17 Best Screenshot Tools for Windows [2024]

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Edited by Ben Jacklin
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In this guide, we’re exploring the best screenshot tool for Windows users, to make it easy to take quick snapshots and screen grab while you’re in a game or just browsing the Internet.

Quick summary

Open-source screenshot and video capture program: ShareX

Built-in screenshot software for Windows: Windows Snipping Tool

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Best screenshot apps for Windows

Movavi Screen Recorder

  • Best for:

    easy screenshots

  • OS:

    Windows, Mac

  • G2 rating:

    4.5 out of 5, 49 reviews

Movavi Screen Recorder is one of the best screenshot program options for those who want to take captures and recordings of a screen.

This screen recorder can capture high resolution footage from individual parts of your screen, and also comes with an editor to trim, crop, and alter the footage. This screenshot app for Windows and Mac captures in Full HD, so you’ll get all the glorious detail even if you are recording in a game. Much better than using a simple Print Screen option.

Use a free trial version as a preview and pay for the full version of Movavi Screen Recorder if you are happy with the quality.

Key features:

  • Take informative screenshots: capture a single window, a full web page, or just part of your screen
  • Edit your screenshots – add text, arrows, or frames to highlight what’s important
  • Grab on-screen activity to improve our work process with simple, lightweight recordings
  • Save and share the results with your colleagues to keep your meeting summaries on point

Pros:

  • A handy tool to ramp up productivity with digital media capture

  • Taking and editing partial or scrolling screenshots in a snap

  • Smooth performance on any Windows PC

Cons:

  • Only the full version of the program gets you all the means to express your ideas with this software

ShareX

  • Best for:

    open-source screenshot and video capture

  • OS:

    Windows

  • TechRadar rating:

    4 out of 5

ShareX may be the best screen capture tool on a PC that is free of charge. It is Open Source and you can use it to take a screenshot in a variety of ways, there is even an automatic screenshot setting. The images can be set to save or to copy to a clipboard, and the software works on Windows 11 as well as earlier versions such as Windows 7.

Key features:

  • Links to cloud storage easily
  • Basic OCR recognition
  • Capture and upload video or still screenshots

Pros:

  • Auto capture setting

  • Regular updates and options to edit the source code

  • Possible to annotate and edit the images

Cons:

  • The interface isn’t as easy to use as some

Windows Snipping Tool

  • Best for:

    inbuilt snipping tool

  • OS:

    Windows

Windows Snipping Tool comes inbuilt and provides an easy and free screenshot captor with more functionality than the “Print Screen” command.

The print screen program has some really basic functionality, but if you need to take a full screen screenshot or to choose a section of the screen to grab an image of without third-party software, it may come in handy. One of the coolest features it offers is the ability to draw a custom shape to snap an image.

Key features:

  • Snipping and capturing tool
  • Delay option
  • Simple annotation, sharing, and upload

Pros:

  • Already installed on Windows devices

  • Easy shortcuts to quickly take a screenshot

Cons:

  • Very limited editing functionality

Aiseesoft Screen Recorder

Aiseesoft is one of those screen recorders that have additional screenshotting features. However, unlike many others in this group, Aiseesoft is great for both capturing your daily screen activities, but also recording gameplay with high FPS and almost no effect on CPU. So, if you want a Windows screenshot app for a laptop that lets you capture anything happening on your screen, it’s a great choice.

Key features:

  • Record gameplay with no quality loss
  • Take instant snapshots with text, shapes, and arrows
  • Add metadata to your videos and screenshots

Pros:

  • Simple recording and screenshotting

  • Capturing both screen activities and gameplay

  • Intuitive callouts on screenshots

Cons:

  • The trial version limits the recording time to 3 minutes

For open-source screenshot and video capture

ShareX
Editor’s choice

For easy screenshotting and screen recording

Movavi Screen Recorder

For all-in-one capture tool

Aiseesoft Screen Recorder

Action! – Screen and Game Recorder

  • Best for:

    taking in-game screenshots

  • OS:

    Windows

  • G2 rating:

    4.8 out of 5, 12 reviews

This utility is designed mainly to capture gameplay and stream it to platforms like YouTube, Twitch, and Ustream. However, Action! can also be used as a screenshot program for Windows. The images are then accessible through the in-app interface. You can delete those you don’t like and export the ones that are the best. Unfortunately, you cannot edit screenshots in the app. However, if it's not what you’ve been looking for, this screen recorder for games may just be the right choice.

