Show keystrokes on screen in Windows, and never a password
Viewers see what happens on screen but not the shortcut that caused it. SHARA’s Smart Keystroke Pill shows every shortcut and click as you press it, picks the right display style by itself, and goes blank the moment you click into a password field.
Mock-up of the Smart Keystroke Pill in Shortcut mode.
One toggle, then forget it’s there
Windows 10 and 11 have no built-in keystroke display. These are the only controls you need.
| To do this | Press or set | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Show or hide the pill | Ctrl+Win+T | The pill appears. It starts off. |
| Make it bigger or smaller | Ctrl+Space Wheel or the docked toolbar, Screen slice (Keys), then ↑ / ↓ | Resize live. The mouse wheel works too. |
| Show keyboard keys only | Settings: Shortcuts Only | Clicks and scrolls leave the pill; only keyboard keystrokes show. |
| Show mouse clicks | Settings: mouse visualization | Clicks, holds and scrolls join the pill. |
| Hide everything at once | Ctrl+Win+Z | Master Toggle: every overlay off, then on. |
Typing a password? You don’t press anything. Privacy Mode is automatic (see below). Every default is on the SHARA keyboard shortcuts page.
The pill changes shape to match what you press
You never pick a mode. SHARA reads what you press and switches between these six on its own, so a held key, a finished shortcut and a burst of typing each look different.
Modifier held
Ctrl, Alt, Shift or Win is down and the pill waits for the rest of the chord.
Shortcut
The finished shortcut, drawn as separate key chips joined by +.
Typing
Fast typing is gathered into whole words in soft green.
Command
Enter, Esc, Tab, F1 to F12 and Caps Lock, with repeat counts, so five presses read as one clear chip.
Mouse action
Left, right and middle clicks, holds and scrolls, when mouse visualization is on.
Privacy
A password field has focus, so the display is suppressed instantly and comes back when you leave the field.
Nothing to remember before a login
Some visualizers ask you to press a “silent” hotkey before you type a password. The day you forget, it’s on the recording. SHARA watches for the field itself: when focus lands in a password box, it goes quiet in every app, with no setting to turn on.
The key stream never leaves your PC either. It is drawn on your GPU with zero telemetry, and the network is used only to buy or restore Pro.
Show the keys, not every click
Clicking around a busy app? Shortcuts Only turns off the mouse display, so clicks and scrolls stay out of the pill and only your keyboard keystrokes show. It is the setup instructors use to show app shortcuts on screen in software tutorials.
Tune it once, then present
- Pill size, from the Keys option of the Screen slice.
- Shortcuts Only: mouse display off, so only keyboard keystrokes show.
- Mouse visualization: clicks and scrolls in the pill, or keys only.
- The toggle hotkey: Ctrl+Win+T or any chord you record.
- Presenter Mode: viewers see your keys, never the Wheel menu.
The Keystroke Pill is a Pro feature, and it’s in your trial
Every install starts with a 14-day Pro trial, so the pill works from the first minute. After the trial it needs Pro; the tools marked free keep working either way.
| For showing keystrokes | SHARA Free | SHARA Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Smart Keystroke Pill, six modes | During the 14-day trial | ✓Included |
| Automatic Privacy Mode and Shortcuts Only | During the 14-day trial | ✓Included |
| Cursor halo and click flash | ✓Free forever | ✓Included, plus left/right click colours |
| Laser, Pen, Arrow, Eraser, SHARA Wheel and docked toolbar | ✓Free forever | ✓Included |
| Price | $0 | $19.99 once, no subscription |
Free forever tier. SHARA Pro is a $19.99 one-time lifetime license with a 14-day money-back guarantee. On a Mac, Presentify sells keystroke display as a separate app (KeyScreen). In SHARA the pill comes in the same license as the halo, annotation and screen zoom.
Install free, press Ctrl+Win+T and use the pill on your next recording before you pay anything.
If you only need keys on screen
The tools near the top of this search do the core job well. Here is where each fits.
| Carnac | Keyviz | Keystro | SHARA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, open source | Free, open source (GPL-3.0); Pro $9 once for extra styles | Free with watermark; from $6.99 once | Free tier; pill in Pro, $19.99 once |
| Platforms | Windows (needs .NET 4.5.2) | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows 10, macOS | Windows 10 and 11 |
| Last release | 2.3.13, June 2020 | v2.1.1-beta, April 2025 | On sale at keystro.app | Current Microsoft Store app |
| Password handling | Manual silent mode (Ctrl+Alt+P) | Not mentioned in its docs | Not mentioned in its docs | Automatic Privacy Mode |
| Also does | Keys only | Mouse clicks and scrolls, many key styles | Cursor highlight, keyboard sounds | Halo, click cues, pens, zoom |
Fair take. Keyviz offers more visual styles than SHARA’s pill and costs nothing. Pick SHARA when you also want the cursor, pens and zoom in one app, and automatic password protection.
Your viewers see it wherever you share
Overlays render on a system layer captured natively by Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet and OBS. Presenter Mode hides the Ctrl+Space Wheel from recordings. In Zoom or Teams, share your entire screen: a single-window share doesn’t capture SHARA’s overlay.
One rule: share or record the entire screen. In OBS, use Display Capture rather than Window Capture. For a full take, see how to put your keys into an OBS or Camtasia recording.
Where the pill earns its place
Teaching VS Code, PowerPoint or CAD
Students copy the shortcut instead of asking you to repeat it.
See the lesson setup SCREEN RECORDINGTutorials in OBS or Camtasia
Keys are in the take, so there’s no caption pass in the editor.
See the recording setup ZOOM AND TEAMSLive demos on calls
People can follow your shortcuts on a shared screen.
See the call setup“SHARA has earned a permanent place in my training toolkit. The exceptionally smooth and clear writing, even at very small sizes, and the brilliant Ctrl+Space workflow that puts every tool right where my mouse is make live annotation remarkably effortless, letting me focus on teaching rather than managing the tool.”
Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT)
Keystroke visualizer questions
How do I show keystrokes on screen in Windows 11?
What happens if I type a password with keystrokes showing?
Is a keystroke visualizer a keylogger?
Can I show keyboard shortcuts without mouse clicks?
Is the keystroke visualizer free?
Show every shortcut, never a password
The Smart Keystroke Pill, cursor halo, click cues, screen pens and zoom in one Windows overlay. GPU-rendered with 1000 Hz input response, and it works offline.
Mashyo makes SHARA. Carnac (Code52), Keyviz and Keystro are independent products, not affiliated with SHARA; their details come from their own pages. Presentify and KeyScreen are macOS apps by Softal. Last updated: October 16, 2026.