Made for macOS

Every key you press,

on screen. in the recording. easy to follow.

KeyPulse shows every key you press as a clean overlay that fades on its own. No camera pointed at the keyboard, no keystrokes added in the edit, no saying "and now I press Command-Shift-4" out loud.

Download KeyPulse on the Mac App Store
KeyPulse showing key presses as an on-screen overlay on macOS
KeyPulse logo

KeyPulse - On-screen Key Press & Clicks

People watching a screencast keep rewinding to catch a shortcut. KeyPulse puts the keys on screen as you press them, holds each one long enough to read, then lets it fade. Your audience follows along without you narrating every combination.

Available on macOS
Every Key, Readable

Presses land in a live trail that stays up for as long as you set, then fades. Held modifiers show while you hold them, and a key you hammer collapses into a counter.

Private When It Matters

Private Pulse shows tempo and activity and never a single character. Good for calls and focus sessions where nothing you type should be readable.

Stays On Your Mac

No account, no cloud, no telemetry. KeyPulse asks for Input Monitoring and nothing else - it never requests Accessibility, so it can't click or type for you.

KeyPulse output modes - Key Trail, Commands and Private Pulse
Output Modes

Three ways to show your keyboard

How much you reveal is up to the room you're in. Switch between the three from the menu bar without stopping what you're doing.

Key Trail
Everything you press, characters included. Use it when the audience has to follow key by key.

Commands
Only modifier shortcuts like Command-Shift-4 or Option-Command-I. Ordinary typing stays invisible, so the shortcut is what people notice.

Private Pulse
Activity and tempo, never characters. Built for focus sessions and calls.

KeyPulse Private Pulse mode showing typing tempo without characters
Private Pulse

Show the rhythm, hide the words

Sometimes people should see that you're working, not what you're writing. Private Pulse draws the tempo as a moving waveform with a keys-per-minute readout, and no character ever reaches the overlay.

Safe to leave running
Share a screen on a call without worrying about what lands on the recording.

Secure Input is handled
When macOS locks a password field, the system stops sending keys. KeyPulse tells you on screen instead of just going blank.

KeyPulse overlay styles - Voltage, Carbon, Paper, Matrix, Ember and Caption
Overlay Styles

Tune it to your screen

Six styles - Voltage, Carbon, Paper, Matrix, Ember and Caption - so the trail sits on a dark editor or a bright slide deck without fighting the background.

⇧⌘4

Nine anchor positions
Three sizes and a trail that lasts anywhere from 0.8 to 4 seconds.

Wherever you present
Main display, the one holding your cursor, or every connected display. Follow cursor keeps the trail next to the pointer.

KeyPulse effects - mechanical key sounds, click rings and cursor halo
Effects

Clicks you can see, keys you can hear

A mouse click is invisible in a recording until you draw it. Click rings mark every click and a cursor halo keeps the pointer findable on a busy screen.

Mechanical key sounds
Tactile Thock, Clicky or Soft Linear, with a volume slider. Nothing about what you type changes.

Click rings & cursor halo
Viewers see where you clicked instead of guessing from the result.

Workspaces

Focus, Teach and Stream in one click

Each one switches mode, style, sound and effects together, so going from deep work to recording is a single click.

Focus

Quiet, characters hidden. For when the app is just running in the background.

Teach

Spells out every key with held modifiers, so a class can copy along.

Stream

Commands mode with click rings and the Ember style, ready for an audience.

Yours to adjust

Start from a workspace, then change anything - mode, style, sizes, effects.

KeyPulse workspaces - Focus, Teach and Stream presets
Ready to record in one click

Pick the workspace that matches what you're about to do and everything else follows.

KeyPulse local insights - keys per minute, streak and daily counts
Local Insights

See your typing rhythm live

Keys per minute, current streak, keys today and all time, plus recent commands and the combinations you reach for most.

Numbers, not transcripts
Counts and command names, never the text you wrote.

Off or gone in one click
Statistics can be switched off entirely, and one click erases what's stored.

The small stuff that adds up

Details you only notice when they're missing.

