How to Add Arrows and Shapes to a Screen Recording on Mac
Add arrows, boxes, circles, highlights and callouts to a Mac screen recording after you record, time them to the action, and keep the video uncluttered.
To add arrows to a screen recording on a Mac, you need an editor that can place timed shapes over the video. QuickTime Player, Quick Look and Photos have no drawing tools for video. In Screen Bolt, stop the playhead where the arrow should appear, open the Annotations panel, click Add Annotation and choose Arrow. The arrow starts at the playhead and stays for 3 seconds. You can then change its position, color, line width and duration.
When annotations help
An arrow or box is worth adding when the viewer would otherwise have to search for something:
- A small control the cursor doesn't reach, such as a status icon or a toggle on a dense settings page.
- A value that matters, like a price, an error code or the line of code that changed.
- Two things the viewer should look at in the same frame, which a single zoom can't show.
- Something that happens without a click ("this field fills in automatically").
They don't help when the cursor is already on the thing, when your narration names it clearly, or when the element is large. In those cases an extra arrow is just noise.
Your options on a Mac
| Method | Draws arrows and shapes | Timed per shape | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| QuickTime Player, Quick Look, Photos | No drawing tools for video | No | Free, built in |
| A video editor that can overlay images | Only if you draw the arrow yourself as an image | Yes | Depends on the editor |
| Screen Bolt Annotations panel | Yes: arrow, rectangle, circle, highlight, line, callout | Yes, 0.5 to 30 seconds each | Included in the free version (free exports have limits, see below) |
The image-overlay workaround
If you already have a video editor that can place an image over a clip, you can draw an arrow in an image app, export it as a PNG with a transparent background, and place it over the video for a few seconds. This works fine for one or two arrows. Every change to color or position sends you back to the image app, though, so it gets tedious for a dozen.
Screen Bolt annotations
Screen Bolt draws the shapes inside its editor. You change color, position and timing in the project, and the annotations are rendered into the exported video. Annotations are available in the free version. Free exports carry a watermark and are limited to 720p and 3 minutes.
Add arrows to a screen recording in Screen Bolt
- Open the recording in the editor. A Screen Bolt recording opens there when you stop, unless After recording is set to Export to file. For an earlier project, use File ▸ Open recent or Open project... (⌘O, Command-O).
- Play the video and stop the playhead just before the moment you want to point at.
- In the sidebar on the right, open the Annotations panel.
- Click Add Annotation and choose Arrow. It is added at the playhead for 3 seconds.
- Under Position, set the start point (Start X/Y) and the end point (End X/Y). Watch the preview until the arrow points at the right spot.
- Choose a Color and a Line Width (1 to 10).
- Change Duration if 3 seconds is too short or too long.
- Press Space to play the section back and check it. ⌘Z undoes a change and ⇧⌘Z redoes it. The editor keeps 50 undo steps.
Annotate a video you recorded elsewhere
You can bring in a recording made with QuickTime or another app through File ▸ Create project from video.... Annotations work on it, with two differences from a Screen Bolt recording:
- Despite the menu name, no project is created, so your edits are not saved. Add the annotations and export in the same session.
- There is no cursor data, so you get no auto zoom and no cursor effects.
Which shape to use: arrow, rectangle, circle, highlight, line, callout
Every annotation has a Shape setting. If an arrow turns out to be the wrong choice, you can switch it to a rectangle without starting over.
| Shape | Use it for |
|---|---|
| Arrow | Pointing at one small thing: a button, an icon, a menu item |
| Rectangle | Outlining a field, a panel or a block of code |
| Circle | Ringing a round or compact element, like an icon or a status dot |
| Highlight | Marking an area such as a table row or a line of text, instead of outlining it. If the content underneath becomes hard to read, lower Fill Opacity |
| Line | Underlining a value or connecting two related items |
| Callout | A short label. Type it in the Text field ("Callout text"), which appears only for callouts |
Keep callout text to a few words. A full sentence is easier to read as a text overlay, which has its own font size and background settings. See how to add text to a screen recording.
Time annotations to the action
Timing matters more than the shape. A well-placed arrow that shows up late sends the viewer's eyes to something that has already happened.
