This Is the Best Screenshot Tool for Windows – Lifehacker

Photo: sdx15 (Shutterstock)

Windows offers multiple ways to take screenshots, but if youre someone who takes a lot of them, the built-in tools probably dont offer enoughthings like scrolling screenshots, fixed time intervals, and cloud uploads.

While there are a bunch of alternative screenshot tools, ShareX is the best for Windows. ShareX is totally free and highly customizable, so you can set up workflows like uploading screenshots to your own server (or any cloud storage service) and automatically copying the link. However, ShareXs interface can be intimidating, so heres the best way to set it up.

The best way to use ShareX is by setting up keyboard shortcuts. Youll be prompted to do so the moment you install the app, but if you want to add more shortcuts (or change them), you can navigate to Hotkey settings... in the left pane.

This window will show you various screenshot actions on the left side, such as Capture entire screen, Capture region, and so on. The keyboard shortcut is displayed in the same row on the right.

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The most important thing is the color of the square box on the right hand side. If its red, then youll have to change the keyboard shortcut because its already assigned to a different task in Windows. If its green, youre good to go.

To add a new action, click the Add button on the top-left and select the task from the first drop-down menu on the right side. For example, I picked Screen Capture > Capture last region and set up a custom keyboard shortcut for it. The next time I screenshot a custom region on my computer, I can use the Capture last region action to screenshot the same area again.

The next thing you want to do is to set up a folder for all your ShareX screenshots to keep your screenshots organized, instead of storing them all in the default ShareX folder.

To do that, navigate to Application settings... > Paths. Here, you can select Use custom screenshots folder and click Browse... to select any folder you like.

You should also return to ShareXs main window and go to After capture tasks > Save image to file to make sure that each screenshot is sent to the right folder. If you want to copy all screenshots to the clipboard instead, you can select Copy image to clipboard under After capture tasks.

Remember that you can set up multiple actions under After capture tasks, and you should check out all options to create a workflow that suits your needs.

ShareX supports common services like Google Drive and OneDrive, and more advanced options like Amazon S3 and Google Cloud. You can set it up by going to ShareX > Destinations > Destination settings.... and picking the service you need, and then connecting it to your online account.

When youre done, be sure to visit Hotkey settings in ShareX to set up a keyboard shortcut that directly uploads an image to your preferred cloud storage service. With that done, you can navigate to ShareX > After upload tasks and select Copy URL to clipboard to instantly get a shareable link.

ShareX also lets you edit screenshots and add annotations. The best way to do this would be to go to After capture tasks > Open in image editor, which will immediately open captured screenshots in the built-in image editor. You can hover over any tool to find its name, but the most important ones are:

Apart from screenshots, ShareX can also capture screen recordings by going to the Workflows tab and then the Start/Stop screen recording option. Theres also an option that lets you save a screen recording as a GIF.

If youre looking to do more with screenshots in ShareX, click the Capture menu in the left pane. Youll find lots of useful options such as capturing screenshots automatically, adding a screenshot timer, taking scrolling screenshots, capturing screenshots of one or multiple monitors, and more.

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This Is the Best Screenshot Tool for Windows - Lifehacker

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