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Settings

Every setting in Curtains, section by section, with its default.

On this page

Settings has seven sections, and every setting is saved the moment you change it.

Click Settings at the bottom of Studio’s left rail. The sections are listed on the left of the page: General, Presenter, Windows, Apps in Sources, Calls, Shortcuts and Privacy & updates. Use the arrow keys, Home and End to move between them. Studio remembers the last section until you quit Curtains.

To find a setting, type in Search settings at the top. It matches names and descriptions across every section and groups the results by section. Press Esc to clear it.

General

Settings, General. Startup: Launch at login and Keep running in the menu bar when Studio is closed. Studio appearance: Appearance, with Light, Dark and System, and Accent colour, with seven swatches and a custom color picker.
Setting Default What it does
Launch at login Off Curtains starts when you log in, so it can notice calls.
Keep running in the menu bar when Studio is closed On Closing Studio hides it, and Curtains keeps running in the menu bar so it can notice calls. Quit from the menu, or with Command Q. Off, closing Studio quits Curtains. On Windows it stays in the notification area.
Appearance System Studio in Light, Dark, or the system setting.
Accent colour Green The color of buttons, switches and highlights in Studio. Pick Green, Blue, Violet, Red, Amber, Teal or Pink, or choose your own.

Presenter

These settings change what viewers get.

Settings, Presenter. Opening: Open Curtains Presenter at launch, on. Output: Resolution (1280×720, 1920×1080 selected, 2560×1440), Frame rate (30 fps selected, 60 fps), Window padding (0, 8, 16 selected, 32 px), Show window titles to viewers and Start Paused. Shared with Curtains badge: Show the badge to viewers and Corner. Cursor and ink: Draw cursor, Click highlight, Fade delay and Fade ink by default. Canvas theme: six theme cards, Corner radius and Drop shadow.
Setting Default What it does
Open Curtains Presenter at launch On Curtains Presenter opens blank behind your windows when Curtains starts, so it’s already in your meeting app’s share list. Viewers see only the canvas background until you pick windows and go Live. Ending a share makes it blank again instead of closing it. Off, it opens when you go Live or a call starts, and End closes it.
Resolution 1920×1080 The size of the picture viewers get: 1280×720, 1920×1080 or 2560×1440.
Frame rate 30 fps How smoothly Curtains Presenter moves: 30 or 60 frames per second.
Window padding 16 px Space around each window on the canvas: 0, 8, 16 or 32 px.
Show window titles to viewers Off Off by default for privacy. Even when on, a window with any blur or fill never shows its title.
Start Paused On For sessions started from a combo, a hotkey or at login, viewers see a holding card until you press Go Live. Go Live from a set-up draft is always Live at once.
Show the badge to viewers Pro feature On The “Shared with Curtains” badge. Always on with Free and during the trial. Turn it off with Pro.
Corner Top right Where the badge sits: top left, top right, bottom left or bottom right.
Draw cursor On Viewers see your pointer over shared windows.
Click highlight On Viewers see where you click. It needs Draw cursor on.
Fade delay 3 s How long ink stays before it fades, from 1 to 10 seconds.
Fade ink by default On New strokes fade out after the delay.
Canvas theme Meet Green The background, frames and corners around your windows. Choose Meet Green, Graphite, Paper, Midnight, Forest or Custom. Custom is Pro. Also in the Themes panel.
Corner radius 8 px for Meet Green The corners of each window on the canvas: 0, 8 or 12 px.
Drop shadow Off for Meet Green A shadow under each window.

See Themes and custom backgrounds and Draw on your windows.

Windows

These settings are about the real windows on your desktop.