Key features:

  • Live-streaming to Twitch and YouTube
  • Simple screenshot file management
  • Capturing screenshots from outside devices

Pros:

  • Great at capturing gameplay

  • Lets you organize your screenshots in the app

  • Lets you take screenshots from other devices, e.g. with a capture card

Cons:

  • No screenshot editing features

Lightshot

  • Best for:

    similar image search

  • OS:

    Windows, Mac

  • G2 rating:

    4.7 out of 5, 103 reviews

Lightshot is one of the best screenshot software that you can get for free, and the similar image search is a particularly good feature, allowing people to take a screenshot and quickly search for images that are the same. This means if you spot something that you want to look up it is really simple to do so.

Key features:

  • Simple shortcuts using the PrtScn button

  • Similar image lookup

  • Works as a browser plugin

  • Simple online image editor

Pros:

  • Simple install for Mac and Windows

  • Upload easily to a server

Cons:

  • Images upload to prntscr.com, which can be a problem if you have private screenshots

PicPick

  • Best for:

    color picker

  • OS:

    Windows

  • CNET rating:

    3.5 out of 5, 137 reviews

PicPick is designed with a specific focus on color and color management. It features an image editor, color picker, color palette, and even a simple whiteboard function. This is one of the best screenshot tools for Windows 10 users with a focus on design and web development, and it can help you to match up colors as well as provide some other easy design functions.

Key features:

  • Link to OneDrive and other cloud storage options
  • Easy to identify colors as hex codes
  • Whiteboard function

Pros:

  • Easy to capture from any program or part of your screen

  • Excellent for designers and anyone working with graphics

Cons:

  • Annotation features aren’t as good as some other free screenshot tools

  • No video capture option

Greenshot

  • Best for:

    capturing full IE pages

  • OS:

    Windows, Mac

  • G2 rating:

    4.8 out of 5, 142 reviews

If you want to capture full web pages from Internet Explorer, this screenshot app for a PC is an excellent solution. You don’t have to worry about things going missing on a scrolling page, as Greenshot will capture the page from top to bottom, even “below the fold”. It also allows you to perform all the basic screenshot functions you would expect and has a simple annotation function.

Key features:

  • Capture full web pages from IE
  • Simple annotation
  • Optional OCR

Pros:

  • Open-source with a customizable install to get the features you want

  • Allows you to capture a long webpage without having to edit

Cons:

  • Limited editing functionality

  • No video capture

For taking in-game screenshots

Action! – Screen and Game Recorder
Editor's choice

For easy screenshotting and screen recording

Movavi Screen Recorder

For using a color picker

PicPick

Screenpresso

  • Best for:

    linking to Android

  • OS:

    Windows, Mac

  • G2 rating:

    4.5 out of 5, 27 reviews

Screenpresso is a really easy-to-use and lightweight piece of software with a focus on professional uses. It is also one of the best screenshot apps for Windows 10 that links easily to your Android device. This means you can grab screen captures from either, and edit and share them from your desktop. The upload and share options on Screenpresso are more than sufficient for most of us.

Key features:

  • Android compatibility
  • Captures HD images and videos
  • Time delay if required
  • Multilingual support

Pros:

  • Really user-friendly with a simple layout

  • Great app for screenshots and video capture on all Windows versions

Cons:

  • Not totally free, the paid version is required to remove watermarks

TinyTake

TinyTake is a smart and lightweight app for screenshots and video capture. You can very easily take screen captures and instantly share your images via an online gallery, which can save a lot of time and make it easier to share your captures among colleagues. This great screen capture tool also has simple annotation functions and even a bulk sharing option. All of these features make TinyTake one of the best screenshot apps for Windows 10.

Key features:

  • Bulk sharing of images
  • Online gallery
  • Webcam capture option
  • Custom shortcuts

Pros:

  • Simple and intuitive functionality with an easy layout

  • Store your screenshots in the cloud

  • Arrows and highlighting make annotation simple

Cons:

  • Free plan is only for personal use, limited to 2 GB

ScreenRec

  • Best for:

    analytics

  • OS:

    Windows, Mac, and Linux

  • G2 rating:

    4.9 out of 5, 5 reviews

ScreenRec offers a lot of the functionality of the other options, making it easy to take screenshots or video recordings, but it is set apart as a fantastic option due to the fact that it includes a brilliant analytics suite, letting you see who viewed your image or video and for how long when you upload it to the ScreenRec server.

