Open. Select. Capture. A simple, native Windows screenshot and screen recording tool inspired by the modern Ubuntu / GNOME capture overlay.
Opening Snap takes you straight to a dimmed desktop with selection handles and a small capture bar. Choose an area, screen, or window, adjust the frame, and capture. Screenshots save automatically and copy to the clipboard, so you can get back to what you were doing.
Built for people who want quick captures without an editor or a save dialog. Snap is written in C# with WPF and .NET 8.
These screenshots show Snap on a real Windows desktop, with the taskbar excluded.
Select and refine. Drag to select an area, then move or resize the frame before capturing.
Switch to recording. Choose video mode and use the red capture button to record a silent MP4.
Keep the result. PNG screenshots save automatically to Pictures/Screenshots and copy to the clipboard for pasting.
Download the Windows installer for the easiest setup. Prefer a portable app? Download the ZIP, or build Snap from source.
Requires Windows 10 version 2004 (build 19041) or later, or Windows 11, on an x64 PC. ARM64 and 32-bit Windows are not supported by these packages.
| Download | How to use it |
|---|---|
| Snap-Setup-0.1.0-x64.exe — recommended | Run the setup wizard. Installs for your Windows account with Start menu shortcuts, an optional desktop shortcut, and an uninstaller. |
| Snap-Windows-x64.zip | Extract the whole ZIP and open Snap/Snap.exe. Keep all files in the extracted folder together. |
Release notes · SHA-256 checksums
Self-contained builds include the .NET runtime and work offline. The app and installer are currently unsigned; Windows may display an unknown-publisher or SmartScreen reputation warning.
Uninstall through Settings → Apps → Installed apps → Snap. Your screenshots and recordings are preserved.
- Open Snap from Start, a desktop shortcut, or
Snap.exe. - Choose Selection, Screen, or Window. Draw a selection, drag inside it to move it, or resize with its edges and corner handles.
- Click the round capture button or press Enter. Press Esc to cancel.
Releasing the mouse keeps the overlay open so you can refine the selection. The pointer button controls whether the mouse pointer appears in your capture.
- Screenshots: PNG files saved in your Windows Pictures/Screenshots folder and copied to the clipboard for pasting.
- Recordings: MP4 files with H.264 video, without audio, saved in Videos/Screencasts. Switch to recording mode, select an area or screen, and start. Use the floating stop control to finish.
- Local files: Captures are saved on your computer. Snap does not require an account or upload captures to a service.
| Overlay shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| S / C / W | Selection / Screen / Window |
| P | Toggle mouse pointer |
| V | Switch screenshot / recording mode |
| Enter / Space / Ctrl+C | Capture or start recording |
| Esc | Cancel |
For shortcuts while other apps are active, open Snap (background mode) from Start, or run:
.\Snap.exe --background| Global shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Print Screen or Ctrl+Alt+S | Open the capture overlay |
| Alt+Print Screen | Capture the focused window |
| Shift+Print Screen | Capture the whole desktop directly |
| Ctrl+Alt+Shift+R | Open recording mode, or stop an active recording |
Windows or another app may already use a shortcut. If registration fails, open Snap from the tray instead. Background mode is optional and does not configure automatic startup or change Windows' Print Screen setting.
Quit from the tray menu, or run Snap.exe --quit.
On Windows, install the .NET 8 SDK, open PowerShell in the repository root, then run:
.\build.ps1 -SelfContained -Test
.\dist\Snap\Snap.exeThis publishes an x64 build with the runtime included and runs the built-in checks. Omit -SelfContained for a smaller build that requires the .NET 8 Desktop Runtime on the target computer. Build outputs and locally installed tools are excluded from Git.
To build the setup wizard, install the official Inno Setup compiler; versions 6.7.3 and 7.1.0 are supported. The compiler is not bundled in this repository. Then run:
.\build-installer.ps1 -TestIf needed, supply the compiler location with -Compiler 'C:\Program Files\Inno Setup 7\ISCC.exe'. The output and checksum are written to dist/installer. See the installer guide for packaging and release checks.
Snap is an early release. The current Windows workstation passed 11 app self-tests and four installer smoke-test groups. Real region capture and Escape dismissal were also checked. The tests do not establish compatibility with every display or application; see the verification notes for the exact coverage and remaining manual checks.
- Window previews and captures are best effort. Some applications cannot render correctly through Windows'
PrintWindowAPI, and protected or capture-excluded content may be unavailable. - Window recording, audio recording, image editing, and annotations are not implemented.
- Clipboard persistence across destination apps, real recording stop interaction, global shortcuts, and mixed-DPI multi-monitor setups need further manual testing. A clean Windows 10 machine has not yet been tested.
- Snap uses a floating recording stop indicator and appears in the taskbar during selection to fit Windows interaction and accessibility behavior.
The workflow follows Ubuntu 22.04 and later's GNOME overlay. Snap is an independent Windows project. See research and platform notes for the intended behavior and primary references.
Bug reports, practical Windows compatibility feedback, and focused improvements are welcome. Read CONTRIBUTING.md to build, verify changes, and report issues without exposing sensitive desktop content.
Snap is available under the MIT License; see LICENSE. Bundled .NET runtime components retain their own license and third-party notices in release packages.
The logo was created with ImageGen. Source artwork and the generation prompt are documented in branding notes.