How to Use HoverBoard Draw — Annotate Any Screen on macOS
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HoverBoard Draw turns your cursor into a presentation pen. It works over Keynote, PowerPoint, a browser, an IDE, a video call, or anything else visible on your Mac. You do not need to import a slide or switch apps: activate Draw, mark the screen, then dismiss it with Esc.
What Draw is good for
Use Draw when the audience needs to look at a specific detail right now:
- Circle a number in a spreadsheet or a button in a product demo.
- Draw an arrow through a flow or underline a phrase in a slide.
- Add numbered markers for a step-by-step explanation.
- Highlight a region without permanently editing the source document.
- Make a quick correction while keeping the presentation moving.
All drawings are an overlay. The underlying app remains untouched.
Activate Draw
The default global shortcut is ⌃⌥D (Control + Option + D). You can also open Draw from the menu bar or Settings. On first launch, grant Accessibility permission when macOS asks; HoverBoard needs it to listen for global hotkeys and manage the presentation overlay.
Press Esc to close Draw and clear the current overlay. Press the shortcut again to toggle it off. The floating toolbar appears while Draw is active. If the toolbar is in the way, press ⌃⌥. to hide or show it.
Choose a drawing tool
Draw includes a pan tool, pen, arrow, rectangle, number marker, eraser, undo, redo, clear, and reset. The toolbar is the easiest way to discover them, but keyboard muscle memory is faster once you are presenting:
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Shift+P | Pan / interact with the underlying screen |
| B | Pen |
| Shift+A | Arrow |
| Shift+R | Rectangle |
| N | Number marker |
| E | Eraser |
| U / Shift+U | Undo / redo |
| X | Clear all marks |
| R | Reset the viewport |
Number markers are useful when explaining a process: place 1 beside the first point, 2 beside the second, and so on. Use arrows and rectangles when the relationship matters more than the exact text.
Colors, stroke width, and auto-fade
Choose a drawing color and stroke width from the toolbar or Draw settings. The default color is persisted, so the next presentation starts with the choice you already made. The quick color shortcuts are 1–4; the exact color mapping is shown in Settings.
Auto-fade is useful for live teaching when old annotations should disappear before the next point. Recent versions include short 1-second and 2-second presets as well as longer fades. Leave auto-fade off when you are building a persistent diagram or want to refer back to several marks.
Use Clear when you want to keep Draw open but start a clean explanation. Use Esc when the whole annotation moment is finished.
Hold-to-draw and click-through
If you need to click the underlying app while Draw stays active, use the hold-leader behavior. With this option enabled, the screen remains click-through until you hold the leader key; while you hold it, mouse input draws normally. You can toggle the behavior from the Draw toolbar or with ⌃⌥L.
This is handy for a software demo: leave the overlay available, click through menus normally, then hold the leader key only when you want to mark something.
A reliable presenting workflow
- Open your slides or demo and position the cursor where the audience should look.
- Press ⌃⌥D and choose the pen, arrow, or number tool.
- Make one clear mark rather than covering the screen with ink.
- Use auto-fade for temporary emphasis, or X between sections.
- Press ⌃⌥S for a spotlight moment or ⌃⌥F when the screen is about to change.
- Press Esc when you are done.
Privacy and permissions
Draw does not upload your screen or save drawings to a cloud service. It is a local overlay. Accessibility permission is needed for global shortcuts and presentation control; it is not permission to transmit your screen contents.
Draw and Pro
Draw is free forever. You do not need a trial or a Pro license to annotate a screen, use colors, clear marks, or configure the drawing behavior. Pro adds tools such as Freeze, Whiteboard, Sessions, and other presentation modes; the core Draw workflow remains free.
Troubleshooting
The shortcut does nothing
Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility and enable HoverBoard. Then check Settings → Hotkeys for conflicts and remap the leader key or Draw shortcut if another app owns it.
The toolbar is hidden
Press ⌃⌥. while Draw is active. If it still does not appear, toggle Draw off and on again from the menu bar.
My clicks are intercepted
Enable hold-to-draw from the toolbar or press ⌃⌥L. When the hand/click-through state is active, ordinary clicks pass through to the app underneath.
Draw is the foundation of HoverBoard: a quick visual mark, no app switch, and no permanent change to the material you are presenting.