ShareX is a
free and open-source screenshot and
screencast software for
Windows
Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
. It is published under the
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public Licenses (GNU GPL or simply GPL) are a series of widely used free software licenses, or ''copyleft'' licenses, that guarantee end users the freedom to run, study, share, or modify the software. The GPL was the first ...
. The project's source code is hosted on
GitHub
GitHub () is a Proprietary software, proprietary developer platform that allows developers to create, store, manage, and share their code. It uses Git to provide distributed version control and GitHub itself provides access control, bug trackin ...
. It is also available on the
Microsoft Store and
Steam
Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...
.
Features
Screenshots
ShareX can be used to capture full screen or partial screenshots (which can be exported into various image formats), such as rectangle capture and window capture. It can also record animated GIF files and video using
FFmpeg.
An included image editor lets users annotate captured screenshots, or modify them with borders, image effects, watermarks, etc. It is also possible to use the editor to draw on top of the windows or desktop before taking the screenshot.
Sharing
After capture, a screenshot can be automatically exported as an image file, email attachment, exported to a printer, to the
clipboard, or uploaded to a remote host via
FTP
The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard communication protocol used for the transfer of computer files from a server to a client on a computer network. FTP is built on a client–server model architecture using separate control and dat ...
. Many popular image and cloud hosting services support ShareX integration, and some offer scripts to automatically upload using an account. If the image is uploaded to a remote host, the
URL generated by it can be copied to the clipboard.
Dragging other file types into the program will upload them to a destination based on type, such as a
text file
A text file (sometimes spelled textfile; an old alternative name is flat file) is a kind of computer file that is structured as a sequence of lines of electronic text. A text file exists stored as data within a computer file system.
In ope ...
being saved to
Pastebin and a
ZIP file saved to
Dropbox.
Other tools
There are a variety of desktop image capabilities including screen color picker and selector,
checksum tool (hash check), on-screen ruler, image combiner, thumbnails for images and video, and many more.
The program also includes some basic automation. For example, taking a screenshot, adding a border and watermark, and then saving to a specific folder.
Development
Work on a project called ZScreen began in 2007, hosted on
SourceForge and moved to
Google Code in 2008. In 2010, a parallel project called ZUploader was started to rewrite ZScreen's core from scratch. In 2012, all of ZScreen's features had been ported to ZUploader which was subsequently repackaged and released as ShareX. In 2013, the project was moved to GitHub due to Google Code dropping support for hosting downloads.
Reviews
* TechRadar gave the program 4.5 out of 5 stars and listed it among their 2021 Best Screen Recorders.
* The Guardian's 2018 article on the "best replacement for the Windows 10 Snipping Tool" lists ShareX first, with the caveat that it's powerful and probably "overkill for most users".
* The Verge's article listed ShareX among the 2021 great apps to have for Windows 11.
* Lifehacker made a 2022 article about ShareX being the Best Screenshot Tool for Windows with a complete usage guide.
* Microsoft listed ShareX as the best Utility App in the 2022 Microsoft Store Community Choice Awards.
See also
*
Comparison of screencasting software
References
External links
*
*
ShareX Review
Free raster graphics editors
Free software programmed in C Sharp
Free utility software
Free screencasting software
Free screenshot software
Utilities for Windows
Windows-only free software
Software using the GNU General Public License
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