Key features:

  • Images stored on a secure server

  • HD video and screenshots

  • Tag and organize images on the cloud

  • Analytics included

Pros:

  • Excellent for business onboarding and creating a library of useful videos for others

  • You can track who has watched your video and for how long

Cons:

  • No advanced editing functions, only simple annotations

Gyazo

  • Best for:

    simple clipboard sharing

  • OS:

    Windows, Mac, and Linux

  • G2 rating:

    4.6 out of 5, 9 reviews

Time is of the essence, if it is quick and easy sharing you are looking for then Gyazo could be a good option. After installation, it makes it really simple to copy GIFs and other images to your clipboard, from where you can place them into emails, social media, messages, or more.

It’s easy to use, and the free version does allow you simple functionality and basic sharing.

Key features:

  • Unlimited screenshots
  • Store captured images on the cloud
  • Grab unlimited HD replay videos on Windows

Pros:

  • Incredibly fast to share images you have captured, even while gaming

  • Secure, encrypted storage

  • Easy editing function

Cons:

  • Some of the features are hidden behind a paywall

  • Mac and Linux functionality is not as good as Windows

For linking to Android

Screenpresso
Editor's choice

For easy screenshotting and screen recording

Movavi Screen Recorder

For simple clipboard sharing

Gyazo

SnapDraw

  • Best for:

    advanced annotations

  • OS:

    Windows

SnapDraw is perfect for those with a certain set of needs, namely advanced annotations. Once the image has been captured using a hotkey, you can make some pretty advanced changes in a matter of seconds.

Add annotations, insert images, add text, create your own watermark, and even add reflection effects and 3D rotation for your image. If you want to make these sorts of edits for free then SnapDraw makes a decent Windows companion.

Key features:

  • Advanced annotation options
  • Integrated FTP upload and sharing
  • Drawing mode

Pros:

  • Great for outlining items, making hefty annotations, and explaining things to others

  • Free of charge with no upselling

Cons:

  • No video capture

  • Interface is not particularly modern or simple-to-use

Nimbus

Nimbus is a decent free screenshot software for a PC, and it is one of the best if you want to keep everything within your browser. It makes it really easy to grab and share images without having to make edits in computer software or worry about installing more apps on your device. It has great editing and annotation functions, but unfortunately, a lot of the features are hidden behind a paywall.

Key features:

  • Chrome compatibility
  • Easy workspace to collaborate with others
  • Video and still image modes
  • OCR available on paid plans

Pros:

  • Excellent collaborative tool for a team to share images or videos

  • Optical Character Recognition available on paid plans

  • Integrates with Nimbus Note for storage, tagging, and adding information

Cons:

  • Many features including OCR hidden behind a paywall

Apowersoft Free Online Screenshot

  • Best for:

    online capture

  • OS:

    any (web-based)

This screenshot tool means that you can capture images using a scrolling window or providing a URL. You can scroll to the video, text, or image you wish to screenshot and take a faithful and reliable copy. It works on a multitude of devices, too. The only downside really (and it is a big one) is the fact that you can only capture what is in your browser.

Key features:

  • Online capture

  • Scheduled screenshots

  • Video capture

  • Online editing suite

Pros:

  • Simple to capture images online without downloading any large software files

  • Easy, intuitive editing

Cons:

  • Doesn’t capture from desktop applications or from some private pages

Awesome Screenshot

Awesome Screenshot lets you take screen captures and videos within your browser, and can easily save them within the drive for simple and secure sharing and storage. It’s got all the features you would expect including an option to capture part of the screen, and simple editing and annotating.

Key features:

  • Simple Drive integration

  • Annotate and share with friends and colleagues

  • Edit and retouch options

Pros:

  • Quickly create and store secure screen grabs and videos

  • Extremely lightweight software that won’t slow your computer

  • Intuitive layout

Cons:

  • Only captures from your browser

  • Browser installation can be a bit clunky

FastStone Capture

  • Best for:

    lightweight software

  • OS:

    Windows

  • G2 rating:

    4.7 out of 5, 27 reviews

FastStone is incredibly simple and lightweight and lets you grab images from freehand or fixed regions, plus scrolling windows. As well as screenshots, you can take video recordings of the screen which can also include onscreen changes and mouse clicks. The software is lightweight and simplistic, but does a reliable job and is free for personal use.

