GlideRail FAQ: Invisible Notes and Teleprompter for Mac
Updated 2026-10-03 · 6 min read
Short answer: GlideRail is a native Mac notes app and teleprompter whose windows are invisible to screen sharing and recording. You see your notes; Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Loom, OBS and QuickTime don't. The notes app is free. Pro makes it invisible and adds cue cards and Live Rail, with a 7-day free trial.
The basics
What is GlideRail?
GlideRail is a native Mac notes app whose windows are invisible to screen capture. Your notes float above any app, right under your camera or beside the window you're sharing, and screen shares and recordings show everything except GlideRail. It's built for calls where you're judged live: sales demos, client calls, remote interviews and presentations.
Is GlideRail the same app as GhostCue?
Yes. GhostCue was renamed GlideRail on August 31, 2026, by the same developer, Takumi Mitchell. Your notes and license carry over, and ghostcue.app redirects here. GlideRail is not connected to ghostcue.org, ghostcueapp.com or getghostcue.com, which are other products using the name. More on the rename.
Is GlideRail a teleprompter or a notes app?
Both. It's a full notes app (a library, folders, a rich editor, imports) that also prompts: auto-scroll at the speed you set, cue cards you jump between, and on Apple Silicon, voice features that keep your place. Most prompters give you one box of text that scrolls. GlideRail gives you your whole prep.
Does GlideRail work on Windows, iPhone or iPad?
No. GlideRail is Mac only. It needs macOS 14 or later, and its voice features need an Apple Silicon Mac. If you open the site on a phone, the download button offers to send the link to your Mac instead.
Do I need an account?
No. There's no sign-up and no cloud. Your notes are stored as files on your Mac.
Invisibility
Can people on Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams see my GlideRail notes?
No. With invisibility on (a Pro feature), GlideRail's windows never appear in Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Loom, OBS or QuickTime, in live shares or recordings. On Zoom it takes one setting: screen capture mode set to "Advanced capture with window filtering" (see below). On the free tier, GlideRail windows are visible like any other app's.
Can anything still see my notes?
Yes: a camera. A phone pointed at your monitor, or someone standing behind you, sees everything on the glass. Invisibility only applies to software capture. And free-tier windows aren't invisible at all.
Can I see what other people see?
Yes. During setup, GlideRail shows you a live preview of what your audience sees, and you watch your note vanish from it while it stays on your screen. You can see the same thing any time: record a few seconds with Shift-Command-5, and your notes aren't in the file.
How does the invisibility work?
GlideRail sets a macOS window property that tells the system to leave its windows out of screen capture, so apps like Zoom and OBS receive your screen without them. The full technical explanation is in how invisible notes work on a Mac.
What do I need to set in Zoom?
One setting. In the Zoom app, click your profile picture, then Settings, Share Screen, Advanced, and set "Screen capture mode" to "Advanced capture with window filtering". With it, GlideRail's windows never appear in your Zoom shares or recordings. (Zoom's default "Auto" mode can include them on some Macs.) Meet, Teams, Loom, OBS and QuickTime need no setting.
Does Zoom or Teams tell the host which apps I have open?
No. On a normal call, people see your camera, your name and whatever you choose to share. Zoom removed its old attendee attention tracking in April 2020. Nothing in Zoom, Meet or Teams lists the other windows on your Mac.
Features
What do I get for free, and what needs Pro?
Free is a real notes app: unlimited notes, two folders, the full editor with tables and checklists, drag-and-drop import, pinning, auto-scroll, themes and two windows. Pro makes it invisible, and adds Cue Mode, Live Rail and Voice Follow, click-through, Notch Mode, sticky notes, clipboard history, and unlimited folders and windows.
What is Cue Mode?
Cue Mode (Pro) turns your note into cards. Type # and a heading, press Return, and that section becomes a card. During the call you jump straight to a card with a two-finger swipe, ⌘[ and ⌘], ⌘1 to ⌘9, or the Sections list, instead of scrolling to find it.
What is Live Rail?
Live Rail (Pro, Apple Silicon) listens to the call on your Mac, both your microphone and the call audio, for words that match your card headings. When someone mentions one, it offers that card in a small chip. One click, or ⌘↩, jumps to it. It never moves on its own, and the chip fades after about 30 seconds.
Does GlideRail use AI or write answers for me?
No. GlideRail has no generative AI and nothing in it writes your lines. The only AI runs on your Mac: text recognition for imported images, and the speech recognition behind Live Rail and Voice Follow. GlideRail only shows notes you wrote.
Can I click through my notes during a live demo?
Yes, with Pro. Press ⇧⌘E and the notes window lets your clicks pass through to the app underneath, so you can drive a demo with your notes on top. A View Lens appears where you hover, so you can still scroll your notes when you need to.
Can I bring in notes I already have?
Yes. Drag in PDFs, Word and Pages documents, Markdown, RTF, HTML, plain text or images. Text in images and PDFs is read on your Mac. "Import Notes…" (⇧⌘I) also takes Evernote exports and whole folders.
Is there a keyboard shortcut to hide everything?
Yes. ⌘' hides or shows every GlideRail window, and it works even when GlideRail isn't the active app. Other shortcuts, like ⇧⌘E for click-through, need GlideRail to be active.
Privacy
Where are my notes stored?
On your Mac, in local files. There's no account, no cloud and no sync, and nothing about your notes is sent anywhere.
Does Live Rail send audio anywhere?
No. The first time you turn on a voice feature, GlideRail downloads its speech model. After that, the audio is processed on your Mac and never saved or sent. The privacy policy lists everything the app does send, such as license checks.
Pricing and licenses
How much does GlideRail cost?
The notes app is free. Pro is $99 a year ($8.25 a month, billed yearly), $19.99 a month with the same features, or $249 once for a lifetime license. Every plan has a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Is there a free trial?
Yes. Pro is free for 7 days, with no card needed. If the trial ends, the Pro features switch off and every note stays exactly where it is.
How many Macs does a license cover?
Two. A personal license activates on 2 Macs. For a team of 3 or more, email [email protected] for per-seat pricing.
Where do I manage my license or subscription?
At gliderail.app/license, which opens the customer portal of Polar, the store that sells GlideRail. Sign in with the email you bought with.
Using it well
Is it cheating to read notes on a call or in an interview?
Reading your own notes isn't cheating; it's preparation, and career advisers like Indeed's say notes are fine in a video interview. The line is rules and honesty: don't use notes where aids are banned, such as proctored coding tests, and use only notes you wrote. The full answer.
Where should I put the notes on my screen?
As close to your camera as you can, and narrow. When the words sit right under the lens, your eyes barely move while you read, and it looks like you're looking at the other person. The Zoom guide walks through the setup.
Which guide should I start with?
Start with the guide for the app your calls happen in: Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams. For the kind of call, see video interviews or sales calls.