Cursor halo, ripple or spotlight: which one fits your video
Use a cursor halo when viewers need to follow the pointer around a busy screen, click ripples when the video is mostly clicking through an interface, and a spotlight for the few moments when everyone must look at one spot. Most tutorials work best with the halo, the ripples or both on throughout, and the spotlight only now and then. Turning every effect on for the whole video makes it harder to watch, not easier.
Below: what each effect does, where each one fits, and how to mix them without turning the pointer into a light show.
What each effect does
Each of these answers a different question a viewer has while watching.
| Effect | What viewers see | When it appears | Answers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bigger pointer | The usual pointer, larger | Always | “Where is it?” |
| Cursor halo | A circle that follows the pointer | The whole time | “Where is it now?” |
| Click ripples | A mark where you click, shaped by button | At each click | “Did they click, and with which button?” |
| Drag trail | The path of a drag | During a drag | “Was that a drag?” |
| Spotlight | Every display dimmed except a circle around the pointer | When you turn it on | “Where should I look?” |
The first is a macOS setting: System Settings > Accessibility > Display, under Pointer. macOS can also mark clicks in its own recorder; in the Screenshot toolbar (Command-Shift-5, or ⇧⌘5), choose a record button, then Options > Show Mouse Clicks, and each click gets a black circle. The halo, per-button ripples, drag trail and spotlight are not built into macOS. The ones described here are the mouse effects in Typebar, a keyboard overlay for screen recordings and demos, and they are drawn on the screen, so they appear in recordings and screen shares.
The halo: for following the pointer
A halo gives the eye a bigger target than the pointer itself, and it moves with the pointer, so viewers never have to hunt for it. It earns its place when:
- The pointer travels a long way, across a large display or between panels.
- The screen is dense, such as a spreadsheet, a code editor or a settings window full of controls.
- Your viewers watch on phones, where a standard pointer is a few pixels wide.
- The interface mixes light and dark areas, where a black-and-white pointer is harder to spot on one or the other.
Its cost is that it is always there. A halo sitting over a line of text you are reading out partly covers it. Get in the habit of parking the pointer beside what you talk about, not on top of it.
A bigger pointer does part of the same job with no app at all, and the two work well together: a pointer a little bigger than normal, and the halo for long tutorials. Highlight the cursor in a Mac screen recording covers the pointer settings.
Ripples: for click-heavy interfaces
Ripples mark the moment of a click, then fade. They suit any video where the steps are mostly clicks: settings walkthroughs, web apps, forms, file management. Without them, a quick click is easy to miss, and viewers see a screen change with no idea what caused it.
In Typebar, left, right and middle clicks each get their own shape, so a right click no longer passes for a left click. The drag trail, a separate setting in the same pane, shows the path of a drag so it reads as one movement. Show right clicks and drags clearly in a tutorial video goes deeper on both.
Two things to watch:
- Every click is marked, including the absent-minded ones on empty space while you think. Rest your hand while you talk.
- One click marker at a time. If you turn on Typebar’s ripples, turn off Show Mouse Clicks in the Screenshot toolbar, or each click gets two marks on top of each other.
The spotlight: for talks and single moments
The spotlight dims every display except a circle around the pointer. It is for moments, not whole videos: “this switch here”, “this number in the corner”. Left on, it hides the context people need for the next step.
In Typebar, you set a Spotlight shortcut in Settings > Mouse. Press it to turn the spotlight on or off, or hold it to show the spotlight only while you hold it, which suits live talks well: hold, say the sentence, let go. Size runs from Small to Extra Large, and Dim from Light to Darkest.
For recordings, a lighter dim keeps the rest of the screen readable, which is often what viewers need. For a projector or a call, rehearse on the real setup, because both change how dark the dimmed part looks. Spotlight the pointer during a presentation on a Mac covers using it in front of a room.
Mixing them, and keeping it calm
The effects combine well when each one does its own job:
- Halo and ripples together is a good default for tutorials: the halo for where the pointer is, the ripples for what it did.
- Ripples and the drag trail belong together in any video with file management or design work.
- The spotlight on top of either, for a few seconds at a time.
What does not work is everything, all the time, at full strength. Viewers came to learn the app, not to watch the pointer. If you notice the effects more than the interface when you play back your test, take one away.
It also helps to keep separate setups for separate jobs. Typebar’s profiles keep a whole setup, including mouse settings, and switch from the menu bar menu, a shortcut, or by the app in front. Three come ready-made: Recording, Presenting and Learning. A recording setup might keep the halo and ripples on, while a presenting setup relies on the spotlight. One setup for recording, another for teaching: switch in a click shows how.
Picking by the kind of video
- A quick clip for a bug report. Show Mouse Clicks in the Screenshot toolbar, or ripples alone. Nothing else.
- A step-by-step software tutorial. A slightly bigger pointer, ripples and the drag trail, and the halo if the screen is busy.
- A coding screencast. The keys matter more than the pointer. Ripples for the occasional click; skip the halo if it sits over code you are reading.
- A live talk or webinar. The spotlight on a hold shortcut, plus ripples so the room sees each click.
- A vertical video for phones. Record a selected portion around the app, and use the halo, since the pointer is smallest there.
Whatever you choose, record ten seconds, stop, and watch it at the size your viewers will. That test settles more than any rule.
A practical note on Typebar: the ripples, trail and halo show while its overlay, the keyboard, the pill or both, is on screen. Like any window, the effects are left out of a capture of one other app’s window, so record the whole display or an area that includes them, and share your entire screen on a call.
Questions
Does macOS have a built-in cursor halo or spotlight?
No. macOS can make the pointer bigger and change its colors, and its recorder can mark clicks with a black circle. A halo, per-button ripples, a drag trail and a spotlight need an app that draws them.
Do these effects show up in Loom, OBS or a Zoom call?
Yes, because they are drawn on the screen. Capture or share the whole display, or an area that includes them; a capture of a single app’s window leaves them out.
Does Typebar move the pointer or click for me?
No. The effects only show what you do. Typebar never moves the pointer or clicks for you.
Typebar is $9 once for up to 5 Macs, and you can try everything free for 24 hours.