Loupe

Zoom in while you record.

Loupe records your screen for demos and tutorials. Hold ⌥ Option and scroll, and the video zooms in on your cursor, so whatever you’re talking about fills the frame. Or bring in a video you already have. Then trim and crop it, add music and captions, give it a look and send it.

Download for Mac Download for Windows

Free, for Mac and Windows. macOS 14 Sonoma or later; Windows 10 (version 2004) or Windows 11.

The blue frame shows what the video will show. It and the control bar are only on your screen; neither ends up in the recording.

Hold a key and scroll

Hold ⌥ Option and scroll up to zoom in, as far as 4×. Scroll back down to zoom out. You choose what deserves a close-up at the moment you’re showing it, not afterwards.

Rather use a different key? Pick Control, Command or Shift instead. Or hold a side button on your mouse and scroll.

  • option
  • control
  • command
  • shift
  • side button

Option is the default. Change it any time.

You always know what’s in shot

A frame on your screen

While you’re zoomed in, a blue outline on your screen marks exactly what the video will show, with the zoom level in its corner. It’s there for you only and never appears in the recording.

A control bar that stays out of the video

A small bar floats on top with record and stop, a timer and the current zoom. It isn’t recorded either. Picking an area and changed your mind? Press esc.

Record the whole screen, one window, or part of one

Entire screen

Everything on one display.

A single window

Pick one window from the list.

1280 × 610

Part of a window

Drag a rectangle over just the part you want, like a browser window without its toolbar.

Bring a video you already have

Loupe isn’t only for its own recordings. Import an MP4, MOV or M4V video, a clip from your phone or anything else, and edit it in the same editor, with every tool below.

From anywhere in Loupe

Press Import video when you start a recording or in your library, or drag a video onto the library window. Loupe works on its own copy, so your file stays as it was.

Join videos together

In the editor, Add recording puts another recording or video file after the one you’re editing, so a few clips become one video.

Edit it like a video editor

When you stop recording, or import a video, Loupe opens it in the editor. Nothing is final until you export, and your original is never changed.

Trim, cut and split

Drag a clip’s ends to trim it, split it at the playhead, or type the times of a part to cut out or keep. In and out points and named markers help you find your place.

Zooms you can change

The zooms you made while recording are on the timeline. Move them, make them closer or wider, remove them, or add new ones anywhere.

Change the pace

Speed up or slow down any stretch, from 0.25× to 8×. Voices keep a natural pitch.

Crop, move and rotate

Crop any clip, move it, resize it, rotate it or flip it. Add keyframes and it moves or grows smoothly over time.

Transitions

Fade, crossfade, dip to black or white, blur, wipe, slide, circle or zoom from one clip to the next, for a quarter of a second up to two seconds.

Backwards and freeze frame

Play a clip backwards, or hold the frame under the playhead for two seconds.

Colour

Change brightness, contrast and saturation, pick a look such as Warm, Vivid, Faded or black and white, or load a .cube LUT.

Overlays

Put a logo, a picture or another video over your clip. Place it, size it, change its opacity and fade it in and out.

Undo anything

Every change can be undone and redone, with the shortcuts you already know.

Make it look finished

A background, a shape that suits where you’re posting, and small touches that help people follow along. Pick a preset or make your own.

Choose wide, vertical, square or 4:5, and the shot keeps the action in view.

Background and frame

A colour, a gradient or a picture behind your recording, with space around it, rounded corners and a soft shadow.

Cursor and clicks

Make the cursor bigger, smooth out its path, hide it when it’s still, and add a spotlight or ring. Clicks get a ripple.

Keyboard shortcuts on screen

Shortcuts you press show up as a badge. Ordinary typing never does, so passwords stay out of the video.

Your webcam in a bubble

Record your camera alongside the screen. Pick a circle or a rounded square, its size and its corner.

Text, arrows and blur

Add a title or a label, point at what matters, and blur anything private, like an email address.

Presets

Save a look as a preset, and make it the one new recordings start with.

Sound that’s easy to listen to

Your voice and your computer’s sound

Record your microphone and the sound playing on your computer, each with its own volume.

Cleaner and more even

Clean up background noise like hum, fans and keyboard clicks, and even out your volume so quiet and loud moments sound alike.

Songs and sound effects

Add songs or sound files, such as MP3, WAV or FLAC. Fade them in and out, let them repeat, and cut on the beat with beat marks.

Music that makes room for you

Loupe lowers the music whenever someone talks, then brings it back up.

The video’s own sound

Detach a clip’s sound into its own track to move it, split it or turn it down on its own.

Voiceover

Rather talk afterwards? Record a voiceover while the video plays, after a 3, 2, 1 count-in, and keep the take you like.

How the sound fits together Four tracks over time: your voice in two stretches, your computer’s sound throughout, a voiceover near the end, and music. The music is loud in the pauses and drops low wherever someone is talking. Your voice Computer Voiceover Music Music drops while anyone talks time →

Captions, written on your computer

Press Generate captions and Loupe listens to your recording and writes them out. It works on your computer, so your recording isn’t sent anywhere. The first time, it downloads its speech model, once.

