Capture and Record Guide

pointbit can take a picture or a recording of the window or the whole screen under the pointer. Each one is a key sequence: tap ⌘ twice, then press one letter.

Shortcuts

Place the pointer over the window or screen. Tap ⌘ twice quickly (each tap shorter than 0.3 s, the second within 0.35 s of the first), then press the letter within 1 s.

Keys	Action	Result
⌘ ⌘ T	Start or stop recording the window under the pointer	`.mov` in the save folder
⌘ ⌘ A	Start or stop recording the whole screen under the pointer	`.mov` in the save folder
⌘ ⌘ C	Picture of the window under the pointer (no shadow)	`.png` in the save folder; path or image in the clipboard
⌘ ⌘ S	Picture of the whole screen under the pointer	`.png` in the save folder; path or image in the clipboard

The four letters spell tacs: T and A record, C and S take a picture.
The letter is not passed to the front app.
Shortcuts that hold ⌘ while pressing a letter (⌘T, ⌘A, ⌘C, ⌘S) are not affected.
"Whole screen" is the display that the pointer is on.

Setup

The shortcuts are off by default. Turn them on once:

Step	What to do	Why
1	Menu bar icon → Settings…	It opens Preferences.
2	Under Capture and Record, check Turn on ⌘ ⌘ + T / A / C / S.	It turns the shortcuts on.
3	Allow pointbit in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility.	It lets the app read the ⌘ ⌘ keys.
4	Allow pointbit in Screen & System Audio Recording (the page opens after step 3).	It is needed for pictures and recordings. No audio is recorded.
5	If the Screen Recording line still shows ✗, click Reopen App.	macOS applies this permission after the app reopens.

Both permission lines show ✓ when the setup is complete:

Preferences window with the Capture and Record shortcuts turned on and both permission lines marked with a green check

With the checkbox off, the app does not watch the keyboard.

Results

Type	File	Confirmation
Picture (C, S)	`TACS-<date>-<time>.png` (for example `TACS-20261101-095000123.png`, time with milliseconds) in the save folder, also copied to the clipboard	White flash and shutter sound
Recording (T, A)	`TACS-<date>-<time>.mov` in the save folder (H.264, or HEVC above 4K; 30 fps; no audio)	Red dot in the menu bar while recording

Files go to the Desktop by default. To use another folder, choose it in Preferences → Capture and Record → Save to: Choose…; Desktop switches back. If the chosen folder is moved or deleted, files go to the Desktop. A copied path that has a space or any character other than English letters, digits and / . _ - is put in single quotes, so it pastes into a shell as one argument.

With Copy the file path when it ends on (the default), the clipboard holds the file's path as text when a picture or recording ends. Paste it into a terminal or an agent's chat. With it off, a picture copies the image instead and a recording leaves the clipboard alone.

When two files are made in the same second, the second one gets "-2" at the end of its name (then "-3", and so on). Names have no spaces, so a pasted path works in a shell as is.

Menu bar icon: a black target normally, a red dot while recording — The menu bar icon normally (left) and while recording (right).

Click marks: white center with a translucent red edge for a left click and a green edge for a right click — Recordings include the pointer and the click marks (left click red, right click green).

Stopping a recording

Way	Note
⌘ ⌘ T or ⌘ ⌘ A again	Either key stops a recording, whichever started it.
Menu bar icon → Stop Recording	Shown only while recording.
Quit the app	The file is finished before the app quits.

A window recording keeps the area where the window was when the recording started. Turning the shortcuts off, or losing the Accessibility permission, also stops a recording.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Fix
Nothing happens after ⌘ ⌘ and the letter	Check the permission lines in Preferences. Use Open Settings for a line with ✗. Check that the checkbox is on.
A beep and no file	Screen Recording is not allowed, or there is no window under the pointer. Allow Screen Recording and click Reopen App.
No menu bar icon, or no red dot while recording	On a Mac with a notch, macOS hides menu bar icons that do not fit beside it. A recording adds the macOS recording indicator, which can push the icon out. Hold ⌘ and drag the icon to the right, or turn off other icons in System Settings → Menu Bar.
"macOS stopped the key capture" in Preferences	Turn the checkbox off and on.
The keyboard does not respond	Choose Apple menu → Force Quit…, then select pointbit. This is not expected: the tap that can hold back keys exists for at most 3 s.
"Apple could not verify…" on first open	Open System Settings → Privacy & Security, click Open Anyway, then Open in the warning. This is needed once (Apple's steps).

Resetting the permissions

Quit the app from the menu bar first, then run:

tccutil reset Accessibility si.codegg.pointbit
tccutil reset ScreenCapture si.codegg.pointbit
open /Applications/Pointbit.app --args --settings

How it works

Part	Detail
Key watching	A listen-only event tap reads the keys. It cannot hold back or delay input.
Holding back the letter	A second tap exists only from the second ⌘ press until the letter is released, for at most 3 s.
Pictures	`/usr/sbin/screencapture` with the window id (C) or the screen rectangle (S).
Recordings	ScreenCaptureKit captures the display and crops it to the window or screen; AVAssetWriter writes the `.mov`.