# Option to highlight mouse cursor and mouse clicks



## spare change (Mar 3, 2018)

Hi,

The ability to highlight mouse cursor and mouse clicks is helpful when you're making a video tutorial or a video to demonstrate a bug when doing software testing (e.g. to demonstrate clicking a button not doing anything). I don't think I see this feature in OBS Studio so may I suggest adding it as a feature?

Here's a video showing what I mean. The software used is Screencast-O-Matic






This is another example using Camtasia.

I did a search on this forum and found several other posts asking about this feature so I think this is something that people would find useful to have


https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/show-mouse-click.74244/

https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/mouse-click-effect.76166/

https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/record-mouse-clicks-for-educational-videos.80775/

https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/mouse-cursor-click-indicator.65151/

https://obsproject.com/forum/thread...shments-such-as-glow-click-visual-cues.44097/

https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/how-to-highlight-cursor-and-mouse-clicks-in-obs.73279/

https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/can-i-display-a-highlight-at-the-cursor.72376/

https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/how-to-highlight-mouse-cursor-and-clicks.25761/

https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/cursor-halo-highlight.54807/


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## Peleke (Apr 11, 2018)

I would like to see the feature as an overlay (which is only visible with OBS) as well.


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## gvp9000 (Jun 17, 2018)

Try PointerFocus ... works for me.


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## Code-Remote (Sep 27, 2018)

I've been looking for a nice mouse highlight tool for 2 hours and find something different but really nice!

http://screenbrush.imagestudiopro.com/

With the free version, you can easily draw on your screen and also highlight the screen with the shift key.

If you're still looking for a cursor highlighter I've found Mouse Locator App  (http://www.2point5fish.com/)
but it's not very polished and has few configuration options

When I found Screenbrush it already made my day and stop searching, but I read on a forum post somewhere that if you change your search query to "mac Screen annotation software" you will have more results, maybe it helps in finding a better Cursor highlighter app. (https://apple.stackexchange.com/que...annotation-software-to-draw-on-any-app-in-osx)

Good luck!


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## Torical (Aug 9, 2019)

on windows under pointer options you can make it to where you can hit ctrl and it will show where your mouse is if thats all you need


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## dereksh23 (Nov 27, 2019)

Code-Remote said:


> If you're still looking for a cursor highlighter I've found Mouse Locator App  (http://www.2point5fish.com/)
> but it's not very polished and has few configuration options



This sort of thing is very hard to find for the mac. Thank you, this is exactly what I needed!


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## Dmitry83 (Feb 29, 2020)

Dear all, I tried PointerFocus and CursorAttention, but it does not work for me. I can see the cursor highlight, but it is not recorded in OSB. Can you advise if I should change any setting? I'm using Windows 7. Thank you!


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## Rafael Linux User (Mar 4, 2020)

Solutions given here are commercial applications and for Windows. As a Linux user, KDE Plasma brings some "Desktop effects" as "Mouse click animation" (https://youtu.be/a_JDhssrsMI?t=434) or "Track mouse", similar to Camtasia mouse effects. However, when I tried to capture that effects using OBS Studio on a XComposite window, they are not recorded (https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/kde-plasma-effects-on-xcomposite-source-not-captured.116078/).

Anyway, to avoid this issues, a common feature in OBS Studio to capture mouse clicks / wheel move and keyboard keystrokes (like "screenkey" application) would be the best idea.


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## lblb (Mar 25, 2020)

Maybe Windows users might be interested in the Cursor Highlighter program I created to help me with my online teaching. See a short demo video here, which has link to my group's website for the free download (sorry, PC only):








						Free programs for online lectures
					

UPDATE!!! "Cursor Highlighter" and the "PowerPoint Inking Toolbar" have been updated! See the following videos showcasing many of the new features: Cursor Hi...




					youtu.be
				




Let me know if you encounter any issues using it.


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## Wisket (Mar 26, 2020)

Hello.  I may have already posted this message, so apologies if this is the case.  I saw your video on YouTube and the program looks great.  I'm having to get to grips with OBS (since yesterday), which seems to be a great piece of software and being able to highlight the cursor will be especially useful.  Can you let me know how to get hold of your program?  Thanks


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## lblb (Mar 26, 2020)

Hi,
If you follow the link below the YouTube video, you should be able to get to my lab's website and the download link. Let me know if you need more help!
Cheers!


