// GUIDE · UPDATED SEPTEMBER 2026
How to highlight your cursor on a Mac
For free, make the pointer bigger and change its colours in System Settings, Accessibility, Display. For a halo, spotlight, click ripples or a trail that viewers can follow, use an app like Overlaid, Mouseposé or Presentify.
The default macOS pointer is small, black and thin, which is exactly the wrong thing for a compressed video call. Viewers lose it constantly.
Start with what's built in. If that's not enough, an app can add effects that make the pointer impossible to miss.
METHOD 01
macOS pointer settings
Free, built in
Make the pointer bigger and more colourful, and shake the mouse to find it.
- 1Open System Settings, then Accessibility, then Display.
- 2Under Pointer, drag Pointer size up.
- 3Set a bright Pointer outline or fill colour.
- 4Turn on Shake mouse pointer to locate.
GOOD
- +Free
- +Works everywhere, forever
NOT SO GOOD
- −No halo, spotlight or click effects
- −A big pointer covers what you're pointing at
METHOD 02
Mouseposé
Subscription
Spotlight dimming, click colours and click sounds, with keystrokes.
- 1Download it from Boinx.
- 2Set a hotkey for the spotlight and choose its size and dimming.
GOOD
- +Very configurable spotlight
- +Click sounds
NOT SO GOOD
- −No drawing
- −Yearly plan
METHOD 03THAT'S US
Overlaid
$11.99 once, 7-day free trial
Five cursor effects you can cycle with one shortcut: click ripples, halo, spotlight, trail and a live magnifier.
- 1Open Overlaid.
- 2Press ⌃⌥C to cycle through the cursor effects, or pick one from the toolbar.
- 3Keep cycling to get back to a normal cursor.
GOOD
- +Five effects, one shortcut
- +Drawing and keystrokes in the same app
NOT SO GOOD
- −Paid after the trial
- −The halo comes in one style
// WHICHEVER YOU PICK
THREE TIPS.
Halo for recordings
A soft halo survives video compression much better than a bigger arrow does.
Spotlight for busy screens
Dashboards, spreadsheets and design files have too much to look at. Dimming the rest does the pointing for you.
Click ripples for software demos
They show when you clicked, not just where the pointer is, which matters most over a laggy call.
// FAQ
QUICK QUESTIONS.
Yes, when you share your entire screen. The effects are drawn on screen, so they're part of what gets shared.
Yes, as long as your recorder captures the whole display. Effects drawn by an app are part of the screen.
// COMPARE
- Overlaid vs MouseposéA long-running cursor spotlight and click visualiser from Boinx, with a keystroke display.
- Overlaid vs PresentifyThe best-known Mac screen annotation app: drawing, cursor highlight, spotlight, zoom and a whiteboard.
- Overlaid vs macOS's built-in toolsAccessibility Zoom, pointer settings and Screenshot Markup, already on every Mac.
// YOUR NEXT CALL
Draw on your screen in the next five minutes.
7 days free with every feature. Then a one-time purchase. No account, no subscription.