Free download ShareX 22, the latest version of the open-source screenshot and screen recording software for computers, featuring a built-in image editor, automatic upload system, and the most flexible customization functions.

What is ShareX?

ShareX is a free, open-source screenshot and screen recording software widely chosen as the primary tool for working with screenshots. It combines image capture, editing, and online file uploading into a single program, eliminating the need to switch between multiple applications when working with images.

Capturing images in ShareX can be done in various ways depending on the situation at hand, whether it is capturing the entire screen, a specific active window, or dragging to select a desired area with the mouse. For web pages or documents longer than the screen, the program also features a scrolling capture mode that collects all content into a single image without needing to manually piece them together. When you need to explain workflows as animations, you can record the screen as a video or GIF file from within the same program.

After capturing, ShareX immediately opens the image editor for further work. Users can draw arrows or circles to point out important spots, add text annotations, blur sensitive information, or crop images to keep only necessary parts without having to send pictures to other editing software first, as well as FastStone Capture built-in editing for captured images, making the final pictures ready for immediate use.

Another aspect that sets ShareX apart from general capture software is its file-sharing system integrated with the capture process. Users can configure captured images or videos to be automatically uploaded to selected destination services, and the program instantly copies the file link for immediate use, making image sharing hassle-free without the steps of opening file hosting websites and uploading manually. Users can also add their own services via custom upload settings.

ShareX also includes various supplementary tools accessible from the main menu or customizable hotkeys, such as a color picker from any point on the screen, an OCR text reader from images, and a QR code generator. For those who need to capture screens repeatedly on a regular basis, users can define how to capture upon pressing a hotkey, followed by how to save or upload. With this flexibility, ShareX is suitable for both those who just want an easy-to-use capture program and those who want to customize workflows to fit their tasks.

Things to know about this program.

One of the rare features, almost nonexistent in other screen capture programs, is the ability to truly preserve the transparent background of the captured image. When a user captures a window with transparency effects enabled, such as a Terminal window or an app with translucent borders, ShareX saves the alpha channel value of that image instead of automatically filling the background with a solid color. The result is a PNG file with a truly transparent background from the moment of capture, which can be immediately overlaid on other images or used in graphic design without the need to spend time removing the background with image editing software afterward.

This feature also works with the Transparent Region Capture mode, allowing you to select a capture area without pausing the screen, and is compatible with video recording via the Transparent Region Selection option in the Screen Recorder menu. This makes ShareX an ideal tool for UI design, educational media creation, or illustration work that requires elements without backgrounds for later use in other projects, whereas typical screen capture programs usually only capture solid backgrounds.

Key Features

Versatile screen capture modes. Capture full screens, specific windows, custom regions, and long scrolling web pages.
Screen video and GIF recording. Record on-screen activities as videos or animated GIFs with microphone audio recording.
Built-in image editor. Draw arrows, add text boxes, watermarks, blur sensitive areas, and crop images immediately after capturing.
Customizable hotkeys. Easily assign dedicated shortcut keys for each capture mode.
Automatic upload to over 80 services. Instantly send files to clouds such as Google Drive, Dropbox, Imgur, and FTP servers.
Productivity tool suite. Includes a color picker, pixel ruler, QR code generator, and OCR function to extract text from images.
After Capture automation system. Configure post-capture sequences such as opening the editor, shortening links, and copying URLs to the clipboard.
Image effects and combination. Easily add drop shadows, borders, and combine multiple images into a single picture.
Custom Uploader system. Supports writing scripts to connect with APIs of personal file hosting services flexibly.
Multi-monitor support. Choose to capture from any monitor when connecting multiple displays simultaneously.
Runs in Portable mode. Can run the program directly from a flash drive without installing it on the system.
Supports transparent capturing. Accurately saves the window transparency settings into PNG files.

What's new

Version 22.4.0 – 2026-11-08

Task view mode. You can now switch task items in the main window between list view and thumbnail view.
Display image preview beside the list. Choose to enable the preview of the selected image next to the list view.
Spacing and compact mode. Adjust the spacing of the sidebar, menus, tool menus, and settings window with live preview, plus a compact mode preset that brings back the spacing from ShareX v21.
Choose icon set after updating. After updating, the program will ask which icon set to use.
Legacy icon set is more comprehensive. The legacy icon set now also applies to the screen recording bar, tools window, and image effects.
The old ruler tool is back. Added a Ruler tool that works like the ShareX v21 ruler, while the previous ruler tool has been renamed to Measure.
Canvas size tool. Drag the frame edges out to add space or drag in to crop, with the option to choose the background color for the added area.
Auto-expand canvas. Enable the option for the canvas to automatically expand when text or shapes extend beyond the edges.
Freehand arrow. The freehand tool has a new freehand arrow option added.
Arrow corner radius. The arrow tool has a new corner radius option added.
Second set of hotkeys. Tools on the toolbar have a second set of hotkeys, defaulting to ShareX v21 style number keys.
Show position and size during capture. Region capture now displays the position and size of the hovered window or area in X: Y: W: H format like ShareX v21.
Adjust HDR tone during video recording. Added HDR tone mapping option to prevent videos recorded from HDR displays from being overexposed and losing details.
Screen recording bar shown before recording with FFmpeg. The screen recording bar is now displayed before starting a recording with FFmpeg.
Record as HEVC if capture area is too large for H.264. Areas too large to be recorded with H.264 will now be recorded as HEVC instead of failing.
After-capture window based on destination. You can choose what to copy to the clipboard, and the task required by that destination will be automatically selected while other tasks remain optional.
One-time delay. The pre-capture delay menu now includes a "Just once" option so the delay applies only to the next capture.
Disable repeated warnings when deleting files. The file deletion confirmation dialog now includes a "Do not ask again" option, which can be re-enabled from the "Ask before deleting files" setting.