CrossOver
A free crosshair overlay for any game on any screen.
530+ sights · 217K monthly Store views · 1,200+ stars on GitHub · Windows · macOS · Linux
Download for Windows · All downloads (Mac, Linux, Windows)
What it is
CrossOver pins a customizable crosshair on top of any window so you can actually see where you're aiming. 530+ built-in sights — real scope reticles, dots, chevrons, tactical optics — or drag in any image and use that instead. Resize it, recolor it, dial the opacity, lock it in place.
It's just an overlay. No injection. No game files touched. Not bannable. Free since day one.
[!TIP]
Press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+X (Windows/Linux) or ⌃+⌥+⇧+X (macOS) any time to toggle the settings window and lock the crosshair.
Quick start
- Pick a crosshair — click the bullseye ◎ to open the chooser, or drag in your own image.
- Move it — click and drag the crosshair anywhere, double-click the bullseye to center.
- Fine-tune — Ctrl+Alt+Shift+↑↓←→ nudges pixel-by-pixel.
- Lock it — Ctrl+Alt+Shift+X.
- Reset everything — Ctrl+Alt+Shift+R.
Features
- 530+ built-in crosshairs — actual scope reticles, dot/cross variants, chevrons, MLG, Kenney, Diatoku, special requests.
- Custom crosshairs — drag any image (PNG/SVG/GIF) onto the window to use it.
- Cross-platform — first-class support on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
- Multi-monitor — hop the crosshair between connected displays with one shortcut.
- Duplicate crosshairs — pin up to 14 shadow crosshairs to mark more than one spot.
- Customize everything — size, color, opacity, SVG fill, light/dark mode, app accent colors.
- Center dot/reticle — independent shape and color from the crosshair itself.
- Hide on ADS — bind a mouse button; the crosshair hides while you scope in.
- Persistent settings — your setup is remembered automatically.
- Auto-updates — keeps itself current in the background (macOS, Windows).
- Built-in colorblind support — full control over color and contrast.
- No telemetry — your data stays on your machine. CrossOver only talks to GitHub to fetch updates.
Install
[!NOTE]
Because CrossOver is free and open source, builds are unsigned. Chrome may flag the download as untrusted, Windows Defender may warn you, and macOS Gatekeeper may block the first launch. These are normal — see the per-OS notes below.
Windows
Download CrossOver.exe (or grab the portable build from the releases page).
If Windows says "Windows protected your PC": click More info → Run anyway.
Or get it from the Microsoft Store.
macOS
Grab a .dmg from the releases page, open it, and drag CrossOver into your Applications folder.
Which file? Pick one — any of these will work:
| File | Use if |
|---|
CrossOver-<version>-universal.dmg | You're not sure — this one runs on any Mac (Intel or Apple Silicon). |
CrossOver-<version>-arm64.dmg | You have an Apple Silicon Mac (M1/M2/M3/M4). Smaller download. |
CrossOver-<version>-x64.dmg | You have an Intel Mac. |
To check which Mac you have: Apple menu ▸ About This Mac — look for Chip (Apple Silicon, e.g. Apple M1) or Processor (Intel). The .zip files contain the same app as the matching .dmg if you prefer that format.
If macOS says "CrossOver cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified": locate the app, Control-click it, then choose Open.
Troubleshooting
[!TIP]
macOS quarantine fix — if you see "CrossOver is damaged and can't be opened", move the app to /Applications and run:
sudo xattr -r -d com.apple.quarantine /Applications/CrossOver.app
Thanks to @Yoyopizzacat (#207).
Linux
Download .AppImage, .apk, .deb, .freebsd, .pacman, .rpm, or .snap from the releases page, or install from the Snap Store:
$ sudo snap install crossover
AppImage needs to be made executable after download. Some lightweight desktop environments require a compositor for the overlay to work (#230).
Advanced features (lock, hide, ADS resize, mouse follow) rely on libxkbcommon and a few X11 helper libs:
# Ubuntu / Pop!_OS / Linux Mint
$ sudo apt install libxkbcommon-x11-0 libxtst6 libnotify4 libnss3 libsecret-1-0
# Fedora / Nobara
$ sudo dnf install libxkbcommon-x11 libXtst libnotify nss libsecret
# Arch
$ sudo pacman -S libxkbcommon-x11 libxtst libnotify nss libsecret
X11 vs Wayland
Global hotkeys need X11. A shortcut works by asking the X server to grab a key combination, and a native Wayland compositor refuses that by design, so shortcuts look like they saved and then do nothing (#456). The transparent overlay is happier on X11 too.
