Spotlight the pointer during a presentation on a Mac
macOS has no built-in spotlight that dims the screen around the pointer. The nearest built-in tools are a bigger, colored pointer (System Settings > Accessibility > Display) and Zoom, the accessibility magnifier, which can enlarge the area under the pointer. To dim everything except a circle around the pointer, and turn it on with a shortcut mid-sentence, you need an app such as Typebar, whose Pointer Spotlight does exactly that and shows in screen shares.
Below: what a spotlight is for, what macOS can do on its own, how to use a real spotlight, and when zooming in is the better choice.
What a pointer spotlight is for
In a talk or a call, the hardest sentence to land is “look here”. A dense screen, such as a settings window with dozens of controls, a spreadsheet or a code editor, gives the audience too many places to look, and the pointer is the smallest thing on it. A spotlight darkens everything else for a moment, so the one thing left lit is the thing you are talking about.
It is a tool for moments, not a mode for the whole talk. Turn it on, say the sentence, turn it off. Left on, it hides the context people need to follow what comes next.
What macOS can do on its own
A bigger, colored pointer
In System Settings, choose Accessibility, then Display, and scroll to the Pointer section. Drag Pointer size toward Large, and set Pointer outline color and Pointer fill color to something that stands out. A bright fill with a white outline is easier for a room to follow than the standard black pointer. Make the Mac pointer bigger and easier to find goes through each setting.
Shake to locate
Shake mouse pointer to locate, in the same section and on by default, makes the pointer grow for a moment when you move the mouse quickly back and forth. It helps you find the pointer before you start pointing. It is too brief and too sudden to serve as a spotlight.
Zoom
Zoom magnifies the screen rather than dimming it. Turn it on in System Settings > Accessibility > Zoom:
- Use keyboard shortcuts to zoom. The zoom shortcuts do nothing until you turn this on. Then Option-Command-8 (⌥⌘8) turns zoom on and off, Option-Command-Equal Sign (⌥⌘=) zooms in, and Option-Command-Minus (⌥⌘-) zooms out.
- Use scroll gesture with modifier keys to zoom. Hold Control, the default modifier, and scroll to zoom in and out.
- Zoom style. Full Screen magnifies the whole display, Split Screen gives the zoomed view its own part of the screen, and Picture-in-Picture shows a magnifying window that follows the pointer while the rest of the screen stays as it is.
Picture-in-Picture is the closest built-in thing to a spotlight, because it singles out the area around the pointer. It still enlarges instead of dimming, which moves things around under the audience’s eyes.
On a call, test before you rely on Zoom, because what the other side sees depends on your settings. On macOS Sequoia, Zoom’s settings include Show zoomed image while screen sharing; on other versions, check with a test call.
Dim everything but the pointer with Typebar
Typebar is a keyboard overlay for recordings, demos and presenting. Among its mouse effects is a spotlight: it dims every display except a circle around the pointer. It works on its own, so the on-screen keyboard and pill do not need to be showing. It has its own shortcut, set under Spotlight in Typebar’s Settings > Mouse, so you can bring it up without reaching for a menu. Press the shortcut to turn the spotlight on or off, or hold it to show the spotlight only while you hold. In the same place, Size runs from Small to Extra Large and Dim from Light to Darkest.
In practice:
- Move the pointer to the thing you want people to see, and stop.
- Press your spotlight shortcut, or hold it down.
- Say what you need to say about it.
- Press the shortcut again, or let go, and carry on.
Things to know before you use it in front of people:
- Every display dims. If your notes or presenter view sit on a second display, they dim too. Glance at them before you light the pointer.
- Calls need the whole screen. The spotlight appears in screen sharing and recordings like any window, so in Zoom or Google Meet, share your entire screen. If you share one app’s window, the spotlight is not in what attendees see.
- Size the circle to the target. Small singles out one control; Extra Large keeps a whole panel lit. Set Dim on the real projector or in a test call, where the dimmed area can look lighter or darker than on your display.
- Keep a presenting setup. Profiles keep a whole setup, including mouse settings, and switch from the menu, a shortcut, or by the app in front. Presenting is one of the three ready-made profiles.
If you present with only a mouse or trackpad in hand, Typebar’s Click to Type lets you type by clicking keys on its on-screen keyboard. Presenting with only a mouse: type by clicking an on-screen keyboard covers that.
Spotlight or zoom: which to use
They solve different problems.
| Spotlight | Zoom | |
|---|---|---|
| What it does | Dims everything except a circle around the pointer | Enlarges part or all of the screen |
| Context | Stays in place, dimmed | Moves out of view as you zoom |
| Best for | A readable screen with too much on it | Text too small for the room to read |
| Built into macOS | No | Yes |
A simple rule: if the room can read the screen but does not know where to look, use a spotlight. If the room cannot read the screen, zoom, or better, make things bigger before you start. Screen sharing to a big room: what to make bigger on your Mac has a checklist for that.
Habits that make a spotlight work
- Point first, then light. Moving the circle around in search of the target is harder to watch than the screen without it.
- Keep it short. A few seconds per spotlight is plenty. The dimmed screen is still the context people need next.
- Hold still while it is on. A circle that drifts while you talk pulls attention away from what is inside it.
- Say what is in the circle. “This switch, Show Previews” is better than “this one here”. Anyone watching a recording later, or listening on a phone, follows the words.
- Rehearse on the real setup. Projectors and call compression change how dark the dimmed area looks. Try it on the actual projector or in a test call before the real one.
Questions
Does macOS have a built-in pointer spotlight or laser pointer?
No. macOS can make the pointer bigger and recolor it, and Zoom can magnify the area around it, but nothing in System Settings dims the screen around the pointer.
Will people on a Zoom or Google Meet call see the spotlight?
Yes, if you share your entire screen. If you share a single window, they see only that window, without the spotlight.
Does the spotlight show in a screen recording?
Yes. It is drawn on the screen, so a recording of the whole display, or of an area that includes it, picks it up. That makes it useful for tutorials as well as live talks.
Typebar is $9 once for up to 5 Macs, and you can try everything free for 24 hours.