Ask Dave Taylor
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Home
  • YouTube Videos
  • Top Categories
  • Subscribe via Email
  • Ask A Question
  • Meet Dave
  • Home
  • Mac & MacOS Help
  • How to Add the Cursor to MacOS Screen Captures?

How to Add the Cursor to MacOS Screen Captures?

May 22, 2023 / Dave Taylor / Mac & MacOS Help / No Comments

I take lots of screen captures on my Mac to document our software process and it works great. Except the cursor is always missing! Mostly that’s not a big deal, but when I show specific actions on a menu, it’s critical. How can I add the cursor to a screen capture in MacOS?

There are a remarkable number of screen capture and screen recording programs for the Mac system from ingenious and innovative programmers, but you can accomplish everything you need within the standard screen capture tool on MacOS 13 too! Turns out that adding the cursor to a screenshot is an option you can enable or disable, but it’s more subtle than that because it also depends on how you take your screen capture.

The standard way to interact with the Mac’s Screenshot program (which lives in Applications > Utilities, if you’re curious) is to use Command-Shift-3. Get the hang of that sequence and you can capture your screen as frequently as you desire. Switch to Command-Shift-4 and you’ll be able to click and drag to define a specific region of the screen instead of everything. Easy, right? Well…

SCREEN CAPTURE, NO CURSOR

Let’s go through the steps. Here’s a region capture I’ve produced with Command-Shift-4, pressed while I had my cursor on a specific menu choice in another app:

mac macos 13 screen capture cursor - no cursor

The blue background indicates which choice I was poised to make, but that cursor is definitely missing and should be added. You could theoretically add it after the fact with a bit of fiddling in a graphics editor but let’s check out the Screenshot program itself to see our options.

SCREENSHOT OPTIONS AND SETTINGS

Instead of your usual command sequences, use Command-Shift-5 (or launch Screenshot directly from Utilities). It produces a toolbar along the bottom of the screen:

mac macos 13 screen capture cursor - screenshot toolbar options

As you can see above, the bar has three screen capture options (full screen, designated window or defined region), two video capture options (full screen, defined region), and both an Options and Capture button. Few people realize it, but Screenshot can easily capture video of your screen too!

More importantly, notice the highlighted entry on the Options menu: “Show Mouse Pointer“. Enable that.

Done? Nope. Not quite…

SCREEN CAPTURE WITH MOUSE POINTER

The wrinkle is that if you do a full screen capture, it will indeed include the mouse, but if you do a region capture it will not because you’ll have to move the cursor to define your region. If I do a full screen capture then crop the image down in my editor, I get this:

mac macos 13 screen capture cursor - with cursor

Yay! Cursor included!

But that involved me manually cropping the image down to the portion I wanted. If I have “Show Mouse Pointer” enabled and use that Command-Shift-4 option to click and drag to define the capture region, look what happens:

mac macos 13 screen capture cursor - no cursor. still.

A bit disappointing. The solution is if you need to capture the cursor too, just remember to do full screen captures – Command-Shift-3 – and you’ll be fine. And it can capture whatever cursor you see on screen too:

mac macos 13 screen capture cursor - hand cursor

That’s it. Enable the required option then remember to do full screen captures and you’ll have the cursor included!

Pro Tip: I’ve been writing about the Mac since the very first system was released. Back in the era of the “fishbowl” design! Heck, I started my computing career on an Apple II. Please check out my extensive Mac Help Library while you’re visiting. Thanks!

About the Author: Dave Taylor has been involved with the online world since the early days of the Internet. Author of over 20 technical books, he runs the popular AskDaveTaylor.com tech help site. You can also find his gadget reviews on YouTube and chat with him on Twitter as @DaveTaylor.

Let’s Stay In Touch!

Never miss a single article, review or tutorial here on AskDaveTaylor, sign up for my fun weekly newsletter!
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please enter all required fields
Correct invalid entries
No spam, ever. Promise. Powered by FeedBlitz
Please choose a color:
Starbucks coffee cup I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!
mac screen capture, screen capture cursor, screenshot cursor

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search

Recent Posts

  • How Can I Customize my Android Phone Shortcuts Screen?
  • What Is The Importance Of A Strong Password?
  • An Introduction to the New Microsoft Windows Copilot AI Sidebar
  • How to Set a Max Volume Limit on your Child’s iPhone
  • How To Try Out the AI-Powered Google Search Generative Experience (SGE)

On Our YouTube Channel

Catalyst Cases Apple AirPods Pro 1st/2nd Gen Waterproof Case -- REVIEW

Kensington Pro Fit Ergo TB450 Trackball -- REVIEW

Categories

  • AdSense, AdWords, and PPC Help (106)
  • Alexa, Kindle, and Nook Help (103)
  • Amazon, eBay, and Online Shopping Help (166)
  • Android Help (241)
  • Apple iPad Help (151)
  • Apple Watch & Smartwatch Help (56)
  • Articles, Tutorials, and Reviews (347)
  • Auto Tech Help (21)
  • Business Advice (201)
  • Chromebook & ChromeOS Help (47)
  • Computer & Internet Basics (796)
  • d) None of the Above (166)
  • Facebook Help (386)
  • Google, Chrome & Gmail Help (197)
  • HTML & Web Page Design (248)
  • Instagram & Threads Help (53)
  • iPhone & iOS Help (642)
  • iPod & MP3 Player Help (173)
  • LinkedIn Help (90)
  • Linux Help (178)
  • Linux Shell Script Programming (90)
  • Mac & MacOS Help (932)
  • Most Popular (16)
  • Outlook & Office 365 Help (41)
  • PayPal Help (68)
  • Pinterest Help (54)
  • Reddit Help (21)
  • SEO & Marketing (82)
  • Spam, Scams & Security (102)
  • Trade Show News & Updates (23)
  • Twitter Help (225)
  • Video Game Tips (66)
  • Web Site Traffic Tips (62)
  • Windows PC Help (979)
  • Wordpress Help (206)
  • Writing and Publishing (72)
  • YouTube Help (47)
  • YouTube Video Reviews (159)
  • Zoom, Skype & Video Chat Help (66)

Archives

Social Connections:

Ask Dave Taylor


Follow Me on Pinterest
Follow me on Twitter
Follow me on LinkedIn
Follow me on Instagram


AskDaveTaylor on Facebook



microsoft insider mvp


This web site is for the purpose of disseminating information for educational purposes, free of charge, for the benefit of all visitors. We take great care to provide quality information. However, we do not guarantee, and accept no legal liability whatsoever arising from or connected to, the accuracy, reliability, currency or completeness of any material contained on this site or on any linked site. Further, please note that by submitting a question or comment you're agreeing to our terms of service, which are: you relinquish any subsequent rights of ownership to your material by submitting it on this site. Our lawyer says "Thanks for your cooperation."
© 2023 by Dave Taylor. "Ask Dave Taylor®" is a registered trademark of Intuitive Systems, LLC.
Privacy Policy - Terms and Conditions - Accessibility Policy