Screen recording

Press ⌥⇧R to open the recorder. Choose a display, a window or an area, set your microphone and camera, then click Record. Press ⌥⇧R again to stop.

Choose what to record#

The screen dims and the area that will be recorded stays bright. Press 1, 2 or 3 to switch modes.

Microphone and camera#

Each has two controls in the recording bar. The icon turns the input on and off. The arrow next to it chooses which device to use.

• When the microphone is on, a level meter appears next to it so you can check that the right device is picking up your voice before you record.
• When the camera is on, a round preview appears above the bar at the size the camera will be in the recording. It is mirrored, and it also gives the camera time to adjust its exposure.
• Device choices are remembered by name. If a device is disconnected, Mochi uses the system default and shows a message. Your choice is restored when the device reconnects.

While recording#

A control bar appears on screen showing the elapsed time, the current state (Recording or Paused), your microphone level, and three buttons: Pause, Stop and Discard. Discard asks for confirmation before deleting the recording.

What is recorded#

Mochi records the screen at full resolution without drawing the mouse pointer into the video. Pointer movement, clicks and keystrokes are saved as separate data. The camera is recorded to its own file.

Zoom, the pointer, the background, padding, rounded corners and the camera position are all applied when the video is produced, not while recording. This means you can change any of them later, and that zooming in uses the full-resolution recording rather than enlarging a compressed image.

Automatic zoom#

When you stop recording, Mochi plans zooms based on where you clicked and typed. Points worth knowing:

• Typing counts as activity, not only clicking. Filling in a form is detected even when the mouse does not move.
• How closely your activity was grouped decides how far it zooms in. Work in one small area zooms in more than activity spread across the screen.
• The zoom target stays still while you type, and for half a second after each click, so moving the mouse away does not pull the view off what you were doing.
• If zooms would cover more than about 85% of the recording, the weakest ones are removed.
• It works without the Accessibility permission. Only typing detection and the on-screen keystroke display need it.

When recording stops#

A preview card appears playing the edited version, with zooms, background and camera already applied. From the card you can open the editor, export the video, reveal it in Finder or delete it. To open the editor automatically instead, turn on Settings > Recorder > Open the editor when a recording stops.

The two-minute limit on the free version#

Free recordings stop after two minutes. Automatic zoom, cutting and the editor work the same as with a licence, and free exports carry a small “Shot with Mochi” badge in the bottom corner — visible in the editor while you work, so it is never a surprise at the end. The control bar shows 0:42 / 2:00 from the start. When the limit is reached, the recording stops and is saved. Nothing is lost.