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Free pack · $0Here are my OpenScreen setup notes. They are free.
OpenScreen is a free, open source screen recorder for Mac and Windows. It zooms in on your clicks, puts your recording on a clean background and exports with no watermark and no subscription.
Show me the setupone prompt or 4 steps · on this page✦ Get it
OpenScreen
OpenScreen is a free, open source screen recorder. You record your screen, and it zooms in smoothly wherever you clicked, then puts the recording on a clean background with rounded corners and a shadow. No watermark, no subscription. The auto zoom follows your clicks, it is not AI watching your screen. These notes use the maintained version at getopenscreen, the official continuation of the original OpenScreen project by siddharthvaddem, which moved there with the original author's approval. For comparison, Screen Studio costs $29 a month, or $9 a month billed yearly.
What you need. A Mac on macOS 13 or later (Apple chip or Intel), or a Windows PC. You give it Screen Recording and Accessibility permission once.
Install OpenScreen, the free open source screen recorder, on this Mac. 1. Check what chip this Mac has and that it runs macOS 13 or later. Apple chip means the dmg with macOS-Apple-Silicon in its name. Intel means the one with macOS-Intel in its name. 2. Download the latest release only from https://github.com/getopenscreen/openscreen/releases/latest . This is the maintained version of OpenScreen. Do not download from the old archived repo or any other site. 3. Open the dmg and copy OpenScreen into Applications. Check it with spctl -a -vv -t exec on the app. It should say accepted and Notarized Developer ID. If it does not, stop and tell me. 4. Tell me to open it and allow Screen Recording and Accessibility in System Settings, Privacy and Security. Do not change those settings yourself. 5. Tell me that it sends one anonymous usage ping a day, and that I can switch it off in its settings. Do not sign me up for anything.
What OpenScreen does, and what it does not
It does not
- Use AI to pick the zooms. The zoom follows your clicks
- Zoom on every click. Clicks close together get merged
- Record without permissions. It needs Screen Recording and Accessibility
- Stay fully silent. It sends one anonymous usage ping a day unless you switch it off
It does
- Record your screen
- Zoom in smoothly where you click
- Add a background, rounded corners, a shadow and a smooth cursor
- Export in 1080p with no watermark
- Work with no subscription
✦ Set it up
Set it up in 4 steps
Free screen recordings that zoom in where you click.
Who it's for
Anyone who records their screen to show a website, an app or how something works, and wants it to look polished.
What you need
- A Mac on macOS 13 or later, Apple chip or Intel. Or a Windows PC.
- Screen Recording and Accessibility permission, which you give once in System Settings.
- About 264 MB more if you want automatic captions (a one-time speech model download).
The steps by hand
- Open the download page (the button above). On a Mac with an Apple chip, download the file ending in macOS-Apple-Silicon dmg. On an Intel Mac, download the macOS-Intel dmg. On Windows, download the Setup exe (x64 for most PCs).
- Open the file, drag OpenScreen into Applications and open it. The Mac app is notarized, so it should open normally. You need macOS 13 or later.
- When it asks, allow Screen Recording and Accessibility in System Settings, then Privacy and Security. It needs these to record your screen and follow your clicks. Quit and reopen OpenScreen after you allow them.
- Record a short test: 30 seconds with five or six clicks, a few seconds apart. Stop, check the zooms, then export.
How I'd use it
- Record a 30 to 60 second walkthrough of your website or your offer, and click slowly on the parts that matter.
- Leave a few seconds between clicks. Clicks close together get merged into one zoom.
- If you prefer, switch off the daily anonymous usage ping in the settings.
Honest limits, costs and licence
- It sends one anonymous usage ping a day. You can switch it off in the settings.
- The auto zoom follows your clicks. Space your clicks a few seconds apart, or some get merged into one zoom.
- It needs Screen Recording and Accessibility permission to work.
- The AI assistant is off by default and only works with your own AI key, which that AI company may charge you for.
- This is the maintained version at getopenscreen, the official continuation of the original project, which is now archived. Updates come from that team.
- Screen Studio for comparison: $29 a month, or $9 a month billed yearly (screen.studio, November 2026).
- Free and open source under the MIT licence.
Links
Why I share it
I don't make OpenScreen and nobody pays me to share it. It's a free tool I think is worth ten minutes of your time. Try it this week and tell me what you used it for first.
✦ Get unstuck
Stuck? Find your line.
It records a black screen or nothing at all
Open System Settings, then Privacy and Security, then Screen Recording, and turn on OpenScreen. Then quit OpenScreen fully and open it again.
It does not zoom where I click
Turn on OpenScreen under Privacy and Security, then Accessibility, and restart it. Also leave a few seconds between clicks, because clicks close together get merged.
I am not sure which download to pick
Click the Apple menu, then About This Mac. Chip with Apple means the Apple-Silicon dmg. Processor with Intel means the Intel dmg. On Windows, most PCs use the x64 Setup file.
I found another OpenScreen on GitHub
The original siddharthvaddem/openscreen is archived. The maintained version is github.com/getopenscreen/openscreen, which is the one linked on this page.
Captions are not working
Captions need a one-time speech model download of about 264 MB. Let it finish, then try again.
Is there a catch?
Free and open source (MIT). It sends one anonymous usage ping a day, and you can switch that off in the settings. The AI assistant inside is off unless you add your own AI key. Automatic captions need a one-time speech model download of about 264 MB. I am not saying it beats Screen Studio. It is a free option that does the main job.
My screen looks different from the steps
Apps change their screens. Use the official links above, which the people who make OpenScreen keep up to date.
None of these fixed it
Email joe@mastermindshq.business. Say which step you were on and paste what you saw.
✦ What next · free
Want the next step? Watch beginners build a website.
You came for a free tool. The next step is a website you own, built by you, that you can change any time.
It is a short video from my Website Workshop. You watch real beginners build a website just by telling AI what they want, in plain English. No code, no tech words.
- Made for people who are not technical. Most people in the workshop had only used ChatGPT.
- You also see real websites my students built and put live.
- Add your name, email and WhatsApp, and the video plays right there on the page.
Not for you? Close this page. Everything above stays free.
Created by Joe Che.
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