The windowing backend is chosen before CrossOver starts, so the app can't switch for you. Two ways to get hotkeys back on a Wayland desktop:
- Log out and pick "GNOME on Xorg" or "Plasma (X11)" at the login screen.
- Or stay in your session and run CrossOver through XWayland:
$ crossover --enable-features=UseOzonePlatform --ozone-platform=x11
The builds on our releases page go through XWayland already, because they bundle Electron 14, which has no Wayland backend. If you installed CrossOver from a distro package built against a newer Electron, you probably need those flags. Either way CrossOver now tells you at launch when it's on a backend where no hotkey can fire, instead of letting shortcuts fail silently.
A session with no X server at all (no DISPLAY, so no XWayland) can't run hotkeys either way. Install XWayland, or log in to an X11 session.
KDE/KWin on Wayland is the most affected combination (#450).
Linux Mint 22 Cinnamon
Cinnamon disables compositing on certain themes, which hides the overlay. Enable compositing in System Settings → General → Enable compositing and restart CrossOver (#468).
Nobara / gaming distros
Overlays don't draw on top of Proton/Vulkan games — the crosshair renders on the desktop but not over the game window. Use windowed or borderless mode and see Vulkan-based games above (#347).
Fedora Silverblue / immutable distros
If CrossOver core-dumps on start, GPU sandboxing is likely blocked. Launch with crossover --disable-gpu-sandbox or install the Flatpak build once available (#120).
Reset stuck preferences
If the app crashes on launch after a bad setting, wipe preferences:
$ crossover --reset # preferred — clears prefs and restarts
$ crossover --disable-gpu --reset # if the GPU process crashes before reset runs
$ rm -rf ~/.config/CrossOver # nuclear option — delete the config dir directly
Usage
❌ marks the spot…
Position — click and drag the crosshair anywhere on any screen. Double-click the bullseye to center it.
Choose — click the bullseye ◎ to open the chooser. Drag any image onto the window to use a custom crosshair.
Customize — use the gear icon. See Settings below.
Quit — unlock with Ctrl+Alt+Shift+X, then click the close icon (top-left on macOS, right-click → Close on Windows).
Default keyboard shortcuts
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|
| Toggle settings / lock crosshair | Ctrl+Alt+Shift+X |
| Move pixel-by-pixel | Ctrl+Alt+Shift+↑↓←→ |
| Hide / show | Ctrl+Alt+Shift+H |
| Center on current display | Ctrl+Alt+Shift+C |
| Move to next display | Ctrl+Alt+Shift+M |
| Duplicate in shadow window | Ctrl+Alt+Shift+D |
| About window | Ctrl+Alt+Shift+A |
| Reset everything | Ctrl+Alt+Shift+R |
On macOS, ⌥ replaces Alt. All keybinds (except reset) can be remapped or cleared in Settings — click the input and press your new combo, or hit Backspace to disable.
To switch every keybind off at once, tick Disable All Keybinds in Settings under Keybinds. Lock and Reset survive it, so a locked crosshair is never stranded. If you want those two gone as well, set "disableSafetyKeybinds": true inside the hidden block of preferences.json (#299).
Settings
| Setting | What it does |
|---|
| Crosshair | Pick from 530+ built-in or drag your own. Tune size and opacity. |
| Reticle | The small dot/cross at the center. Pick shape and color, or turn it off. |
| Hide on ADS | Bind a mouse button; the crosshair hides while it's held. |
| Hardware acceleration | A handful of users see FPS drops with certain games (#70). CrossOver shouldn't add latency — if it does, toggle this and disable Hide on ADS. |
| Start on boot | Auto-launch CrossOver when your system starts. |
| Disable All Keybinds | Turns off every keybind, including Ctrl/Cmd+, for Preferences. Lock and Reset keep working. |
| Automatic updates | On by default. Disable to prevent all network requests. CrossOver only talks to GitHub. |
Duplicate crosshairs
Duplicate windows share the main window's settings and don't support every feature (no mouse-follow). Their state isn't saved separately, and they all close when the main window closes.
Game compatibility
[!WARNING]
CrossOver is not bannable in normal use — it's a transparent screen overlay that never touches game files or memory. The exceptions:
- Escape from Tarkov will refuse to start with CrossOver running (#47).
- Sea of Thieves is the one title that has flagged users for crosshair overlays. Don't use CrossOver with Sea of Thieves.
