A free screen recorder with auto zoom

OpenScreen is a free, MIT-licensed screen recorder with auto zoom for Windows, macOS and Linux. After a take, Auto-enhance → Automatic zooms reads the cursor movement OpenScreen recorded and adds a zoom wherever the pointer paused, with no network call and no AI model. Screen Studio, Cap and Camtasia also zoom automatically; OpenScreen does it for free, on all three systems.

This page is published by the OpenScreen project. The Screen Studio, Cap and Camtasia details come from screen.studio, cap.so and techsmith.com and were checked in September 2026. The sources are listed at the end.

At a glance​

How automatic zooms work​

In its default editable cursor mode, OpenScreen records the pointer apart from the pixels. It keeps the system cursor out of the video and saves the pointer's movement in a .cursor.json file next to it. Automatic zooms are built from that file.

1. Find the pauses. OpenScreen scans the recorded positions for stretches where the pointer holds nearly still for about half a second to 2.6 seconds. Each pause becomes a candidate, aimed at the spot where the pointer rested.
2. Rank and space them. Longer pauses come first. A candidate less than 1.8 seconds from one already kept is dropped, and so is one that would overlap a zoom already on the timeline.
3. Add the zooms. In the editor, each kept pause becomes a two-second zoom at 1.8×, centered on the pause, with its focus set to follow the cursor.

The pass is a deterministic rule over recorded positions, not an AI feature. It makes no network call and loads no model, and it works the same way on Windows, macOS and Linux.

A few details matter in practice:

• Your own zooms stay. Zooms you placed by hand are kept, and the new ones never overlap them.
• Every clip gets its own zooms. On a multi-clip timeline, each clip is matched to its own stretch of the recording, even when two clips come from the same take.
• One undo removes the batch. The whole pass is a single edit.
• The results are ordinary zooms. Click one to change its depth, tilt or focus, drag its edges to move its start and end, or delete it.
• It runs when you ask. In version 1.11.0, nothing is added after a take until you choose Automatic zooms in the editor, or pass --auto-zoom on the command line.
• It tells you when nothing qualifies. The editor reports that no auto-zoom moments were found.
• It needs no click data. A take recorded without clicks, such as a Linux take when your user is not in the input group, still gets automatic zooms.
• Long pauses are yours to frame. A pointer parked for more than 2.6 seconds, for example while you talk over a slide, is left alone. Add a zoom by hand with Z.

The same menu has a second item, Smart cuts, marked With AI. It is a different feature: it asks the optional chat agent to cut dead time. It waits for the recording's transcript, and it only works once you connect an AI provider with your own key. See AI editing.

Manual zooms and cursor-following focus​

Automatic zooms are a starting point. The same zoom regions can be placed and tuned by hand.

• Add a zoom with Z. It lands at the playhead at 1.8×, with its focus in the center of the frame. Drag its edges to set when it starts and ends.
• Six depths. 1.25×, 1.5×, 1.8×, 2.2×, 3.5× and 5×.
• Two focus modes. Manual holds a point: drag the focus marker in the preview, or reset it to the center. Auto follows the recorded cursor.
• One toggle for every zoom. The Auto focus crosshair in the toolbar makes all zooms follow the cursor. Turn it off and each zoom goes back to its own setting.
• 3D tilt. Each zoom can stay flat, or tilt Iso, Left or Right.
• The webcam during a zoom. In the picture-in-picture layout, Shrink on Zoom makes the camera smaller while the screen is zoomed in. It is on by default.

A manual zoom with a manual focus needs no cursor data, so it also works on a video imported from another tool. See Zoom regions for the zoom inspector.

The cursor after the take​

The same recorded movement drives the cursor in the export. The Cursor facet shows or hides it, offers a set of cursor themes, and sets its size, smoothing, motion blur and click bounce. The cursor path is smoothed the same way for the preview and the export, so the preview matches the file.

Click bounce needs recorded clicks. On macOS that takes the Accessibility permission, and on Linux your user must be in the input group. Recording lists what each platform captures.

From the command line​

The export command of the CLI accepts --auto-zoom. Before rendering, it runs the same pause detector over the recording's cursor data and adds zooms that never overlap the project's own. Each of those zooms lasts one second or 5% of the recording, whichever is longer. A video with no OpenScreen cursor data gives it nothing to work from.

Other tools that zoom automatically​

Automatic zooms are common in this category, and OpenScreen is one of several tools that offer them.

• Screen Studio. Its auto zoom focuses on the places where clicks occurred during the recording.
• Cap. Its Studio Mode generates zoom segments around recorded clicks, from the cursor and click data Cap records. Its docs say imported MP4s do not gain click data during import.
• Camtasia. SmartFocus identifies actions such as scrolling and clicks, then adds pan and zoom animations. It needs a .trec file from Camtasia Recorder.

Like OpenScreen, Cap and Camtasia need data their own recorder captured. Screen Studio and Cap trigger on clicks, Camtasia's AI picks actions such as scrolling and clicks, and OpenScreen follows the pauses in the pointer's movement, which works even when no clicks were recorded. For side-by-side comparisons, see the Screen Studio alternative, OpenScreen vs Cap and the Camtasia alternative.

When OpenScreen is not the right tool​

• You want automatic zooms on footage from another recorder. Automatic zooms need the cursor file OpenScreen writes. A video from another app has none, and neither does an OpenScreen take recorded in the System cursor mode. Manual zooms still work on both.
• You record an iPhone or iPad. OpenScreen records a display or one window on a Windows, macOS or Linux computer, not a phone or tablet.

Getting started​

1. Download OpenScreen from the download page. On Windows, the Microsoft Store is the recommended route.
2. Follow Installation. On macOS, grant the Screen Recording and Accessibility permissions before the first take.
3. Record a first take with the quick start, and leave the cursor mode on Editable overlay.
4. In the editor, choose Auto-enhance → Automatic zooms, then adjust the zooms as described in Editing & timeline.

Building a full demo? The product demo video guide shows how to pace a take for these zooms, and the captions page covers on-device transcription. OpenScreen runs on Windows, macOS and Linux. Or go back to the OpenScreen home page.

Sources​

Screen Studio, Cap and Camtasia facts, checked September 2026:

• Screen Studio auto zoom on click positions: screen.studio/guide/auto-zoom
• Cap automatic and manual zooms, and imported MP4s: cap.so/docs/recording/studio-mode
• Camtasia SmartFocus and its .trec requirement: techsmith.com/camtasia/features/ai-auto-zoom-and-pan

OpenScreen facts describe version 1.11.0 and link to its documentation above.

Screen Studio, Cap and Camtasia are trademarks of their respective owners. OpenScreen is an independent project and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of them.