Advanced

Keyboard Shortcuts

Single-letter shortcuts work in the editor when you’re not typing in a text field. Most commands are also in the menus and the command palette (⌘K), which shows each one’s shortcut.

Recording

Playback

Editing

Camera

Adding things

Views and export

In the Program view

In Effect Studio

Project Files

Where recordings live

Each recording is saved in ~/Movies/MeCorder as a project named like Recording 2026-09-30 at 10.42.07.mecorder.

A .mecorder file is a package: it looks like a single file in Finder, but it holds:

• the original screen, audio and webcam recordings, which are never modified
• the cursor, keyboard and event data
• images and fonts you added (backgrounds, custom cursors, channel logos), and copies of the Effect Studio effects the project uses
• project.json: your edit, including scenes, Programs, Behaviours and variables

Because your edit is stored separately from the media, everything stays editable and cuts can always be undone. To move or back up a project, copy the whole .mecorder file.

Saving and recovery

• Autosave: every change is saved shortly after you make it, and the file is replaced in one step so a save is never half-written. Quitting saves too.
• The previous save: each save keeps the one before as project.previous.json. If a project can’t be opened because its data is damaged, MeCorder offers Try Recovery, which opens it as it was one save earlier and keeps the unreadable file as project.damaged.json.
• Newer projects: a project saved by a newer version of MeCorder isn’t opened by an older one, rather than being downgraded and losing what was done in the newer version. Older projects are upgraded when you open them.
• Interrupted recordings come back as projects marked (Recovered). See Recording.

The library

The right side of the home window lists your recordings with a thumbnail, duration and last-modified time.

• Click a recording to open it. You can open several projects at once, each in its own window.
• Right-click for Open, Show in Finder and Move to Trash.
• Open… (⌘O) opens a project from anywhere, and double-clicking a .mecorder file in Finder works too.
• The ↗ button shows the recordings folder in Finder.
• Try the Example Project opens a short demo with scenes, shots, a Behaviour, a PARALLEL, a variable and a fade, ready to explore the Program view. It works offline.

Other files

• Effects you save in Effect Studio live in ~/Library/Application Support/MeCorder/EffectLibrary.json and appear in every project.
• Crash reports and a log of recording events stay on your Mac. MeCorder → Settings… → Diagnostics → Show in Finder opens them so you can attach them to a bug report.

Troubleshooting

“MeCorder needs Screen Recording permission” even after I allowed it. Quit MeCorder and open it again. macOS only applies Screen Recording permission when an app launches.

My Program doesn’t do anything. The recording was probably made without Accessibility, so it has no element names and Programs have nothing to match. The Program view says so, and the events list is empty. Allow Accessibility (MeCorder → Settings… → Permissions) and record again. Also check that the WHEN block’s event really happens in the recording (the events list shows every event and which Programs answered it), and that no warnings are waiting beside Preview.

Clicks are named Click top left instead of the button’s name. Allow Accessibility before you record. Names are read while recording, so earlier recordings keep their position names.

A Program’s camera move doesn’t play. A camera move you placed by hand takes priority: if one falls inside the Program’s camera move, the Program keeps its effects but skips the move. Remove or move your keyframe and press Preview again.

No keyboard shortcuts in my video, or Key Press Programs never fire. Turn on Capture keyboard shortcuts and allow Input Monitoring before you record. Shortcuts can’t be added to a recording afterwards.

The Webcam settings say there’s no webcam track. Turn on Record webcam before recording. The same applies to the microphone and system audio.

The automatic zooms aren’t what I want. Try another Automatic style (Calm, Balanced or Lively) in the Camera settings, or adjust Fine-tune automatic zooms. Your own keyframes are kept. You can also ask the AI Director, for example “make the zooms more subtle”, or turn off Zoom in this project to show the whole screen.

The camera stays zoomed in between actions in an older project. Projects keep the camera they were made with. Choose a style or press Regenerate in the Camera settings to get the newer automatic camera. Your own keyframes are kept.

A recording says (Recovered). MeCorder or the Mac stopped while you were recording, and MeCorder rebuilt the project from what was saved. Everything up to a couple of seconds before the interruption is there.

A project won’t open. If its data is damaged, press Try Recovery to open the previous save. If it was saved by a newer MeCorder, open it in that version.

Transcribe says speech recognition isn’t allowed or isn’t installed. Allow MeCorder under System Settings → Privacy & Security → Speech Recognition, and add your language under System Settings → Keyboard → Dictation so it can run on your Mac.

My iPhone isn’t in the source list. Connect it with a cable, unlock it, and tap Trust if it asks. It can take a few seconds to appear.

I cut too much. Turn on Show cut parts and double-click the grey gap, or use Restore in the Trim settings. Undo (⌘Z) works too.

The AI Director or the Ask box doesn’t understand my request. Without an API key, the built-in interpreter only understands common phrasings. Rephrase it using the examples, or add an Anthropic API key for free-form requests.