Trail duration

Anywhere from 0.8 to 4 seconds, so keys hang around exactly as long as your pace needs.

Nine anchor positions

Park the overlay anywhere on screen, in one of three sizes.

Multi-display

Main display, the display holding your cursor, or every connected display at once.

Follow cursor

The trail travels with the pointer, so it's always near what you're pointing at.

Held modifiers live

Command, Option, Shift and Control show while you hold them, not after.

Repeats collapse

Hold a key down and it becomes one entry with a counter instead of a wall of characters.

Honest about Secure Input

When macOS stops delivering keys, KeyPulse says so on screen rather than silently stopping.

Input Monitoring only

It never asks for Accessibility, so it cannot click or type on your behalf.

One-minute setup

A three-step welcome tour gets you going, and you can replay it later from Settings.

KeyPulse for teaching, streaming and focus
Made For

One app for teaching, streaming and focus

Anywhere someone is watching your screen and trying to work out what you just pressed.

  • Tutorials and screencasts, where viewers keep rewinding to catch a shortcut
  • Live streams and product demos
  • Classes and workshops
  • Pair programming and remote calls
  • Focus sessions, where only the tempo needs to show
Free & Plus

Free forever, Plus when you present

The everyday modes cost nothing. Plus is for the days you're on camera.

Free

Free forever, no account.

  • Key Trail and Private Pulse modes
  • Voltage and Carbon overlay styles
  • The overlay in its standard position
  • Live rhythm and counters
  • Menu bar panel and the Control-Option-K shortcut
Plus

KeyPulse Plus

Everything in Free, plus the presenting kit.

  • Commands mode for shortcut-only overlays
  • All six styles: Voltage, Carbon, Paper, Matrix, Ember, Caption
  • Mechanical key sounds, click rings and cursor halo
  • Every anchor position, multi-display and follow cursor
  • Your command history

Monthly or yearly, or buy a lifetime licence once.

Download KeyPulse on the Mac App Store

Subscriptions are billed through your Apple Account and renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in Account Settings.

FAQ

Questions, answered

The things people ask before they download.

What does KeyPulse do?

KeyPulse shows your keyboard on screen. Every key you press appears as a clean overlay, stays readable for a moment and then fades, so viewers can follow a shortcut without you pointing a camera at the keyboard or saying it out loud.

What are the three output modes?

Key Trail shows everything you press, characters included. Commands shows only modifier shortcuts such as Command-Shift-4, so ordinary typing stays invisible. Private Pulse shows activity and tempo but never characters, which suits focus sessions and calls.

Is what I type sent anywhere?

No. What you type never leaves your Mac. There is no account, no cloud and no telemetry, and local statistics can be switched off or erased with one click.

Which permissions does KeyPulse need?

KeyPulse asks for Input Monitoring and nothing else. It never requests Accessibility, so it cannot click or type on your behalf. macOS asks for the permission the first time you switch the visualizer on, and you can revoke it in System Settings at any time.

What happens when I type a password?

When macOS turns on Secure Input for a password field, the system stops delivering keys to KeyPulse. Rather than going blank without explanation, KeyPulse says so on screen so you know why the trail paused.

Is KeyPulse free?

Yes. Key Trail and Private Pulse, the Voltage and Carbon styles, the overlay in its standard position, live rhythm and counters are free forever. KeyPulse Plus adds Commands mode, all six styles, mechanical key sounds, click rings and cursor halo, every anchor position, multi-display and follow cursor output, and your command history - as a monthly or yearly subscription, or a one-time lifetime licence.

What does KeyPulse require?

macOS 14 or later, plus Input Monitoring permission so KeyPulse can see key presses.

pattern-lines
Privacy first

Nothing you type leaves your Mac

No account, no cloud, no telemetry. KeyPulse asks for Input Monitoring and nothing else, and the local statistics can be switched off or wiped whenever you want. Make every key visible, not vulnerable.

No account

Works offline

macOS native

Download KeyPulse on the Mac App Store

Requires macOS 14 or later.

KeyPulse privacy - no account, no cloud, no telemetry