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## Wisket (Mar 31, 2020)

After trying PowerPoint Inking Toolbar.exe I find this:
Threat found - action needed.
Status: Active
Threat detected: Trojan:Win32/Fuery.B!cl
Alert level: Severe
Category: Trojan
Details: This program is dangerous and executes commands from an attacker.

Please respond...


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## lblb (Mar 31, 2020)

Hi,

First, you can be sure there is no virus or trojan in there. I have made these programs available through my research group's website and sharing something with a virus in it would not be very good for my career!

Second, the programs were written in the AutoHotkey language, and programs created in this language are often frequently flagged by antivirus software even though they don't contain any virus. (For example, here is a recent thread where it was discussed and where it says the same thing I just mentioned: https://www.autohotkey.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=56520). If it's of any interest, I'd be happy to upload the source code of these programs.

Third, several of my programs are widely used and available and there has never been any report of virus in them (even though when users try to install them they might get the same kind of message you are getting). For example, my most widely used program is Toolbar Creator. It is also written in AutoHotkey and has been downloaded over 100,000 times:






						TechnologyGuide
					

Thank you for visiting the TechnologyGuide network. Unfortunately, these forums are no longer active. We extend a heartfelt thank you to the entire community for their steadfast support—it is really you, our readers, that drove




					forum.tabletpcreview.com


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## qaywsx (Apr 2, 2020)

Sorry if I don't get the point but mouse highlighting works for me, of course only with "Desktop recording"? (obviously, it doesn't work with "Window recording", as the mouse is part of the OS-desktop, not part of the window).
And no third party software is actually needed on Windows, as you can use the "Lens" or the internal "Show pointer location" options with Ctrl pressing. I'm sure analog solutions are also available on other OS.


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## lblb (Apr 2, 2020)

Hi qaywsx,
If you don't need mouse highlighting, that's fine. But as you can see from the many threads about it just in this forum, many people have a need for it.
Also, it seems like the arguments you are using to say that it's not necessary are the exact arguments why people are trying to find ways to highlight the cursor. Whatever you mean by "mouse highlighting works for me", you said that this is very limited to "desktop recording". So this means it won't work for many, many situations. And if you are trying to prepare some kind of tutorial (or doing online teaching) where you want your audience to be able to follow the cursor more easily, the Ctrl thing in Windows or the Lens are really not what is needed.
As an example, trying to show things in Photoshop or in PowerPoint where the cursor becomes a single dot when you are using a pen is very difficult without some way to make the cursor more obvious.
But hey, to each their own. If you don't need it, that's fine. For my part, our whole school has switched to online teaching and many students have praised the use of a cursor highlighter in my lectures and asked me to show other instructors!


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## qaywsx (Apr 6, 2020)

Damn right, lblb... my user case is much more limited (or my needs much less constrained), which has led me to the (hurried) conclusion that it would fit everybody's needs. Sorry, this time I wasn't of much help, I hope to be of better use next time.


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## Slowfly (Apr 30, 2020)

lblb:
Your application look way cool! Unfortunately (running Win10-64) I found no way to overcome the download "virus" prevention from your Google Drive page. I do not doubt your confirmation that there is no virus - alone, I tried every flavour of browser to no avail. It could be that Google Drive prevents this as there is an alert mentioning that only you as the owner of the drive can download the doubtful file.
I'm sure your tool set in combination with OBS could be very useful for many users: do you have a possibility to store the files somewhere else for downloading?
Thanks for your great work!


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## lblb (Apr 30, 2020)

@Slowfly:
Yeah, it's annoying! Which program are you interested in? The cursor highlighter or the PowerPoint Toolbar? Or both? If it's the cursor highlighter, have you tried downloading the source code (which there shouldn't be any problems with), and either running the .ahk file directly or converting to a .exe file and using that (in both cases you would first need to install AutoHotkey)? This has worked with several people who contacted me by email because they were in your situation.


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## rampatra (May 21, 2020)

If anyone is still looking for a simple app to highlight cursor then Presentify might be a good option. You can highlight your cursor/mouse in different styles and also annotate any screen.






