Why Limelight
- ▸Auto-zoom enlarges each click so no step in the walkthrough gets lost
- ▸Baked-in on-screen keystrokes show the exact shortcuts users need to press
- ▸Freehand annotations let you circle and point without any editing
- ▸No audio or captions yet, so record narration separately and composite it
- ▸Records offline, keeping unreleased features private on your Mac
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
- How does Limelight make each step easier to follow?
- It automatically zooms into every click, smooths and spotlights the cursor, and can bake keystrokes and freehand annotations into the video. Viewers see the exact control you used and the keys you pressed, which flat captures cannot show.
- Can I narrate the walkthrough?
- Not directly, since Limelight does not record audio yet. Record your voiceover separately with QuickTime or Shift-Command-5 and combine it with the silent screen capture in an editor, or ship a visual-only guide.
- Is it safe to record an unreleased feature?
- Yes. Limelight records locally and uploads nothing, so a walkthrough of confidential or unreleased work stays entirely on your machine until you choose to share it.