Support

Installation & Requirements

GifCap requires macOS 14 Sonoma or later on Apple Silicon or Intel. No additional software required — everything is built in.

Open the DMG, drag GifCap into your Applications folder, and launch it. GifCap will appear in your menu bar as a circular recording icon.

Opening GifCap for the first time

Because GifCap is distributed directly (not through the Mac App Store), macOS may display a warning saying it "cannot verify the developer." This is expected for ad-hoc signed apps.

To open it: go to System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down, and click Open Anyway next to the GifCap entry. You only need to do this once.

Screen Recording Permission

On first launch, macOS will ask you to grant GifCap permission to record your screen. Click Open System Settings, then enable GifCap under Privacy & Security → Screen Recording.

GifCap cannot record anything without this permission — it is never granted silently.

How to start a recording

Click the GifCap icon in your menu bar. Choose from three modes:

• Full Screen — records your entire display
• Window — records a single application window
• Area — drag to define a custom region

A countdown will appear before recording begins. Click the menu bar icon again (or press ⌘⇧G) to stop and save. You can also right-click the menu bar icon to jump directly to any mode without opening the panel.

Keyboard shortcuts

Global

⌘⇧G

Start or stop recording from anywhere (works in any app)

Esc

Cancel the countdown or area selection

In the preview window

Space

Play / pause the GIF preview

← →

Step back or forward one frame

C

Copy GIF to clipboard (or PNG if a single frame is selected)

S

Save GIF to a file

R

Record again — closes preview and starts a new recording

⌘↩

Apply trim to the selected range

⌘Z

Undo applied trim

⌘⌫

Discard recording without saving

Auto-copy mode

The Auto-copy toggle in the Options section skips the preview window entirely. When enabled, the GIF is copied directly to your clipboard the instant you stop recording — no extra clicks. To get the preview window back, open the GifCap panel, go to Options, and turn off Auto-copy.

Where are my GIFs saved?

GifCap opens a standard Save dialog each time you press S. The dialog remembers your last save location — so after the first time, it defaults back to wherever you saved before. You can also press C to copy the GIF to your clipboard and paste it directly into Slack, email, or GitHub without saving a file at all.

The GIF is blurry or very large

Animated GIFs are limited to 256 colors, so fine text and gradients can look soft. A few tips:

• Record a smaller area — the smaller the frame, the sharper the result
• Use a lower frame rate in settings for a smaller file size
• GifCap dithers colors to improve quality — this is expected for the format

GifCap doesn't appear in the menu bar

Make sure GifCap is running (check Activity Monitor). If macOS is hiding menu bar icons, hold Command and drag the GifCap icon to a visible position. You can also check System Settings → Control Centre to ensure menu extras are not hidden.

Recording stops immediately or produces a blank GIF

This is usually a permissions issue. Go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen Recording and make sure GifCap is enabled. If GifCap is listed but toggle is off, enable it and relaunch GifCap.

GifCap crashes on launch

Try removing GifCap and re-downloading it from twoplus11.com/gifcap. If the issue persists, email us with details about your macOS version and what you see when it crashes.

Activating your license

After purchasing, your license key will be delivered to your email within a few minutes. Check your spam folder if it doesn't arrive — the email comes from noreply@twoplus11.com.

To activate: open GifCap → right-click the menu bar icon → choose License… → enter your key (format: GIFCAP-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX) → click Activate. Internet is required for the first activation; after that, GifCap checks in once per day and works offline for up to 72 hours.

License key not working

• Copy the full key including all dashes: GIFCAP-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX
• Check your spam folder — delivery comes from noreply@twoplus11.com
• Each key is tied to the email used at purchase — make sure you're using the right key
• If you need to transfer a seat to a new Mac, email us and we'll reset it

Refunds

If GifCap doesn't work on your machine for any reason, email us and we'll do our best to fix it. If we can't, we'll refund you — no questions asked.