Record the screen from the notch

One click to start, the elapsed time running in the notch while it does, one click to stop. Notchydrives macOS's own recorder — the ⇧⌘5 one — so you get the system's quality and none of its hunting for the stop button.

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You can always see it is running

A recording you forgot about is the expensive kind. The notch carries the elapsed readout the whole time, and the same control that started it stops it — no toolbar, no menu-bar square to find.

Region, window or whole screen

Choose an area opens the standard macOS selector on its video tab. Whole screen starts instantly. Pick the one you use and the button stops asking.

The panel stays out of the frame

Notchy closes itself before the recorder starts, so it is not in your video and not covering the region you are dragging out.

The rest of the capture kit

Stills land on the screenshot shelf with markup and redaction, the keystroke visualizer shows what you pressed, and the camera mirror checks your framing first.

At a glance

Everything Notchy does, for free

  • Fluid Dynamic Island animations on the Mac notch
  • Command palette (⌃⌥K) — every action one keystroke away
  • Knock — double-tap a modifier key to open the notch
  • AI usage tracker (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Copilot)
  • Detach any tab into a menu-bar popover
  • Now Playing music controls (Apple Music & Spotify)
  • Time-synced karaoke lyrics under the notch
  • Mac clipboard history shelf (password-manager safe)
  • Searchable clipboard — filter by text, file name, or OCR'd words
  • On-device OCR — copy a screenshot, get its text (Apple Vision)
  • Window snapping — drag a window to the notch to tile it
  • App Launcher — pin apps to the notch, open with one tap
  • Text snippets — TextExpander-style pastes from the ⌘K palette
  • One-tap screen capture to clipboard + shelf
  • Color eyedropper — sample any pixel, hex auto-copied
  • System-wide mic mute for every meeting app at once
  • Keystroke HUD for demos & screencasts (secure-input safe)
  • Keyboard cleaning lock with countdown island (⌘⎋ unlocks)
  • Menu-bar icon hiding — Bartender-style separator & chevron
  • Live CPU / memory / network stats flyout
  • Open GitHub PR count in the notch (Keychain-stored token)
  • iPhone-style call island — Answer/Decline FaceTime on the notch
  • Notch Terminal — real VT100/xterm shell in a PTY, its own tab
  • Privacy Indicator — pill when any app's camera or mic goes live
  • Caps Lock HUD — brief island on every toggle
  • Full Charge island with adjustable threshold + low-battery sound
  • Alt HUD styles — edge-pinned bar or circular gauge off the notch
  • Audio-reactive Now Playing visualizer (real FFT of system audio)
  • Custom closed-notch idle animation — drop in your own Lottie JSON
  • Drag-and-drop file drop shelf — persists across relaunches
  • Zip & unzip files right from the shelf
  • Image converter (HEIC, PNG, JPEG, TIFF, PDF) + video → GIF
  • Run Apple Shortcuts with one tap
  • Screenshots auto-staged on the shelf, ready to drag
  • Download finished alerts with Reveal in Finder
  • USB drive mount island with one-tap Eject
  • Apple Reminders quick capture & due list
  • macOS Pomodoro notch timer & stopwatch — streaks + 7-day chart
  • Resizable expanded panel (width & height, live preview)
  • System HUDs (volume, brightness, battery)
  • Audio output switcher (speakers, AirPods, monitor)
  • AirPods connection manager & battery
  • Magic Mouse, Keyboard & Trackpad battery + low-battery alerts
  • Quick notes & Calendar widgets
  • Camera Mirror (check your appearance)
  • Keep Awake (caffeine toggle)
  • Teleprompter (Cuely) for Zoom calls
  • Focus-aware alerts & native haptic feedback
  • Lock screen widgets & hide-the-notch mode
  • 133 languages, fully localized
  • Native SwiftUI, tuned for Apple Silicon

Screen recording on Mac — FAQ

How do I record my screen on a Mac?

macOS has a recorder behind ⇧⌘5, but starting it means a floating toolbar and stopping it means finding a menu-bar square. Notchy drives that same recorder from the notch: one click starts, the notch shows the elapsed time while it runs, and the same click stops it.

Is it a separate recorder?

No, and deliberately. Notchy uses macOS's own screencapture recorder — the one ⇧⌘5 uses — so the file format, the quality and the permission prompt are exactly what you already trust. Rolling a custom encoder would mean a second screen-recording permission and no visible gain.

Can I record just a region or one window?

Yes. Choose an area opens the standard selector on its video tab, so you can drag a region or pick a window. Whole screen skips the selector and starts immediately. The mode is a setting, so the button does what you meant without asking each time.

Does the notch appear in the recording?

No. The panel gets out of the way before the recorder starts, so it is neither in the video nor sitting over the area you are about to drag out.

Where do the recordings go?

Wherever macOS puts them — the recorder writes the file itself, and Notchy does not intercept it or re-encode it.

Is there a watermark or a time limit?

Neither. It is the system recorder, and Notchy is free with no trial or subscription.

Can I show my keystrokes while recording?

Yes — Notchy's keystroke visualizer draws the keys you press on screen, which is what makes a tutorial recording followable.