⇧⌘4, but for video.
Record a region of your screen. Save it as MP4, HEVC or GIF. Nothing else.
Three gestures. No settings.
-
⌥ ⇧ ⌘ 4 and drag
Like a screenshot. Space moves the region, ⇧ locks an axis, ⌥ grows it from the centre.
-
Record on release
No countdown, no control bar. Stop with the same shortcut or from the menu bar.
-
Choose afterwards
A thumbnail shows the clip on a loop. MP4, HEVC or GIF. If you do nothing, it saves.
Decide when you see it.
Pick the format after recording, not before. Drag the thumbnail into Slack or Mail, copy it to the clipboard, or let it go: Toma remembers your last format.
Light, for real.
Toma re-encodes each clip for quality, not size: text stays sharp and a still screen weighs almost nothing. The GIF only keeps what changes.
| Original | 2.5 MB | |
| MP4 | 0.46 MB | |
| HEVC | 0.25 MB |
Just enough, in the menu bar.
No settings window. Three options, and each one shows its value.
Why not ⇧⌘5?
The macOS recorder works, but it’s built for something else. Toma is built for sharing.
| ⇧⌘5 | Toma | |
|---|---|---|
| To start | Open the toolbar, pick a mode, click Record | One shortcut, then drag |
| Format | .mov only | MP4, HEVC or GIF, chosen afterwards |
| Mac sound | No | Yes, plus your microphone if you want |
| For sharing | The file as it is | Re-encoded: sharp and light |
Questions
Is it free?
Yes. It’s open source under the MIT licence, with no account, no subscription and no paid tier.
Does it send anything to the internet?
No. Everything happens on your Mac: Toma never connects to the internet and has no analytics. Clipboard copies are deleted after a day.
Does it record sound?
If you want. In the menu bar you choose no sound, the Mac’s sound, or the Mac’s sound and your microphone.
Where are videos saved?
By default, in the same folder as your screenshots. You can pick another one from the menu bar.
Will it run on my Mac?
You need macOS 26 or later. It’s universal, running on Apple silicon and Intel, and weighs less than 1 MB.
Record what matters.
First time: drag Toma to Applications and open it. It’s signed and notarized by Apple, so it opens without warnings. Then grant Screen Recording permission and reopen it.