Is there an AI assistant that is invisible to screen recording and screen sharing?
Yes, in supported capture tools. Kopya is a desktop AI assistant for macOS and Windows that answers questions about what is on your screen when you press a hotkey; its panel is excluded from supported screen shares and recordings. You keep seeing the panel; shares and recordings that honour the exclusion do not show it.
How does Kopya keep its panel out of a screen share or recording?
Kopya’s panel is a small always-on-top AI overlay, and it stays hidden from supported screen recording through OS-level capture exclusion. Capture exclusion is a window setting that asks the operating system to leave one window out of screenshots, recordings and screen shares while still drawing it on your display.
Kopya sets it through Electron’s content protection API, setContentProtection: WDA_EXCLUDEFROMCAPTURE on Windows, NSWindow.sharingType = .none on macOS. It flags only its own panel and injects nothing into your meeting or recording app, so the result depends on the OS version and on how each tool captures. Details: how screen capture exclusion works and what an invisible AI overlay is.
Does it work the same on Windows and macOS?
No. On Windows 10 version 2004 (build 19041) or newer and on Windows 11, Microsoft documents that an excluded window is displayed only on a monitor and does not appear at all in captures. On macOS, Kopya can only set a flag Apple calls legacy, so results vary by version and capture tool.
| What to know | Windows 10 (2004+) and Windows 11 | macOS 14 and newer |
|---|---|---|
| What Kopya sets | SetWindowDisplayAffinity with WDA_EXCLUDEFROMCAPTURE. | NSWindow.sharingType set to .none. |
| What the vendor documents | The window is displayed only on a monitor and does not appear in captures. Not a security feature or DRM. | A legacy constant. Apple says not to rely on it to hide content from capture. |
| Known limits | On builds older than 19041 Windows falls back to the older behaviour, which may show the panel as a black rectangle. | Electron’s docs say apps that capture through ScreenCaptureKit capture the window anyway. On macOS 15.4 and newer, built-in screen recording has been reported and reproduced showing such windows. |
In a July 2025 forum reply, Apple Developer Technical Support wrote: “At this time there are no public APIs for preventing screen capture.” So Kopya never describes the panel as invisible on a Mac. See what works on a Mac now and the Windows 10 and 11 guide.
What is not hidden from a screen share or recording?
Only the Kopya panel is excluded, and only from software capture on your own computer. Microsoft states that display affinity is not a security feature or DRM: a photo of the screen defeats it. All of these stay visible:
- The menu-bar or system-tray icon and its menu.
- The sign-in window, which is an ordinary window.
- The process, in Task Manager and Activity Monitor.
- Anything a phone camera or a person looking at your screen can see.
- A projector or mirrored display. Both are monitors, so both show the panel.
- Monitoring or endpoint-management software on the computer.
- The flag itself: on Windows, any process can read it with
GetWindowDisplayAffinity.
Which screen sharing and recording tools does it work with?
Kopya has not published test results for any named meeting or recording tool, so this page makes no per-tool promise. The screen share compatibility page collects the documented OS behaviour and what each vendor documents for its own app.
Until dated results exist, run the 60-second self-test: start the exact tool and share mode you plan to use, then check what the other side receives from a second device or a ten-second recording. If the panel shows, share a single window or close it. Re-test after updates.
Is screen-share privacy on by default, and is it on the free plan?
Yes to both. It is on by default on every plan, including the free plan, which needs no card; see pricing. Toggle it with ⌘⇧P on macOS or Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows, the privacy button in the panel, or the menu-bar or system-tray menu. The panel always shows its state: “Hidden in screen shares” or “Visible in screen shares”.
Turn it off when you want the panel in the picture, for example to show Kopya in a tutorial. Kopya runs on macOS 14 Sonoma or newer, on Apple silicon and Intel, and on 64-bit Windows 10 build 19041 or newer. Download Kopya to test it with your own tools.
What is screen-share privacy for?
It is for sharing your work without sharing your personal workspace. When you present, demo, teach, record a tutorial or share your screen in a meeting where AI assistance is allowed, viewers should see your slides or your app, not your assistant panel. It is not for concealing assistance; responsible use explains where the line is.
- Presenting, demos and teaching: what the audience sees, and why a projector differs.
- Recording tutorials: recorders differ, and the Mac caveat matters most.
- Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams: tab, window and entire-screen sharing compared.
- Five ways to hide a window from a screen share: sharing a single window is often more dependable.
Common questions
Is the Kopya panel invisible on a Mac?
Not reliably, and Kopya does not claim it. macOS offers only a legacy window flag that Apple tells developers not to rely on, and apps that capture through ScreenCaptureKit can show the panel. Test your exact setup, and read what works on a Mac now.
What does Kopya capture, and what happens to the screenshots?
Kopya takes a screenshot only when you press the capture hotkey (⌘⇧Space on macOS, Ctrl+Shift+Space on Windows), and only of the primary display. It does not join calls, record audio or send a bot. The screenshot goes to Kopya’s server and on to the AI provider to generate the answer; Kopya does not intentionally retain it after processing, and provider retention rules may apply. See the privacy policy.
Is excluding a window from capture a hack or an exploit?
No. It is a documented operating-system feature. Microsoft’s own example is a window of recording controls that should stay out of the recording, and OBS Studio uses the same Windows flag to hide its own windows. Microsoft also says it is not a security feature.
Where should I not use Kopya?
Do not use Kopya in exams, interviews, assessments or other settings that prohibit outside assistance, and do not use screen-share privacy to conceal assistance or misrepresent your work. You are responsible for checking whether AI assistance is permitted. The acceptable-use terms set out the rules.
More short answers are on the answers page, terms in the glossary, and every how-to under guides. About Kopya explains how compatibility claims are made.
Sources
- Microsoft Learn — SetWindowDisplayAffinity
- Microsoft Learn — GetWindowDisplayAffinity
- Apple Developer — NSWindow.SharingType.none
- Apple Developer Forums — DTS reply on preventing screen capture (July 2025)
- Electron docs — BrowserWindow (setContentProtection)
- Electron issue #48258 — macOS ScreenCaptureKit captures protected windows
- OBS Studio PR #5698 — hide OBS windows from capture