Annotate Screen annotation for macOS
Draw, label, and bring focus to anything on your Mac.
For the moments when showing is easier than
explaining.
Highlight what matters, point to a detail, and add a label. Turn a launch brief into a clear explanation, right on your screen.
Annotate's floating toolbar sits over a launch brief. The sentence Start with one shared project is highlighted in yellow. A magenta arrow points to the first-session plan, and a Start here label appears above it. The finished annotations remain visible at the end.
Number the steps and guide attention with a cursor spotlight, click effects, and background dimming. Help people follow along while you share your screen.
Magenta counters mark three steps: choose a project, allow comments, and copy its sharing link. A yellow spotlight follows the cursor, click effects make clicks visible, and brief background dimming focuses attention. The button confirms Link copied and a message says Ready to share with your team.
Put feedback directly on a design. With Always-On, keep your annotations visible while you interact with the app underneath.
A checkout button is circled in magenta. A note says Name the next step, with an arrow pointing to suggested button copy. The presenter switches to Always-On and opens Preview in the underlying page. The button changes to Review order while the annotations remain visible.
Stay in the flow
Open the overlay, make a mark, and carry on. Annotate sits in your menu bar, ready when you need it.
A small tool forLet annotations fade as you talk, or keep them until you clear them. Set how long they hold before fading with a Fade Delay from 0.25 to 5 seconds. Space switches between Fade and Persist while the overlay is active.
Always-On keeps your marks visible while clicks pass through to the apps underneath. Shift+Escape switches from the drawing overlay to Always-On.
Turn on a whiteboard or blackboard background that follows your system appearance. Adjust its opacity to keep as much context as you need.
Choose tool shortcuts, cursor styles, and a default tool, and keep cursor effects out of apps like VMs and games. Add optional sound feedback with Chalk, Paper, Marker, Pencil, or Typewriter themes.
The toolkit
Draw with a shortcut or a click on the floating toolbar. These are the default tool keys; you can change or clear them in Settings.
Draw freehand. Hold Shift for a straight stroke.
Point to the important bit. Shift snaps to 45°.
Connect ideas with a clean, straight line.
Add a translucent stroke over text or a detail.
Frame an area. Hold Shift for a square.
Circle a detail. Hold Shift for a perfect circle.
Hide what's underneath. Use Solid for passwords and other secrets.
Number the steps, Bordered or Filled. Command+R resets the count.
Add a label that wraps. Drag its handles to set the width; Shift+Enter adds a line break.
Move, copy, paste, and duplicate your annotations.
Drag over an annotation to remove it. Undo brings it back.
Hold Option to draw rectangles, circles, and redactions from the center. Combine it with Shift for centered squares and circles. Redactions never fade.
Color & size, on the spot. Open a picker right on the overlay. Size adapts to strokes, text, or counters. Customizable in Settings
A little bigger. A little smaller. Step through sizes without opening a picker. Customizable in Settings
Keep your tools close. Show or hide the floating toolbar, and drag it anywhere on each display. Run it as a row or a vertical column, and turn off Show shortcuts in toolbar for an icon-only bar. Customizable in Settings
For your next “let me show you”
Walk through a demo with arrows, click effects, and a spotlight that helps people follow your pointer.
Number the steps in a lesson, sketch on a board, or leave a label beside the detail you’re explaining.
Circle a line of code, mark up a design, or keep reference notes visible while you work together.
Annotate requires macOS 14 Sonoma or later and supports Apple Silicon and Intel Macs. It uses native Liquid Glass on macOS Tahoe 26, with an adaptive appearance on earlier versions.
Launch Annotate and open Settings from its menu bar icon. Set your Activation Shortcut in General, then use it to open the overlay. Choose a tool and draw. Escape closes the overlay; if you’re typing a label, Escape commits the text first.
Yes. Share or record your entire display to include the annotation overlay. Sharing only a single application window may leave the overlay out. Annotate provides the marks and cursor effects; your meeting or recording app handles the broadcast. Cursor effects hide while you take a screenshot with Shift+Command+4 or 5, and still show in screen recordings.
Annotations are processed locally on your Mac. Annotate has no account or cloud annotation service. Its Sparkle updater connects to GitHub to check for and download app updates.
Yes. Annotate is free to download and use, with source code available under the MIT License. There is no subscription or signup.
The downloaded app includes automatic update checking through Sparkle, with signed updates. You can also choose Check for Updates from the menu bar. If you manage the app with Homebrew, use brew upgrade --cask annotate.
Ready when you are
A little app for your next big explanation.
Free, open source, and at home on your Mac.