Region capture is the ShareX capture mode for selecting a specific part of the screen. Draw a rectangle around the area you need, or select a detected window or control.
Region capture is useful for screenshots of buttons, dialogs, menus, error messages, form fields, code snippets, sections of web pages, or any other area where a full-screen capture would include unnecessary content. You can draw annotations before selecting the capture area, use the magnifier for accurate positioning, and reuse the last selected region.
You can start region capture in several ways:
A typical region capture workflow in ShareX is:
Disable Quick capture under Task settings -> Capture -> Region capture if you want to adjust the selection before finishing. Drag inside the selected rectangle to move it, use its resize handles to change its size, then press Enter or double-click inside it to capture.
If you cancel the selection before it is completed, ShareX returns to the previous state without creating a capture.
Select and move existing annotations, or adjust their available tool options. Press Tab when you are ready to select the rectangle to capture.
Draw a rectangular annotation. Rectangle annotations are useful for highlighting windows, buttons, panels, and other rectangular UI elements.
Draw an ellipse or circle annotation. Use it for rounded highlights or to call attention to a specific area.
Draw a straight line between two points.
Draw an arrow to point at a control, message, setting, or area of interest.
Draw freehand strokes on the capture. This is useful for quick circles, underlines, handwritten marks, and rough highlights.
Add editable text annotations with text color, outline color, font size, and formatting options.
Add a speech balloon annotation for short callouts directly on the screenshot.
Place numbered step markers on the capture. This is useful for tutorials, guides, and multi-step screenshots.
Insert an image as an annotation. You can also paste an image from the clipboard.
Insert an emoji as a visual marker or callout.
Insert a cursor graphic when you need to show pointer position clearly.
Highlight an area without fully covering the underlying content.
Cover small areas by blending with nearby colors.
Blur a selected area to hide sensitive information such as names, email addresses, tokens, or account details.
Pixelate a selected area to obscure private information while making the redaction obvious.
Magnify a small part of the screen so it can be read more easily.
Darken the image outside a selected area to draw attention to one part of the screenshot.
Use the image editor after capture for cropping, cutting out strips, editing the background, or applying image effects.
With the rectangle region tool active, you can capture the full screen or active monitor without dragging a region:
These shortcuts are useful on multi-monitor setups or when you start region capture but decide that a full monitor capture is faster.
These shortcuts apply while the rectangle region tool is active. Press Tab to return to it after annotating.
| Keybind | Description |
|---|---|
| Drag with the left mouse button | Select a rectangular region |
| Release left click | Capture the selection when Quick capture is enabled |
| Shift while drawing a region | Constrain the selection to a square |
| Ctrl after starting a region | Move the selection while drawing |
| Arrow keys | Move the cursor by 1 px |
| Shift + Arrow keys | Move the cursor by 10 px |
| Delete | Clear the current region selection |
| Enter / double left click inside the selection | Capture the selection when Quick capture is disabled |
| Space | Fullscreen capture |
| ~ | Active monitor capture |
| Esc | Cancel capture |
| Keybind | Description |
|---|---|
| Tab | Activate the rectangle region tool |
| Ctrl + H | Show or hide the capture toolbar |
| Middle click | Switch between region selection and annotations, with the default mouse action |
Mouse actions can be customized in the region capture task settings. While annotating, Esc cancels an active edit or clears the annotation selection before canceling capture. See the image editor keybinds for shared annotation editing shortcuts.
The tool shortcuts below are the defaults. They can be changed from Task settings -> Tools -> Image editor -> Customize toolbar.
| Keybind | Description |
|---|---|
| V | Select |
| R | Rectangle |
| E | Ellipse |
| L | Line |
| A | Arrow |
| F | Freehand |
| T | Text |
| O | Speech balloon |
| N | Step |
| I | Image |
| J | Emoji |
| K | Cursor |
| H | Highlight |
| W | Smart eraser |
| B | Blur |
| P | Pixelate |
| M | Magnify |
| S | Spotlight |