LilDim Support

Dim everything except the window you're working in.

Getting started

LilDim lives in your menu bar (look for a half-filled circle) and starts dimming straight away. No permission is needed.

• Click the icon for the popover: on/off, intensity, Dim or Blur, Window or App, and Pause.
• ⌥-click to turn LilDim on or off.
• Scroll over the icon to change the intensity.
• Right-click for the menu: Enable, Pause, Settings and Quit.
• Press ⌃⌥⌘D from any app to toggle. You can change it, and add shortcuts for intensity and highlight mode, in Settings → Shortcuts.

The icon tells you the state: a half-filled circle means on, an empty circle means off, and a pause symbol means paused.

Turning on Accessibility (optional)

Without Accessibility, LilDim checks the front window about once a second and when you click. With it, LilDim reacts the instant focus changes, always picks the exact window you're in, and lets you hold fn to peek.

1. Open LilDim's Settings → General and click Open Settings….
2. In Privacy & Security → Accessibility, click + and choose LilDim, or click Show LilDim in Finder and drag it into the list.
3. Switch LilDim on. The row in LilDim's Settings turns green on its own.

macOS doesn't let App Store apps add themselves to this list, which is why the + step is needed. If the row stays grey after you switched it on, click Relaunch LilDim.

Common questions

The wrong window stays bright for a moment.

Without Accessibility, LilDim may take up to a second to notice changes made with the keyboard (such as ⌘` between windows of one app). Turning on Accessibility makes it instant.

Everything dims when I click the desktop.

That's the When no window is focused setting. Change it to Clear in Settings → Behavior to leave the screen undimmed instead.

I want every window of an app bright, not just one.

Choose App in the popover, or add just that app to Highlight all windows of these apps in Settings → Apps.

How do I stop LilDim during presentations or games?

Add the app to Pause LilDim while these apps are in front in Settings → Apps. LilDim fades out whenever it's in front and comes back when you switch away. For a one-off, use Pause → 15 minutes, 1 hour or Until tomorrow.

Blur turned into Dim by itself.

Blur switches to Dim while Low Power Mode or Reduce Transparency is on, and switches back when they're off.

Can I have only the colored border, without dimming?

Yes. Turn on Focus ring in Settings → Look and set the intensity to 0%.

Screenshots and recordings show the dim.

The dim is really on screen, so captures include it. Hold fn (with Accessibility) or pause LilDim while you capture.

I hid the menu bar icon. How do I get back to Settings?

Open LilDim again from Finder, Spotlight or Launchpad. Settings opens.

The keyboard shortcut doesn't work.

Another app has probably claimed ⌃⌥⌘D. Record a different one in Settings → Shortcuts.

Automation

Shortcuts app: Toggle LilDim, Turn LilDim On or Off, Set LilDim Intensity, Pause LilDim, Resume LilDim.

Focus Filters: System Settings → Focus → choose a Focus → Focus Filters → LilDim. Set dimming on or off and an intensity for that Focus.

URL scheme (from Terminal, launchers, Stream Deck…):

• lildim://toggle, lildim://on, lildim://off
• lildim://intensity?value=40 (0–90)
• lildim://pause?minutes=30, lildim://resume
• lildim://settings

AppleScript: properties enabled, intensity and paused; commands toggle dimming, pause dimming for 15 and resume dimming.

How do I stop LilDim from starting automatically?

Turn off Launch at login in Settings → General. It's off until you turn it on.

How do I uninstall it?

Quit LilDim from its menu, then drag the app from your Applications folder to the Trash. Your screen goes back to normal the moment it quits.

System requirements

macOS 14.6 Sonoma or later. Apple silicon and Intel.