- Start slightly early. Put the playhead a moment before the click or change so the viewer is already looking at the right spot.
- Keep pointers short. The 3-second default suits most arrows. Use Duration (0.5 to 30 seconds) for longer holds, such as a box around a value you discuss for a while.
- Show one at a time. Let one annotation end before the next one starts. If you need two arrows on screen together, the shot probably needs a zoom instead.
- Adjust on the timeline. Drag an item along the timeline to change when it starts, and drag its edges to change how long it lasts.
- Watch J and L. In the editor, J and L change the playback speed, and that speed is saved with the project and applied to the whole export. If you change it, play the annotated sections again to check them.
Choose color and line width
- Use one color per video, two at most. For example, one for "click here" and one for "watch out". Pick a color that contrasts with your app's interface instead of matching its accent color.
- Size lines for the final viewing size. A thin line that looks fine in the editor can disappear in a Slack embed or a 720p export. Start around the middle of the 1 to 10 Line Width range and check the playback in a small window.
- Keep highlights light. A highlight that hides the text it marks defeats the purpose.
- Write down your settings for a series. Presets store a project's look (background, cursor, zoom, padding and more), but they don't include annotations. Note your annotation color and line width and reuse them in each video.
Annotations vs zoom vs spotlight
Screen Bolt has three ways to direct attention, and each one fits a different situation.
| Tool | What it does | Best when |
|---|---|---|
| Annotation | Draws a shape over the video for a set time | The viewer needs the surrounding context, or two things at once |
| Zoom | Enlarges part of the frame. Generated from your clicks, or added with ⌘K (Command-K) | The target is small and the rest of the screen doesn't matter at that moment |
| Focus region (spotlight) | Dims everything outside a rectangle for 5 seconds, with Dim Amount, Feather and Corner Radius | One area should stand out, but the viewer should still see where it sits on the page |
A sensible order: let zooms do most of the work, use a focus region for "look at this panel", and save arrows for small details the other two don't make obvious.
Know the limits before you choose. Auto zoom only works on recordings made in Screen Bolt. A zoom always centers on where the cursor was, and you can't move its focus point by hand, so an arrow is the better choice when the target is away from the cursor. To add a focus region, use the Add Focus Region button in the Effects panel, because the F shortcut doesn't work in the current version.
For more detail, see zooming in on a screen recording and adding a spotlight effect.
If it doesn't work
The annotation isn't on screen. The playhead is outside the annotation's time range. Move the playhead into that range, or select the annotation and check its Duration. If the item isn't visible on the timeline, open the visible timelines menu and turn on Show Overlay Tracks.
The arrow lands in the wrong place during a zoom. Play every annotation that overlaps a zoom region and check where it points. If the two don't line up, move the annotation outside the zoom, or remove the zoom for that moment and let the arrow do the pointing.
Your annotations disappeared after reopening. The video was opened as a plain file, through Create project from video..., Open project... with a movie, or Recover unfinished recordings.... Edits to those aren't saved. Redo the annotations and export before you close the editor.
The export has a watermark, is 720p, or is refused. These are the free version's limits: exports are capped at 3 minutes and 720p, carry a watermark, and can't be GIFs. The 3-minute check uses the full recording length, so a long recording you trimmed under 3 minutes is still refused.
Callout text is hard to read in the export. Shorten it, or replace the callout with a text overlay and use its Font Size and Background settings.
For other editor problems, see the troubleshooting docs and the Effects and Overlays docs.
FAQ
Can I draw arrows while I'm recording? Not in Screen Bolt. The recording bar has no drawing tools. You add annotations in the editor after you stop, which also means you can fix their timing later.
Do annotations show up in GIF exports? Yes. A GIF includes your edits, annotations among them. GIF export requires a Screen Bolt license.
Are annotations included in the free version? Yes. Every editor feature is in the free version. Only exports are limited (watermark, 720p, 3 minutes, no GIF). As of November 2026, the $79 one-time license removes those limits.
Can I use my own arrow image instead? Yes. Import the image in the Media panel and it becomes an image overlay with its own position, size and duration. The overlay's Opacity slider isn't applied in exports, so don't rely on it to make the image see-through.