You're going to need to capture an image on your monitor at some point in your life. It could be for an important investor meeting. It could be for reporting software bugs. It could be for Twitter laughs. Unfortunately, Windows' old PrtScn capture-to-Clipboard key has a very limited use, even when paired with Paint or Paint 3D for image-editing purposes. You'll need the power and flexibility that screen-capture utilities provide.
The screen-capture field comprises standalone apps, as well as tools built into more robust packages. There are even two free ones bundled into Windows 10! Our How to Take Screenshots in Windows 10 feature highlights that pair, plus the other available options (though Windows' offerings don't focus on screen recording). If you're a Windows user ready to upgrade, learn How to Take Screenshots in Windows 11. Alternatively, check out How To Take Screenshots on a Mac or on any other device.
This article, on the other hand, covers both still-image and video/screen-animation capture. The highlighted software runs the gamut from a simple, free app to robust utilities that can cost more than a monthly fee. Not covered here are dedicated video-editing suites, such as Corel VideoStudio, CyberLink PowerDirector, or Pinnacle Studio. Professional educators should consider even more powerful (and more expensive) education-focused products, such as Adobe Captivate and Techsmith Camtasia, for their video sessions. Gamers can enjoy screen capture features in Nvidia GeForce Experience, Steam, the Opera GX browser.
Regardless of the software you choose, you can be certain that you'll be able to grab images and create videos as you please. Here are the screen-capture apps you should explore.
Snagit
Featuring more than 14 million users, Snagit is one of the world's most popular screen-capture utilities. The PC- and Mac-compatible app lets you snap a screenshot, capture a scrolling screen, or edit content by adding text, highlights, arrows, and other items. In addition, the built-in screen recorder lets you save your desktop or webcam actions as an MP4 file or animated GIF. Snagit also has optical character recognition (OCR) capabilities, so you can find and replace text in images.
When you're done with your project, you can send it to Gmail, Twitter, Word, PowerPoint, and numerous other destinations, including TechSmith's own Screencast (for storage) and Camtasia (for advanced video editing).
Droplr
A Droplr subscription grants access to a wide variety of screen-capture tools. Take screenshots and mark them up with text and emojis. Record your screen along with your webcam. Created animated GIFs. A single account seamlessly syncs files across the browser extension, desktop app, and mobile apps.
Droplr is even more useful for enterprise teams. Upload and organize files in shared cloud storage so your colleagues, or even the public, can access them. Optional premium add-ons provide extra professional perks, such as custom domains and analytics tools.
Screencast-O-Matic
ScreenPal
Screencast-O-Matic is a free screen-capture utility that lets you take screenshots and record up to 15 minutes of footage from your computer's screen or webcam (or both simultaneously). If that's all you need, you won't have to spend a dime. That said, upgrading to the Deluxe ($1.65 per month billed annually) or Premier ($4.00 per month billed annually) plans adds many other features.
The Deluxe tier lets you draw and zoom, create speech-to-text captions, record computer audio, leverage a green-screen filter, and import narration and music. It also removes the recording time cap and unlocks video-editing features. The Premier tier builds upon Deluxe by adding a stock image library, secure data backups, sharing and collaboration tools, an ad-free branded site, and other features.
Screencast-O-Matic is compatible with PCs, Macs, and Chromebooks.
Ashampoo Snap
Ashampoo Snap 11
Ashampoo Snap may not be as well-rounded as Snagit, the top-dog in the screen-capture utility space, but for $39.99, it's also not quite as expensive.
For your money, you get plenty of premium features. You can make GIFs, grab text with the OCR tool, capture scrolling windows, and take advantage of the powerful image editor. Improved 4K recording performance makes Snap great for saving and sharing high-quality videos on a variety of platforms. Only a few missing features and some unfortunate occasional technical issues hold this one back from greatness.
Ashampoo Snap works on PCs. For mobile capture, check out Ashampoo's standalone Android app: Droid Screenshot.
Vimeo Record
Vimeo is a high-quality YouTube alternative for artists and professionals, while Vimeo Record is the service's free video recording utility. With it, you can record unlimited clips (up to two hours each) of your screen or webcam (or both). It also lets you upload recordings to your Vimeo account.
Paid subscribers gain even more from the service, as they can share Vimeo Record with multiple members across the same team. Send quick video messages between colleagues. Share feedback on projects. Monitor analytics. However, unlike other utilities on this list, Vimeo Record only records and edits video. It can't capture screenshots.
Vimeo Records works on PC browsers as a free Google Chrome extension.
Windows Snip & Sketch
Snipping Tool
It would be remiss of us to overlook Windows Snip & Sketch. The free screen-capture tool, which is baked into Windows 10, lets you take screenshots and then annotate or resize images using a mouse, digital pen, or a finger on touch devices. Then you can save the marked-up images or export them to Mail, OneDrive, OneNote, Twitter, or other apps.
Snip & Sketch is a simple app that only captures screenshots; if you want to capture video using a default Windows utility, the operating system's integrated Xbox Game Bar lets you do just that. Unfortunately, it only lets you video capture apps—you can’t record your desktop.
For the record, Windows 10 has another built-in screen-capture utility called Snipping Tool. You can pretty much ignore it, as it's been surpassed by Snip & Sketch. In fact, Microsoft is phasing out the app in a future update.