Mac App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/presentify/id1507246666

_Disclaimer: I am the developer of this app._


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## upgradeQ (Jun 26, 2020)

It is possible to highlight cursor within OBS , e.g using transparent red circle 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 source , and update position of that source via API . Here python implementation using mouse library.
See also :








						Option to highlight mouse cursor and mouse clicks · OBS Studio Ideas and Suggestions
					

The ability to highlight mouse cursor and mouse clicks is helpful when you’re making a video tutorial or a video to demonstrate a bug when doing softw




					ideas.obsproject.com


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## lblb (Jul 28, 2020)

For those who might be interested , I updated the free Cursor Highlighter program that I had shared in an earlier post (PC only!) There are many new features, and after receiving feedback from this community, I made it much easier to download and install. Here is a short demo video showcasing some of its features (also includes the link to the free download):









						Make the cursor easier to see during your online lectures with the free Cursor Highlighter
					

Cursor Highlighter (PC only) is a program that makes the mouse cursor easier to track. There are three modes: the basic function is to create a colored "halo...




					www.youtube.com
				




Questions and comments are more than welcome!


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## Excel Stuff (Aug 19, 2020)

I downloaded PointerFocus because of gvp9000's reply and was initially disappointed that it didn't seem to work with OBS.  The problem was that I was using multiple monitors: I had hoped to have OBS on one screen and Excel on the other while I recorded a training video.  Once I displayed everything on a single monitor, OBS picked up the PointerFocus cursor no problem - but that does mean I have a few seconds of infinite OBS to delete from the front of each training video!

PointerFocus is a paid-for program ($12.50 USD). The trial has pop-ups asking you to buy and register, and is disabled after 10 minutes. The program has a potentially useful hotkey banner, but this only works properly if you have a US keyboard; with other keyboards, some symbols are displayed incorrectly.


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## Azrieling (Aug 26, 2020)

Torical said:


> on windows under pointer options you can make it to where you can hit ctrl and it will show where your mouse is if thats all you need


I do this. It's great because it's useful outside of OBS. When I Zoom sharescreen (although I'm going to start using OBS as my camera) and when I take video screen cast with SnagIt.


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## marcelsavegnago (Sep 10, 2020)

rampatra said:


> If anyone is still looking for a simple app to highlight cursor then Presentify might be a good option. You can highlight your cursor/mouse in different styles and also annotate any screen.
> 
> View attachment 56473
> 
> ...



Works fine with OBS ?


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## aquatic7 (Sep 19, 2020)

For Linux user this may be a solution.
Simply download this cursor theme: https://www.gnome-look.org/p/999801/
Extract the file.
Copy the 7 folders inside bDMZT to /usr/shared/icons
Now you can change to the cursor and color you want to, from where you configure your mouse pointer theme, depending on your desktop environment.

It's a good, easy and working solution until OBS might integrate it one day.


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## Qwertydub (Sep 28, 2020)

For those on Mac this seems to work fine for showing mouse effects, hi lighting, clicking etc, along with keystrokes if you want that - at least in full screen capture mode: https://boinx.com/mousepose/


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## miguel_lopez (Nov 13, 2020)

It seems that there is no option to highlight the clicks of the mouse yet. This is a must have option if you want to made a tutorial for teaching.


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## upgradeQ (Nov 14, 2020)

There is also scripts for OBS Studio

Real-time mouse tracking(highlight) - https://obsproject.com/forum/resources/obs-studio-mouse-cursor-skin.1010/
Real-time zoom - https://obsproject.com/forum/resources/zoom-and-follow.1051/
Post-production mouse recorder - https://obsproject.com/forum/resources/obs-cursor-recorder.789/


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## XQSME (Dec 31, 2020)

I found a simple solution and the cursor highlighter is captured during recordings in OBS.  PC only as this is a Windows add on.  Works great.  Happy New Year!








						Get Mouse pointer highlight from the Microsoft Store
					

Mouse pointer highlighting program. Very small and convenient in one file.  Features. Mouse pointer highlight. Mouse click pointer highlight. Color, size adjustable.  Requirements. .NET Framework 4.7.2. windows 10 version 1703 or later.   THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY...




					www.microsoft.com


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## thewpguy (Feb 19, 2021)

Thank you XQSME the Get Mouse pointer highlight you mentioned for Windows is perfect for screen recording tutorials. I am using Display capture on my 2nd monitor and it is just brilliant and I can now replace camtasia completely when used with Davinci Resolve for any edits.


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## wlzc (Oct 18, 2021)

If you are using Windows, you can give a try to this free Autohotkey script: https://github.com/yunyi-the-coder/mouse-cursor-highlight-windows 

It's free and it works well for me so far.

The video is here:


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