Topline plays a mechanical keyboard sound for every key you press, anywhere on the Mac. Nine switch styles, from a deep thock to a typewriter, on the same bar as Spotify, Apple Music, and the Pomodoro timer.
These are the same recordings the app ships with. Pick one, then type in the box. Space, return, and delete each have their own sound. Holding a key does not machine-gun it. A new press plays a new klack, and fast typing overlaps.
Click a keycap to preview it. The page only plays sound. It does not send what you type.
A keyboard clicker, or keystroke sound app, plays a click when you type, so a quiet laptop can sound like a board you actually like. Topline does that for the whole Mac, not inside one text box.
If the name you typed was Klack, or klacky, read the Klack alternative page before this one. Klack is the better keyboard app. Topline fits when you also want the music bar and the timer.
People also look this up as mechanical keyboard sounds, a thocky keyboard, typewriter sounds, clicky switches, or Topre. Those are styles in the same menu:
The chevron next to the keyboard button on the bar opens the same list, plus a volume slider. Click a style there and you hear it before it sticks.
Turning the sounds on asks macOS for Input Monitoring. Topline uses that to hear a key go down. It only looks at the kind of key: a letter, the space bar, return, or delete. That is how it picks a recording. The letters are not saved, not logged, and not sent anywhere. The on/off switch, the style, and the volume stay in your Mac's settings.
If macOS does not show the prompt, open System Settings, then Privacy & Security, then Input Monitoring, and turn on Topline. The first time you enable the sounds, Topline opens that pane for you.
Click the keyboard again to mute the sounds and leave the button in place. Turn the Settings switch off to remove the button. Quitting Topline stops the sounds too. Hiding the bar with Control-Option-Command-S does not. Topline is still running, so the klack keeps going until you turn it off.
The sounds work with no music playing. If you want a room instead of a switch, Undertone has a coffee shop, rain, a fireplace, a storm, and a few slow loops with no words. The Pomodoro timer sits on the same bar and does not start or stop the key sounds.
Yes. Topline can play a mechanical klack for every key you press on your Mac, in any app. Right-click the bar, open Settings, and turn on Show key sounds on the bar. A keyboard button appears at the right end. Click it to start the sounds. The feature is marked beta, and it stays off until you turn it on.
Nine styles: Cream, Clicky Blue, Deep Thock, Topre, Muffled Topre, Felt, Typewriter, Laptop, and Silent. Space, return, and delete each use their own sounds. Click a style to hear it. Laptop is a little softer, and Silent is quieter still.
No. Topline only notes the kind of key, a letter, space, return, or delete, so it can pick a sound. It does not save the letters, it does not keep a log, and it does not send them anywhere. macOS asks for Input Monitoring before the sounds can play.
Yes, while Topline is running and key sounds are on. The klack follows the keyboard into whatever app you are typing in, including when the bar has shrunk to a thin line or you have hidden it with Control-Option-Command-S. Quit Topline, or turn the sounds off, and they stop.
Click the keyboard button on the right end of the bar. To remove the button, right-click the bar, open Settings, and turn off Show key sounds on the bar. You can also turn off Topline under System Settings, Privacy and Security, Input Monitoring.