Which screen­shot software offers the best free features?

Both Windows and macOS, Android, and iOS now offer built-in tools for quickly taking screen­shots. However, if you need more features like scrolling screen­shots, screen­casts, cloud uploads, or an­no­ta­tions, it’s best to use spe­cial­ized screen­shot software. These screen­shot tools and a dedicated screen­shot app offer extra con­ve­nience and are designed for both beginners and pros.

The best screen­shot tools at a glance

Screen­shot software for apps, freeware, and paid tools

With the built-in tools in desktop operating systems, you can already create basic screen­shots:

• On Windows 10 and 11, you can use the built-in Snipping Tool, which you can open, for example, with the keyboard shortcut Windows key + Shift + [S].
• On macOS, you can access the built-in screen­shot menu with [Cmd] + [Shift] + [5].

These features are enough for a quick screen­shot. It gets trickier if, for example, you want to do any of the following:

• Capture a scrol­lable area (e.g., an entire website)
• Add comments, arrows, or blur directly
• Create videos (screen­casts) and GIFs
• Export screen­shots instantly to the cloud, via email, or into an app

That’s exactly where spe­cial­ized, mostly free screen­shot tools like the programs presented below come in. They offer many con­ve­nient features that go beyond the standard options.

LightShot

LightShot is a light­weight tool available for multiple platforms and is es­pe­cial­ly ap­pre­ci­at­ed for its speed and sim­plic­i­ty. After in­stal­la­tion, a simple keyboard shortcut is all you need to select an area. Screen­shots can be edited and uploaded im­me­di­ate­ly. One es­pe­cial­ly useful feature is the built-in Google image search, which lets you check with a single click whether similar images appear online.

Greenshot

Greenshot is dis­trib­uted for free under an open-source license. To create a screen­shot with this screen­shot tool, you can either use the icon in the taskbar or simply press the Print Screen key on your keyboard. In addition to standard screen­shots, it also supports auto-scroll for capturing entire web pages and offers export options to other programs such as Microsoft Office. The Mac version offers fewer features, such as no auto-scroll.

Monosnap

Monosnap is designed primarily for de­vel­op­ers and remote teams. With its screen­cast feature, you can also record videos of your screen and enhance them with webcam footage and audio com­men­tary via mi­cro­phone.

Snagit

Snagit also combines the ability to create screen­shots and screen­casts in one screen­shot software app. After you take a screen­shot, you can crop and edit it, add graphic elements such as stamps, arrows, and speech bubbles, or blur specific areas. If you want to capture a web page, you can save the website as a PDF—including all existing links.

With the panorama feature, you can scroll (for example, in a large online map) to create a single large image. Recording a video file is pretty straight­for­ward. In addition to the video, you can record your com­men­tary using a mi­cro­phone. When you’re done, you can trim the file as needed.

For this screen­shot software, you need to purchase a license. However, you can try the program for free for 15 days be­fore­hand.

ShareX

The open-source ShareX screen­shot software offers basically every­thing you could want for creating screen­shots. You can capture different areas such as the entire screen (or multiple monitors if you have more than one connected), a freely selected area, full web pages via auto-scrolling, or specific windows. This screen­shot app also includes screen­cast recording, as well as the ability to create GIFs, so you can il­lus­trate processes more clearly.

After taking a screen­shot, you can add an­no­ta­tions or apply your own watermark. ShareX also includes optical character recog­ni­tion (OCR), and its upload and storage options are notably extensive.

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Screen­shot apps for mobile devices

Smart­phones come with built-in screen­shot features out of the box:

• On Android smart­phones, the key com­bi­na­tion [Power] + [Volume Down] is usually enough.
• On the iPhone, you take screen­shots using the com­bi­na­tion [Power] + [Volume Up].

If you want more control, editing options, and con­ve­nience, the following apps are rec­om­mend­ed.

Screen Master (Android)

Screen Master is one of the most popular screen­shot apps on Android. In addition to standard screen­shots, the screen­shot app supports scrolling screen­shots for long chats or web pages and offers many editing options.

AZ Screen Recorder (Android)

AZ Screen Recorder is best known for video screen­casts, but it can also capture screen­shots. It’s es­pe­cial­ly suitable for tutorials, gaming, and app pre­sen­ta­tions.

Apple built-in tools (iOS)

On iPhones and iPads, taking screen­shots is a built-in feature. Press [Power] + [Volume Up] or [Power] + [Home], then edit the image in Photos or im­me­di­ate­ly after capturing it. Starting with iOS 17, a scrolling screen­shot option is also available—ideal for long web pages or chats.

Built-in Google tools (Pixel/Android)

On Google Pixel smart­phones and many Android versions, the screen­shot feature is also built in. You can take screen­shots with [Power] + [Volume Down] or via the app switcher, including “Capture more” for scrolling screen­shots.

Picsew (iOS)

Picsew is a very popular screen­shot app for iOS, es­pe­cial­ly for stitching multiple screen­shots together. Ideal for social media or doc­u­ment­ing long chats.