Limelight
How to Record Part of Your Screen on a Mac
macOS lets you draw a box and record just that region; Limelight then makes even a small selection look intentional and polished.
The built-in way to record a portion of your screen is the Shift-Command-5 toolbar. Press Shift-Command-5 and choose the fourth control, Record Selected Portion. A resizable frame appears; drag its edges to cover exactly the window or region you want, reposition it by dragging inside, then click Record. Everything outside the box is ignored. Stop from the menu bar clock area or with Control-Command-Escape, and macOS saves a .mov to your Desktop. Open Options first if you want a countdown timer, a specific save location, or your microphone included. QuickTime's New Screen Recording offers the same drag-to-select behavior.
Selecting a region is handy for focusing on a single panel, a form, or a toolbar without the distraction of your whole desktop, and it keeps file sizes smaller because you are capturing fewer pixels. The trade-off is that the built-in tool gives you a flat, static crop with no zoom, no cursor emphasis, and no editing. If the detail you care about is tiny, like a settings toggle or a keyboard shortcut, viewers may struggle to see what you clicked, and a fixed region cannot follow the action as it moves across the interface.
Limelight solves this by capturing cleanly and then reframing intelligently. It is a native macOS screen recorder that auto-zooms into every click, so even within a modest area the important detail fills the frame at the right moment, then eases back out. It smooths the cursor into clean motion and renders your capture on a clean padded background, so a small region looks deliberate rather than cramped. It also bakes on-screen keystrokes, a cursor spotlight, and freehand annotations into the video, which is exactly what makes a tight, focused clip readable. Everything is recorded locally and offline.
In practice, record the area in Limelight, then use its built-in editor to trim, cut, ripple-delete, adjust the zoom level, and speed up slower moments before exporting. Choose mp4 for a standard tutorial or a vertical 9:16 clip when the region is headed for social. Limelight is free to start with the cursor spotlight; Pro is $2.99/month or a $34 one-time lifetime license. If your clip needs narration, remember Limelight does not record audio yet, so capture your voice with Shift-Command-5 or QuickTime and add it in an editor afterward.
Why Limelight
- ▸Shift-Command-5's Record Selected Portion lets you draw and resize a capture box.
- ▸Region capture keeps files smaller but offers no zoom or editing.
- ▸Limelight's auto-zoom keeps small details readable even in a tight frame.
- ▸Adjust zoom, trim, and speed up in the built-in editor, then export mp4 or 9:16.
- ▸Free to start; Pro is $2.99/month or a $34 one-time lifetime license.
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 do I record only one window on my Mac?
- Press Shift-Command-5, choose Record Selected Portion, and drag the frame to cover just that window. Or use Limelight and let its auto-zoom emphasize the window's active details, then crop and trim in the editor before exporting.
- Can I change the recorded area after I start?
- With Shift-Command-5 the region is fixed once you start recording. Limelight instead records the area and then lets you adjust zoom and framing afterward in its editor, so you are not locked into your initial selection.
- Why does my selected-area recording look cramped?
- A fixed crop has no motion or emphasis. Limelight renders your capture on a clean padded background and auto-zooms into clicks, so even a small region reads as intentional rather than tight and awkward.