Key features:

  • Multiple capture options including freehand or fixed regions

  • Annotation function

  • Record clicks and mouse movements if required

Pros:

  • Simple and lightweight with a really easy interface

  • Integrates well with Microsoft suite including Excel and Word

Cons:

  • Only free for personal use

  • No advanced editing functions

For taking screenshots in your browser

Nimbus
Editor's choice

For easy screenshotting and screen recording

Movavi Screen Recorder

For taking screenshots with a lightweight software

FastStone Capture

How to use one of the best screenshot software

Step 1. Download and install the program

Use the button below to download and install Movavi Screen Recorder. Launch the program.

Step 2. Select the screenshotting area

Click the Screenshot icon and drag the capture frame over the desired area.

Step 3. Save the screenshot

Click the Save icon to save the screenshot as a file, or the Copy icon to copy and paste the screenshot. Hit the Editor button to draw on the screenshot and add annotations.

How to choose the best screen capture tool

What makes the best print screen software can vary depending on your own needs. Different people may have different needs from their screenshot tools, and it is important to evaluate a few different factors before you make your choice, especially if you are going to pay.

  • Usability. Ensure that the tool is simple and straightforward. Nobody wants to spend hours working out how to use the functions when it should take seconds.
  • Features. Do you need annotation features, scrolling screenshots, editing, private sharing, or other functionality? Make sure you’ve got all the features you need.
  • Price. Many of the best screenshot tools for Windows are free, but some also have paid upgrades, make sure you stay on budget.
  • Support. If something goes wrong, is there an option to get the help you need through a forum or even a contact form?

7 essential features of screenshot tools

Use this list of the most useful features of screenshot tools to make the best choice:

  1. Capturing: the tool should allow you to take screenshots of full screen, any active window, or a specific region of the screen.
  2. Annotation: Annotating screenshots with text, arrows, and highlighting tools is necessary for explanatory purposes.
  3. Format availability: Sometimes you might need to save a screenshot in a specific format. The more formats a screenshot tool supports, the better.
  4. Scrolling screenshots: this feature is extremely useful for capturing a web page or a long PDF or text document.
  5. Sharing and collaboration: The ability to upload the screenshot directly to a cloud service or social media platform is a great benefit.
  6. Editor: Should allow at least basic image editing tasks such as resizing, cropping, or adjusting the color balance of the screenshot to enhance it.

Summary

We hope this article was helpful. With so many options available out there, you’ll definitely find the best software to capture screenshots. Don’t hesitate to try out different print screen tools – many of them are free or provide a free trial.

Movavi Screen Recorder

The perfect way to record anything from your screen

Disclaimer: Please be aware that Movavi Screen Recorder does not allow capture of copy-protected video and audio streams.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best screenshot tool?

Here are the best Windows screenshot tools:

  • Movavi Screen Recorder – Best for easy screenshots
  • ShareX – Best for open-source screenshot and video capture
  • Windows Snipping Tool – Best for inbuilt snipping tool
  • Lightshot – Best for similar image search
  • PicPick – Best for color picker
  • Greenshot – Best for capturing full IE pages
  • Screenpresso – Best for linking to Android
  • TinyTake – Best for online gallery

What is the best free screenshot app for Windows?

Check out the list of 5 best apps for screenshot making:

  • Movavi Screen Recorder – Best for easy screenshots
  • ShareX – Best for open-source screenshot and video capture
  • Windows Snipping Tool – Best for inbuilt snipping tool
  • Lightshot – Best for similar image search
  • PicPick – Best for color picker

How do I take a high-quality screenshot on Windows?

Using Movavi Screen Recorder, it is easy to take a perfect screenshot that suits your needs.

  1. Download and install the program.
    Download Movavi Screen Recorder

  2. Click the Screenshot icon on the toolbar at the bottom of your screen.

  3. Use annotation tools if you would like to add comments and make alterations.

  4. Export the result.

What is a good screenshot tool?

A good screenshot tool offers many features, editing tools, and sharing options. Among such tools we recommend Movavi Screen Recorder. It has everything you need for screenshotting: annotations, scrolling screenshots, and editing tools as well as sharing options.

What is the quick screenshot tool?

There are two ways to take a quick screenshot on Windows. You can either hit the PrtScn key to capture full screen and paste the screenshot to any image editor you want. You can also press Windows logo key + Shift + S to access the Snipping Tool, select the desired capture mode, and annotate the screenshot.

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