PollSlide Companion
for Mac
Present live polls over anything on your Mac — Keynote, PowerPoint, a PDF, a webpage, even a video. Live results float on top and appear automatically when your QR is on screen.
Set it up in five steps
Download & install
Open the downloaded .dmg and drag PollSlide Companion into your Applications folder. Open it from Applications — at the one-time macOS prompt, click Open.
Get your code — in your browser
Sign in at app.pollslide.com/presenter. Click your email address at the top right, then choose 🔗 Connect Mac App. You get a 6-character code — it expires in 10 minutes.
Type the code on your Mac
Go back to your Mac. Nothing opens on its own — in the menu bar at the top right of your screen, click the bar-chart icon, then “Disconnect Account (Re-pair)”. That opens the “Connect to PollSlide” window. Click the “Enter code” box, type the 6 characters and click “Connect”. When it says “Connected!”, you're linked.
Turn on auto-show
System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen Recording → switch PollSlide Companion ON → quit the app and open it again (macOS only applies the permission to a freshly opened app).
Is auto-show on? It normally starts by itself. To check, click the bar-chart icon: if the menu shows “▶ Start Auto-Show (QR detect)”, click it. It's on when the item reads “■ Stop Auto-Show (QR detect)”.
Place the window, then do a dry run
Don't let the window cover the QR — your audience has to scan it. Drag the window by its top bar, or put the QR in a corner of your slide.
Have a code but don't know where to type it?
The “Connect to PollSlide” window doesn't open on its own — in the menu bar at the top right of your screen, click the bar-chart icon, then “Disconnect Account (Re-pair)”. That's where the code goes.
Using a projector or second display? Do a 30-second dry run first.
This is the single most important step for a trouble-free presentation. With more than one screen connected, the results window can open on the wrong display. Before your audience is watching, bring up a QR slide so the window appears — and if it lands on the wrong screen, simply drag it by its top bar onto the display where your slides are showing. It stays there for the rest of your talk. Repeat this whenever your setup changes — a new room, projector, or TV.
If it doesn't connect — or doesn't pop up
“This code has expired. Generate a new one.”
Codes last 10 minutes and work once. Get a new one the same way — your email address at the top right, then Connect Mac App — and type it in straight away.
“Invalid code. Check it and try again.”
Retype all 6 characters carefully. Codes never contain the look-alikes 0, O, 1 or I. If it still fails, get a fresh code.
“Connection error. Check your internet.”
Your Mac has to be online to connect. Check your Wi-Fi and try again — the same code works until its 10 minutes are up.
I can't find the window to type the code
In the menu bar at the top right of your screen, click the bar-chart icon → “Disconnect Account (Re-pair)”. No icon there? Open PollSlide Companion from your Applications folder.
The results never pop up
Check three things: the app is in your Applications folder (not Downloads or the disk image); Screen Recording is ON for PollSlide Companion and you quit and reopened the app afterwards; and the menu reads “■ Stop Auto-Show (QR detect)”.
The app says it's running from a temporary location
It was opened from Downloads or the disk image, so Screen Recording can never stick. Quit it, drag PollSlide Companion into Applications, and open it from there.
The window covers the QR
Your audience can't scan a QR the window is sitting on. Drag the window by its top bar, or move the QR to a corner of the slide — and test before you present.
Switching to another PollSlide account
In the menu bar at the top right of your screen, click the bar-chart icon → “Disconnect Account (Re-pair)”. The connect window comes back: get a code while signed in to the other account and type it in.
What Screen Recording actually does here
The companion watches your screen only to detect the PollSlide QR code on your slides. Nothing is ever recorded, saved, or sent anywhere. macOS requires this permission for any app that reads the screen — there is no way around it, by design. The moment the app is closed, it stops entirely.
What's in the app
Auto-detect from your slides
Scans your screen at 6fps. Detects the PollSlide QR and switches to the exact matching question.
Floats over any full-screen app
A draggable, resizable window that sits above Keynote, PowerPoint or a PDF — without touching your slides or animations.
Live results, all display styles
Bar chart, donut, leaderboard, big numbers — switch modes live. Window auto-sizes to fit every response.
Confetti on reveal
When the answer is revealed — automatically or when you click Reveal now — a burst of confetti fires across the window.
Hotkey control
Control + Option + Y shows or hides the window at any time, even over a full-screen presentation. Control + Option + R reveals the answer.
One-click pairing
Links to your pollslide.com account with a 6-character code. No passwords stored on the Mac.
Speaks 11 languages
It follows your Mac’s language, or you pick one in its Language menu: English, Spanish, German, French, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic and Hindi.
System requirements
| macOS version | macOS 14 Sonoma or later |
| Architecture | Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) and Intel — universal binary |
| Download size | ~2.5 MB |
| Distribution | Direct download — signed & notarized by Apple (opens with no security warnings) |
| Permissions needed | Screen Recording (for QR detection). No other permissions required. |
| Internet | Required — poll data syncs through PollSlide's Firebase backend |
| Works with | Any presentation on your Mac — Keynote, PowerPoint, a PDF, or anything on screen. |
Common questions
Watch: install it in two minutes
Prefer to read? Every step is written out, with a picture, in the Mac setup guide.