Settings, Windows. On your desktop: Highlight shared windows and Show tools under shared windows. Window sizes: Fit windows to the layout automatically, Restore window sizes when you are done, and the Accessibility permission, shown as Allowed.
Setting Default What it does
Highlight shared windows On An outline and a tab around each shared window on your desktop. Viewers never see them.
Show tools under shared windows On Pen, highlighter, arrow, laser and blur tools attached under each shared window. Viewers never see them.
Fit windows to the layout automatically Off Runs Fit all windows when the layout or the shared windows change. A window you resize yourself is left alone until the next layout change. Turning it on asks first.
Restore window sizes when you are done On Windows that Curtains resized go back to their size when you take them off, when you end, or when you quit.
Accessibility permission Not a switch Shows Allowed, Not needed or Not allowed. macOS asks before Curtains can move or resize other apps’ windows. Open Accessibility settings opens the macOS pane. On Windows, it isn’t needed.

See Fit and resize windows and Bring to front.

Apps in Sources

Settings, Apps in Sources. By default: Show only work apps in Sources, on, and a collapsed Which apps count as work list. Apps open now: each app with why it's shown or hidden, for example 1Password, Messages and Slack hidden by default as not work apps, with a Show in Sources button, and Figma, Google Chrome, Keynote, Microsoft Excel, Notion, Terminal and Visual Studio Code shown as work apps, each with a Hide button. Your choices: Hidden by you and Allowed by you, both empty.
Setting Default What it does
Show only work apps in Sources On Browsers, terminals, code editors, and office, docs and design apps show in Sources. Everything else, like chat, mail, notes, calendar, files, photos, music and password managers, waits in Hidden at the bottom of Sources, so you don’t share it by accident. Matched by app, never by window title. Free on every plan. Which apps count as work lists them.
Apps open now Not a setting Each app with a window open, whether it’s shown or hidden and why, with Show in Sources or Hide, and Reset for an app you changed.
Hidden by you None Apps you hid by hand, including work apps. Click Reset beside one to go back to the default.
Allowed by you None Apps you chose to show that the default would hide. Click Reset beside one to go back to the default.

See Apps in Sources.

Calls

Setting Default What it does
Open Curtains Presenter when a call starts On When you join a call, Curtains Presenter opens behind your windows, ready in the meeting app’s share list.
Show floating remote when Studio isn’t in front On A small palette on your desktop while the Presenter is open. It never takes focus, and viewers never see it.
Remind me to go Live On In a call, after 20 seconds Paused before you first go Live, Studio shows a reminder and the remote’s Go Live button pulses.

See Call detection and Floating remote and menu bar.

Shortcuts

Every global shortcut, with its default: Undo stroke, Clear all ink, Live / Paused, Next layout, Show Studio sources, Focus or unfocus the active window, Show or hide the floating remote, and Focus source 1 to 6. Click a shortcut, then press the new keys. See Keyboard shortcuts.

Privacy & updates

Settings, Privacy and updates. Screenshots and screen sharing: three choices and the status “Visible in screenshots.” Network: Check for updates and Renew my pass automatically. Usage stats: Share anonymous usage stats, What's sent and an Install ID row with Reset ID. A card, What Curtains sends, lists the update check, usage stats and pass renewal, then what is never sent.
Setting Default What it does
Hide Curtains from screen sharing and screenshots Automatic Automatic (recommended), Always hide or Never hide. Automatic shows Curtains in your screenshots, and hides it during calls and while you share (Live or Paused). Never hide asks first. A status line says what Curtains is doing now.
Allow screenshots for 5 minutes Not a setting Appears only while Curtains is hidden. Click Allow for 5 minutes, or Hide again now to end it.
Check for updates On On launch and once a day. It sends no data beyond the request itself.
Renew my pass automatically Off Once a day after your renewal date, Curtains renews your pass with curtains.app. Only for yearly passes. Off, Curtains never contacts curtains.app.
Share anonymous usage stats Unanswered until the first-run notice Which features you use, never what’s on your screen. Outside the EU, the UK and Switzerland, the notice starts it on. Inside them, it starts off.
What’s sent Not a setting The list of every event Curtains can send.
Install ID Random Made on your Mac, never linked to your email or account. Reset ID makes a new one.

The What Curtains sends card at the bottom summarizes what leaves your Mac and what never does.

See Screenshots and screen sharing and Usage stats and privacy.

Not in Settings

Your plan, your pass, Deactivate this device and Check now for updates are on the Account page, which opens from the plan item in the rail. See Plans.

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