Fix any word

Captions come with a transcript you can edit. Click a time to jump to that moment, then correct names and terms.

On the video, or as a file

Show them on the video, with the size and position you like, or save an .srt file for YouTube and other players.

Export it, then send it anywhere

MP4, WebM or GIF

MP4 plays everywhere. WebM is smaller for websites. A GIF plays on its own in chats and docs. Videos go from 720p up to 4K.

Fit a size limit

Sending it on Slack or by email? Pick 25 MB, 10 MB or your own limit, and Loupe makes the file fit.

Copy it, or drag it

Copy the finished file and paste it into any app, or drag it straight out of Loupe into a message.

A link that expires

Make a share link and anyone with it can watch in their browser. It stops working after 7 days.

Everything else you’d expect

A library of your videos

Every recording and imported video in one window, with a preview, its length and date. Open, rename, duplicate or delete one, import a video, or start a new recording.

Settings in plain words

Choose the zoom key, your microphone and camera, a countdown, where recordings go, and how exports start out.

Updates

Updates download by themselves on Windows and Mac. Click Update now and Loupe installs the new version and opens again, or it installs the next time you quit.

Everything stays on your computer.

Recording, editing, captions and export all happen on your computer. There’s no account to make and no watermark on your videos. Nothing is uploaded unless you make a share link, and that link expires after 7 days. Loupe is free.

Download Loupe

Free for Mac and Windows. Pick your computer.

For Mac

macOS 14 Sonoma or later, on Apple Silicon or Intel.

Recommended

Install with Homebrew

Paste this into Terminal. Homebrew downloads Loupe and puts it in your Applications folder, and it opens with no warning dialog.

brew install --cask akshatgg/tap/loupe

No Homebrew yet? Install it first from brew.sh, then run the line above.

To update later: brew upgrade --cask loupe. For an older version, name it: brew install --cask akshatgg/tap/loupe@2.0.0

Or download the app

A disk image to open and drag into Applications. Pick the one for your Mac’s chip.

Apple Silicon Loupe-arm64.dmg Intel Loupe-x64.dmg

Not sure which? Open the Apple menu  About This Mac and look at Chip. Apple M1, M2 or any later M chip means Apple Silicon. If it shows an Intel processor, pick Intel.

The downloaded app needs one extra click the first time you open it. See first launch.

For Windows

Windows 10 (version 2004 or later) or Windows 11, 64-bit.

Recommended

Download the installer

Run it and follow the steps. Loupe installs for your account only, so it doesn’t ask for an administrator password, and adds itself to the Start menu and your desktop.

Download for Windows Loupe-Setup-x64.exe

Runs on Windows 11 on ARM PCs too, through Windows’ built-in emulation.

If Windows warns you

The installer isn’t code-signed yet, so the first time you run it, SmartScreen may show Windows protected your PC. Click More info, then Run anyway. Your browser may also ask whether to keep the download; choose Keep.

To uninstall, open Settings  Apps  Installed apps, find Loupe and choose Uninstall. Your recordings stay where they are.

First launch

A few one-time steps on a Mac, then you’re recording.

On Windows there’s nothing to set up: no permissions to grant. Open Loupe and pick what to record.

On a Mac

  1. Open it, once, with Open Anyway DMG only

    Loupe isn’t notarized by Apple yet, so the first time you open the downloaded app, macOS will refuse. Open System Settings › Privacy & Security, scroll down, click Open Anyway and confirm. You only do this once. If you installed with Homebrew, skip this step.

  2. Allow Screen Recording

    Required, since Loupe can’t record your screen without it. Turn on Loupe in System Settings › Privacy & Security › Screen Recording (called Screen & System Audio Recording on newer versions of macOS). macOS may ask you to quit and reopen Loupe.

  3. Allow Accessibility

    Needed for the zoom gesture. It lets Loupe notice the zoom key and your scrolling while you record. Turn on Loupe in System Settings › Privacy & Security › Accessibility.

On Windows

  1. Open Loupe from the Start menu

    The installer offers to open it straight away. After that, it’s in the Start menu and on your desktop.

  2. Pick a screen or a window, then press Start

    Hold Alt and scroll to zoom while you record. The zoom frame and Loupe’s control bar never appear in the video.

  3. Recording your voice? Check the microphone switch

    If Loupe records no sound, open Settings › Privacy & security › Microphone and turn on Let desktop apps access your microphone.

Where are my recordings saved?
In a Loupe folder: ~/Movies/Loupe on a Mac, and Videos\Loupe on Windows.
Does anything leave my computer?
Not unless you make a share link. Recording, editing, captions and export all happen on your computer, and there’s no account.
Are my captions made online?
No. Loupe writes captions on your computer. The first time, it downloads its speech model; after that it doesn’t need the internet, and your recording is never sent anywhere.
What happens when I make a share link?
That’s the only time Loupe uploads anything: the video you exported, so people can watch it in a browser. Anyone with the link can see it, and it stops working after 7 days.