Show keystrokes in OBS on a Mac without a plugin
You do not need an OBS plugin to show keystrokes on a Mac. OBS records whatever is on the display it captures, so a keystroke overlay that sits on screen as an ordinary window lands in the video, as long as your screen source is macOS Screen Capture set to Display Capture. Window Capture and Application Capture record one window or one app, and the overlay is left out.
So the job comes down to two decisions: which capture method you use, and where the overlay sits on your display. Below is how to set up both, how to keep the keys when you only want one app in the frame, and how to build scenes around them.
Pick the capture method that includes the overlay
On a Mac, the screen source in OBS is called macOS Screen Capture. To add one:
- In the Sources panel, click the + button and choose macOS Screen Capture.
- Give it a name and click OK.
- In the properties window, set Method to Display Capture and pick the display you record.
- Leave Show cursor on, unless you are hiding the pointer on purpose.
The Method menu has three choices, and they decide whether your keys appear:
| Method | What it records | Keystroke overlay in the video |
|---|---|---|
| Display Capture | Everything on one display | Yes, wherever it sits on that display |
| Window Capture | One window | No |
| Application Capture | The windows of one app | No, the overlay belongs to another app |
The overlay is a separate window owned by a separate app, so it reaches the recording only when the capture covers the part of the screen it sits on. With two displays, keep it on the one you capture.
OBS needs Screen Recording permission for any of this. If the preview stays black, open System Settings, choose Privacy & Security, and turn on OBS under Screen Recording (in macOS 15 Sequoia and later the list is called Screen & System Audio Recording). Then quit OBS and open it again.
One more checkbox in the Display Capture properties is worth turning on: Hide OBS from capture. It keeps OBS’s own window out of the recording, so you do not get the preview inside the preview when OBS is open on the display you record.
Place the overlay on your Mac, not in OBS
With Display Capture, the overlay’s place on your screen is its place in the video. OBS cannot move it on its own, because to OBS it is just more pixels on the display. So you place it on the Mac:
- Pick a corner the app leaves empty. Editors, browsers and design apps all keep their busiest parts in different places, so look at the app you are about to record before you decide.
- Leave room for a webcam. A camera added in OBS is a source layered on top of the screen, so it can cover the keys. Put the camera in one corner and the keys in another.
- Judge the size in the OBS preview, not on your screen. The overlay takes up the same share of the frame as it does of your display. On a large external display that share is smaller than you think, and on a laptop screen it is larger.
The preview is the honest test because it is the frame your viewers get. If the keys look cramped there, make them bigger on the Mac rather than scaling the whole display source up in OBS, which would blow up the rest of the screen too.
In Typebar, drag the board or the pill by its handle to where you want it. Each mode, Keyboard, Pill or both together, keeps its own size and place, so a large keyboard for one kind of video and a compact pill for another do not undo each other. Where to put a keystroke overlay so it never covers the action goes through the trade-offs corner by corner.
When you only want one window in the frame
Window Capture is popular because it trims away the desktop, the Dock and every other app. The cost is the overlay. There are two ways to have both a tidy frame and visible keys.
Record the display and crop it. Use Display Capture, then crop the source to the area you want, with the app and the overlay inside it. Right-click the source in the Sources panel, choose Transform, then Edit Transform, and set the Crop values. You can also hold Option and drag an edge of the source in the preview. Keep the app window in the same place between takes, or the crop will cut into it.
Give the overlay a source of its own. Keep Window Capture for the app. Add a second macOS Screen Capture set to Display Capture, and crop it down to the rectangle where the overlay sits. Drag it above the window source in the Sources list so it draws on top, then move it to wherever you want the keys in the frame. The crop also shows whatever is behind the overlay on your real screen, so a pill over a plain background looks cleanest.
The second method is more setup, but it lets you place and scale the keys in OBS without moving anything on your Mac.
Scenes that switch cleanly
Scenes are where OBS earns its place for tutorial work. A set that covers most videos:
- Screen: Display Capture with the overlay in view, plus your microphone.
- Screen and camera: the same, with a webcam source in the corner opposite the keys.
- Camera only: for the intro and the sign-off, with no screen and so no keys.
Click a scene in the Scenes panel to switch, or give each scene a hotkey in Settings, under Hotkeys. Remember that the overlay sees every key you press, including the ones meant for OBS. A scene hotkey pressed mid-take shows up in the video like any other shortcut, so pick combinations you will not use in the app you are recording, and trim them out in the edit if they bother you.
Show the keys only when you want them
The overlay is on your screen whenever it is showing, which is not always what you want while you set up a scene or read notes between takes.
- A shortcut. In Typebar, Control-Option-Command-K (⌃⌥⌘K) shows or hides the overlay, and a triple tap of fn does the same. Both can be changed in Settings > Shortcuts.
- Automatic. Settings > Recording has “Show when a screen recording starts”, which shows the overlay while your screen is recorded or shared and hides it when that stops. With OBS, expect the overlay to stay up for as long as a screen source is active in OBS, not only while you are recording: OBS captures the screen from the moment the source is live, and your Mac may count that as recording the whole time. The shortcut gives you finer control between takes.
- A profile. Settings > Profiles has a ready-made Recording profile. A profile keeps the look, mode, sizes and places, pill, mouse and sounds together, so one switch puts everything where your OBS scenes expect it.
If you also type things you would rather not publish, such as an email address or a search, Typebar’s Privacy pane has Hide letters, which shows shortcuts and special keys while letters appear as dots. Make a keystroke overlay appear only while you record covers the automatic options in more detail.
Questions
Does OBS have a built-in way to show keystrokes on a Mac?
No. OBS has no keystroke source of its own. It records what is on the display, so the keys have to be drawn on screen by something else, and Display Capture picks them up.
Why do my keys show on screen but not in the OBS preview?
Almost always because the source uses Window Capture or Application Capture, or because the overlay is on a different display from the one you capture. Switch the Method to Display Capture, or add a cropped display source for the overlay as described above.
Does the same setup work for streaming?
Yes. Streaming and recording use the same scenes and sources, so whatever is in the preview goes out in the stream too. Show the keys you press while streaming from a Mac covers what changes when the audience is live.
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