Principles / 5 min read
Why we don't claim to block all screen recorders
ScreenVeil filters the Privacy Screen window you choose to share. It does not prevent other apps from recording your display, hide text inside an allowed window, mute audio or remove an existing recording. The protection depends on selecting that filtered window and checking the audience’s actual view.
What ScreenVeil does and doesn't protect, and why we won't call it unbreakable.
By ScreenVeilUpdated
Why we don't block recordersWhat does ScreenVeil actually protect?
ScreenVeil leaves your selected private apps and windows out of its own capture, then displays the result in a separate window named Privacy Screen. You share that window in your meeting or recording app. The private apps can stay open and usable on your Mac.
This is an explicit capture boundary. Apple’s ScreenCaptureKit content filters apply to an app’s capture stream, rather than imposing an exclusion policy on every other recorder. ScreenVeil does not modify the meeting app or intercept its separate capture.
A window hidden from Privacy Screen can still be present on your real desktop. That is how you can read notes or messages locally while presenting. It is also why selecting the desktop in the meeting app would defeat the intended setup.
What happens with each sharing source?
Only selecting Privacy Screen carries ScreenVeil’s filtered output into the other app. A display or another app window is an independent source with different contents.
A share reminder is a prompt to check the setup. It does not certify that you chose Privacy Screen, and it does not apply protection to another source.
Use the meeting picker deliberately and inspect the receiver view. If you change sources midway through a call, repeat that check before opening private material.
| Source selected in the other app | What ScreenVeil can affect |
|---|---|
| Privacy Screen | Its own filtered output, including exclusions and Cover feed. |
| Your entire display | No filtering of that independent display capture. |
| Another app’s window | No filtering of that app’s selected window. |
| A recording already saved or delivered | No removal of frames from the existing recording. |
Can it hide a single private browser tab?
ScreenVeil cannot redact one tab or a piece of text inside a shared window. You can exclude a whole app or a whole window, but visible content inside an allowed window remains part of the feed.
Consider a fictional project board named Sample Launch. If a private notes tab sits beside it in the same shared browser window, opening that tab exposes the notes. Excluding a separate Mail app does nothing to webmail opened inside that browser.
Move private browser work into a separate window or browser. Hide a window and Settings → Sharing → Specific windows support whole-window exclusions; those selections reset when Privacy Screen stops. Review them when starting another session rather than assuming yesterday’s selection remains active.
The same limit applies to account switchers, recent-file menus and search results within an allowed app. Prepare the app’s contents as well as the sharing setup.
What about notifications, sound and the camera?
Visual filtering is separate from audio and camera capture. Hiding a messaging app from the feed does not mute its sounds, stop microphone input or remove anything visible through your camera.
ScreenVeil excludes Notification Center banners by default in the tested macOS 26.1 setup. An application can draw its own popup inside a visible window, so do not extend that result to every alert or every operating-system version.
A Focus mode can help control interruptions, but check its allowed people, apps and time-sensitive notification settings. Review the microphone and system-audio choices in the tool doing the recording. A safe image alone is not a complete recording review.
Does Cover feed stop a recording?
Cover feed covers ScreenVeil’s output; it does not stop the recording tool. The default shortcut is ⌘⇧B. It is useful while Privacy Screen is the selected source, but it cannot cover a separate desktop capture.
If you do not know which source is being shared, stop sharing in the meeting app. Once you have corrected the source, check the receiver view before resuming.
Neither action erases frames that were already transmitted. Review any resulting recording before distributing it; replacing the current feed cannot recall copies already made.
When should you use a different setup?
Use a single-window share when it contains everything the audience needs. Use Privacy Screen when you need to move among several public apps while keeping selected private apps usable.
Hide on My Mac hides private apps on the real desktop or moves them to another display. Reopening an app, or sharing the display it was moved to, can reveal it. Choose this mode only with that behavior in mind.
If your requirement is to prevent every process from recording the Mac, ScreenVeil does not meet it. Its supported workflow is a filtered source you select, with the limitations above.