draw on your screen, while it is still live
updated · by Anton Shakirov
on a call, the thing you are pointing at is on the screen you are already sharing, and pointing at it with words takes four sentences. hop puts a transparent layer over everything, so the arrow lands on the button and the circle lands round the number.
| what it is | draw on screen inside hop, a menu bar app for macOS |
|---|---|
| price | free — no trial, no pro tier, no account |
| licence | MIT, source on GitHub |
| requires | macOS 14 or later, Apple silicon or Intel |
| works offline | yes |
| data sent anywhere | none |
when you need it
- explaining a design or a bug on a call, on the screen the other person is already watching
- recording a walkthrough where the pointer alone is not enough
- teaching: circling the line that matters while the code stays live and scrollable
- reviewing a layout out loud, marking three things and then clearing them
how to draw on the screen on a Mac
- press ⌃⌥D, or start the module from the panel
- pick a tool: pencil, marker, arrow, line, box, oval, numbered steps or a caption, each on its own letter
- draw straight on whatever is on the screen — the layer covers every display
- press ⌃⌥P to hand the screen back to the apps underneath, and press it again to carry on drawing
- save or copy the screen with the drawing on it, or clear the layer and close it
the screen is yours again with one key
a layer that eats every click is a Mac that looks frozen. so the mode is explicit: while a tool is in hand a yellow border runs round the screen.
the arrow at the head of the row — and ⌃⌥P from the keyboard — hands the screen back. the apps underneath take clicks and scroll as usual, the marks stay exactly where they are, and picking up a tool takes the screen again.
ink that goes out by itself
half of what gets drawn on a call is pointing, not marking: this line, that number, here. it does not need erasing, it needs to disappear.
fading ink goes out about two seconds after you lift the pointer. the ordinary tools stay until you clear them, so both kinds of mark are one keystroke apart.
what the other side sees
the layer is deliberately not hidden from screen capture — that is the entire point. in a call, in a recording and in a screenshot, the marks are there.
one honest limit: they travel only when the WHOLE screen is shared. sharing a single window composites that window alone, and a layer over it is not part of that window.
if the marks should end up in a file rather than on a call, take a picture and mark that instead — screenshots on Mac
frequently asked questions
- will people on a call see what i draw?
- yes, as long as you are sharing the whole screen. sharing a single window composites that window alone, so the layer over it does not travel.
- can i use the apps underneath while the layer is up?
- yes. ⌃⌥P hands the screen back — clicks and scrolling reach the apps again, the marks stay on screen, and the same key takes the screen back for drawing.
- does it work on more than one display?
- yes. the layer is built on every display and rebuilt when displays come and go.
- how do i get rid of the marks?
- clear empties the layer, the eraser removes one mark, and fading ink disappears on its own about two seconds after you lift the pointer.
- does it need permission?
- drawing needs none. saving or copying the screen underneath asks macOS for screen recording once, the same permission any screenshot needs.
other tools in hop
- torrentsdrop a file or paste a magnet link — it downloads in the panel.
- color pickerany pixel on screen, in hex, rgb and hsl at once.
- file converterimages, video, audio and documents. offline, with the size shown up front.
about the author
Anton Shakirovmakes hop
makes hop and every page on this site. eighteen tools under a single menu bar icon, MIT licensed and open source. reads and answers issues and email himself.