How to record a software tutorial people can actually follow on a Mac

27 October 2026 · 7 min read

A software tutorial people can follow covers one task, is readable at the size viewers actually watch it, and shows every action, including the keys you press, with a beat after each step so they can copy it. On a Mac you can record it with the built-in Screenshot toolbar (Command-Shift-5, or ⇧⌘5) or QuickTime Player. Most of what makes it easy to follow happens before you press Record.

Viewers rarely get lost because of a cluttered desktop or average audio. They get lost on a step they could not see: a shortcut pressed off camera, a right click that looked like a left click, a menu that opened and closed in half a second. Everything below is about closing those gaps.

Plan one task and write the steps down

Pick one task a viewer wants to finish and name the video after it. “Export a podcast episode as MP3” can be followed. “Everything in the Export menu” usually cannot.

Then write the steps as a numbered list, the way you would for a colleague who has never opened the app. Writing them down shows you the steps you do without thinking: a setting you changed years ago, a shortcut you press out of habit, a panel you always keep open. Those are exactly the steps viewers miss.

Before recording:

Put the app back in a state a new user would recognize. A hidden sidebar or a customized toolbar will not match the viewer’s screen, and they will stop to work out why.
Prepare sample files with plain names. Nobody should be reading your client list in the background.
Run through the steps once without recording, so the first take is not also the rehearsal.

Set the screen up so it reads on a laptop

People watch tutorials on laptops and phones, often in a browser window rather than full screen. Text that is comfortable on your large display can be unreadable there. Make everything bigger than feels natural:

Scale the display. In System Settings > Displays, pick a resolution toward Larger Text. Every app, menu and dialog grows together, which looks more natural than zooming a single app.
Zoom the content. Most browsers, code editors and Terminal make text bigger with Command-Plus (⌘+) and smaller with Command-Minus (⌘-).
Record an area, not the whole screen, when you can. A window filling a selected part of the screen gives a tighter, more readable frame than an entire desktop. If the video will be 16:9, keep the area roughly that shape, because most MacBook screens are taller than 16:9.

Then take away what the viewer does not need to see:

Turn on Do Not Disturb from Control Center so no notification banner lands in the middle of a take.
Hide desktop icons: in System Settings > Desktop & Dock, under Desktop & Stage Manager, turn off On Desktop next to Show Items.
Hide the Dock with Option-Command-D (⌥⌘D) if the task does not use it, and quit apps you will not touch.

Record with what is already on your Mac

Press Command-Shift-5 to open the Screenshot toolbar. The two recording buttons are Record Entire Screen and Record Selected Portion. Before you start, open the Options menu:

Microphone: choose your microphone if you narrate while you record, or leave it at None if you will add the voice afterward.
Timer: 5 or 10 seconds gives you time to get your hands in place.
Show Mouse Clicks: marks each click with a circle around the pointer.

Click Record. To stop, click the stop button in the menu bar or press Control-Command-Escape. In QuickTime Player, File > New Screen Recording opens the same toolbar. If you need scenes, a camera layer or live switching, OBS does that; for a single task, the built-in recorder is enough.

Make the pointer easy to follow

The pointer is the viewer’s guide, and at its default size it is hard to spot in a scaled-down video.

Make it bigger. In System Settings > Accessibility > Display, drag the Pointer size slider up a notch or two.
Move slowly and in straight lines, and stop on the thing you are about to click. The viewer’s eye needs a moment to arrive.
Keep it still while you talk. A pointer circling while you explain pulls attention away from what you are saying.
Make right clicks and drags look different. A click circle shows that you clicked, but viewers can easily miss which button it was, so say “right-click” aloud, or use a tool that gives each button its own mark. Typebar gives left, right and middle clicks their own ripple shape, can draw a trail behind a drag, and can keep a halo around the pointer, and all of these appear in recordings.

How to show mouse clicks in a screen recording on a Mac compares the options in more detail.

Show every key you press

Keyboard shortcuts are the steps viewers lose most often, because they leave no trace. You press a shortcut, a panel appears, and all the viewer sees is a panel appearing. If you did not say the keys aloud, they rewind to listen again, or give up.

Two habits fix most of it:

Say the shortcut as you press it, by its full name, as in Finder: “Command-Shift-N, New Folder.” Say it as you press, not after the result has appeared.
Show it on screen. A keystroke display in the recording reaches the viewers your voice does not: the ones watching with the sound off, at double speed, or who do not yet know where Option is.

Typebar handles the second part. Its pill shows each shortcut as keycaps with the name it has in the app you are using, such as “⇧⌘4 Screenshot Selection” or “⌘K Insert Link”. The names come from the app’s own menus, so what viewers read on screen matches what they will find in their menu bar. The on-screen keyboard lights each key as you press it, for viewers still learning where the keys are. Both appear in recordings like any window, and Typebar can show itself when a screen recording starts and hide when it stops.

If you might type something private during a take, turn on Hide letters: shortcuts and special keys still show, and letters show as dots. In password fields that macOS marks as secure, nothing typed shows at all. Why viewers pause tutorials, and how on-screen keys stop it goes further into the rewinding problem.

Pace it for someone copying along

Your viewer is doing the task in another window, or on another screen, while they watch. Every step takes them longer than it takes you.

Pause a beat after each step, and do not cut those pauses in the edit. They are where the viewer catches up.
Say what you are doing, then why. “Choose Export. We export rather than save, because the listener needs an MP3, not the project file.”
Follow your written steps in order, and say the step number if the task is long.
When you make a mistake, stop, wait a second, and redo the whole step. A clean cut is easy to make at a pause and hard to make mid-sentence.
Record the voice separately if talking and clicking at once makes you rush. Record the screen in silence, then narrate over it in your editor.

For longer videos on YouTube, add chapters: timestamps in the description, starting at 0:00, at least three of them, each chapter at least 10 seconds long. Viewers can then jump straight to the step they are stuck on.

A checklist before you press Record

One task, the steps written down, sample files ready
Display scaled toward Larger Text, app content zoomed in
Do Not Disturb on, desktop icons and Dock hidden
Pointer size up, clicks visible
Keys on screen, placed where they do not cover the work (see where to put a keystroke overlay)
Microphone chosen, or the voice planned for later
One silent run-through done

Typebar is $9 once for up to 5 Macs, and free for 24 hours with everything on.

Questions

How long should a software tutorial be?

As long as the one task takes, pauses included. If it runs much longer than you expected, it is usually two tasks, and two videos.

Should I record in 4K?

Size on screen matters more than resolution. A 4K recording of small text is still small text on a phone. Scale the interface up first, then export at whatever resolution your platform accepts.

Do I need on-screen keys if I say the shortcuts aloud?

Saying them reaches viewers who are listening. Showing them reaches viewers who watch muted, skim at speed, or cannot find the key you named. Doing both covers everyone.