- Vulkan-based games (Cyberpunk 2077, Rainbow 6 Siege, Red Dead Online, RedM) won't render the overlay.
[!NOTE]
Most games require Windowed or Borderless Fullscreen mode for CrossOver to appear. Exclusive Fullscreen usually hides it. See the AutoHotKey workaround below.
| Works | Game | Notes |
|---|
| ✅ | Among Us | |
| ✅ | Apex Legends | Runs in Windowed mode |
| ✅ | Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War | Windowed, Windowed Fullscreen, Multi-Monitor |
| ✅ | Call of Duty: Warzone | Windowed |
| ✅ | Counter-Strike (1.6) | Windowed |
| ✅ | CS:GO | Windowed. May work in other modes with an AHK script |
| ✅ | CS2 | Windowed. Doesn't work in Fullscreen (with or without AHK) |
| ❌ | Cyberpunk 2077 | Vulkan |
| ✅ | Dead by Daylight | Windowed and Fullscreen |
| ✅ | Deceit | Windowed |
| ✅ | Destiny 2 | Windowed Fullscreen; some reports of Fullscreen working |
| ✅ | Empyrion: Galactic Survival | Windowed |
| ❌ | Escape from Tarkov | Game won't start with CrossOver running (#47) |
| ✅ | FiveM | Fullscreen |
| ✅ | Fortnite | Windowed Fullscreen |
| ✅ | GTFO | Fullscreen window, Maximized window, Windowed (not Exclusive Fullscreen) |
| ❌ | Hunt: Showdown | Works only in Windowed |
| ✅ | Killing Floor | Windowed |
| ✅ | League of Legends | Borderless and Windowed |
| ✅ | Left 4 Dead 2 |
Compatibility is community-reported. Add your results in #47.
Operating systems
| Works | OS | Notes |
|---|
| ✅ | macOS arm64 (M1/M2/M3/M4) | May need the quarantine fix on first launch |
| ✅ | macOS x64 (Intel) | Tested on Catalina 10.15.1 |
| ✅ | Windows 11 | |
| ✅ | Windows 10 (ia32 and x64) | Custom cursors don't render in the taskbar drag area on x64 |
| ✅ | Windows 8 | |
| ❓ | Windows 7 | Doesn't work on Home; works on Pro (#63) |
| ❓ | Arch | Tested in v2021.01.01 |
| ✅ | Elementary OS | v5.1+ |
| ✅ | Fedora | v33+ (shortcut may conflict with desktop switching) |
| ✅ | Linux Mint | v20.1+ |
| ✅ | Ubuntu | v20.04.1+ |
Bugs & limitations
Hidden by fullscreen apps
CrossOver works with windowed and borderless applications. Use Windowed Fullscreen if your game supports it. See #1.
Workaround for fullscreen (Windows)
If you absolutely need Exclusive Fullscreen, AutoHotKey can sometimes force the overlay on top — via @girkovarpa. Save this as script.ahk and double-click to run:
Home::Winset, Alwaysontop, , CrossOver
Press Space in-game to bring the overlay forward. Note: this can cause FPS issues and doesn't work with every title (#47).
Stutter with V-Sync / G-Sync
Some users report stuttering with V-Sync, G-Sync, or other Adaptive Sync (#330). Disable adaptive sync if you hit this.
Linux compositor edge cases
CrossOver may not render correctly on KDE Plasma's KWin — try GNOME (Mutter) or a different compositor. Missing compositor entirely will produce odd behavior (#230).
In Lutris, you can swap compositors per-game:
# Pre-launch script
#!/bin/bash
mutter --replace # or: gnome-shell --replace
# Post-launch script
#!/bin/bash
kwin_x11 --replace
plasmashell --replace
Development
See docs/DEVELOPMENT.md for the full build, test, debug, and release guide. Quick start:
$ nvm install && nvm use
$ npm install
$ npm start
Bug reports, feature requests, and PRs are all welcome — open an issue or jump into Discussions.
Credits
Crosshair art shipped with CrossOver thanks to:
See CrossOver in the Electron Apps library.
Built by Lacy Morrow.
Support this project
CrossOver is built and maintained by one person. Downloads don't pay bills. If CrossOver helps you out, consider chipping in:
- ETH:
0xfa81F824ea177DA04F7F3E799058b31854C003BC
- ETH (alt):
0x55520815d29a3Ac0067Dc23ccb8d24c6Ea89DD82
License
FSL-1.1-MIT — Functional Source License with a 2-year MIT future grant. Source-available; converts to MIT after two years.
