Free Windows screenshot and screen recording tool for tutorials, bug reports, and fast feedback

Free Screen Capture, OCR, and Screen Recording for Windows

SnippingTool is a lightweight Windows screen capture and screen recorder with live annotations, OCR text extraction, blur redaction, and pinned screenshots. It is built for anyone who wants a faster alternative to Windows Snipping Tool, ShareX, Greenshot, or Snagit.

Download for Windows

Why this Windows screenshot and screen recording tool stands out

Built for fast screen capture, live explanation, and sharing without post-editing friction.

Live Video Annotations

Draw, highlight, and point things out while you are recording. No need for complicated post-production video editing to explain a bug or tutorial.

Privacy First (Live Blur)

Drag over sensitive content (passwords, emails, API keys) to apply a Gaussian blur instantly. It stays blurred even in your exported video recordings.

Built-in OCR (Text Extraction)

Can't copy text from an image or video? Just lasso the text on your screen with SnippingTool, and it instantly extracts and copies it to your clipboard.

Pin to Screen

Working on something complex? Pin a captured screenshot as a floating, always-on-top window for quick reference while you code or type.

A practical alternative to Windows Snipping Tool, ShareX, Greenshot, and Snagit

People usually find SnippingTool when they need a Windows screenshot tool with cleaner recording, easier annotation, or built-in OCR.

Compared with Windows Snipping Tool

SnippingTool adds live recording annotations, built-in OCR, blur redaction, pinned screenshots, and faster explanation workflows for bug reports and tutorials.

Compared with ShareX and Greenshot

SnippingTool focuses on a simpler day-to-day capture experience with fewer setup steps, a cleaner UI, and quick access to the exact tools most people use constantly.

Compared with Snagit

SnippingTool gives you a free Windows screen capture and recording workflow with live markup, blur, and OCR without requiring a paid license.

If you are searching for a free screen capture tool for Windows, a screen recorder with annotations, or a way to copy text from screenshots on Windows, this is the exact problem space SnippingTool is designed for.

It works well for software demos, support tickets, bug reports, internal documentation, step-by-step tutorials, and any workflow where you need to show the important part of the screen quickly and clearly.

Popular guides people actually search for

These pages target the exact Windows screenshot, OCR, and recording problems people search for before they discover SnippingTool.