Always running in the background

The dashcam
for your Mac.

NiCorder records your screen continuously — you only save what you actually need. No manual start, no missed moment.

Free · macOS 13+ · No subscription

NiCorder in the macOS menu bar — click the N to save the last seconds as MP4

Lives in the menu bar. Click the N or press ⌘⇧↩ to save the last seconds.

The concept

You know it: the moment was perfect — then it was gone.

🎥

Always on, never in the way

NiCorder sits as a small "N" in the menu bar, recording silently. No dock icon, no interruption — you don't notice it until you need it.

Save backwards

You don't record ahead — you record back. One keystroke and the last 15, 30 or 60 seconds land as MP4 on your hard drive.

🔒

Everything stays with you

No cloud, no account, no uploads. NiCorder saves exclusively locally — on your Mac, in your Movies folder.

🎬

Instantly playable

Recordings are real MP4 files in H.264 — playable directly in QuickTime, VLC, or iMovie. No proprietary format, no export step.

Use cases

Perfect for moments that are already over.

That play was insane — and already gone.
Gaming

One keystroke saves the last 30 seconds. No OBS running all evening, no full session to trim.

The bug happened once — and won't come back.
Bugs & support

Send a short clip in Slack or a ticket — exactly what you saw, not a long screen recording.

You just showed the trick — nobody wrote it down.
Tutorials & demos

Save the last steps as MP4. Ideal for colleagues, clients, or your own notes.

Perfect for two seconds — then you hit undo.
Design & code

Capture the animation or the green build before you switch branches or roll back.

🔐

Your data stays on your Mac

NiCorder communicates with no server, collects no user data and sends nothing outward — except an optional update check you can see at any time in settings.

✓ No Cloud ✓ No Accounts ✓ No Subscription ✓ Open Source possible
In detail

Thought through to the menu bar.

01

Configurable buffer

15, 30 or 60 seconds — you set how far back you can go.

02

Global hotkey

⌘⇧↩ saves from any app. No switching, no clicking.

03

H.264 without re-encoding

VideoToolbox compresses once. No quality loss when saving.

04

Window or full screen

Record the entire screen, a single window or a custom crop.

05

System audio optional

System audio can optionally be recorded and included in the MP4.

06

Automatic updates

NiCorder checks for new versions on startup and installs them on request.

How it works

Ready in three steps.

1

Download & open

Download NiCorder.zip, unpack it, drag to Applications. Right-click → Open on first launch.

2

Grant permission

macOS asks once for screen recording. Allow — restart the app. Done.

3

Save when needed

NiCorder runs in the background. ⌘⇧↩ saves the last seconds as MP4.

Download for free

No moment ever goes unrecorded.

macOS 13 Ventura or newer Free, no subscription Automatic updates