Screenshots on Windows
Press one key, pick the area, mark it up and copy it without leaving the program you are in.
NexoPad for Windows includes a screenshot tool. Press Alt + 2 in any program, pick an area, a window or the whole screen, mark it up with arrows, boxes, numbers or text, then copy it, save it or keep it pinned on top of everything. It can also copy the text shown in the image, offline.
Here you will find every step, the editor keys, the Screenshots page and its preferences. If you do not have the app yet, start with Getting started on Windows.
How to start a screenshot
With the key
Press Alt + 2 in any program, browsers included. You can change it in Preferences › Screenshots.
With the button
In the NexoPad window, open Screenshots and click New screenshot. The window hides so it does not appear in the shot and comes back when you finish.
From the icon by the clock
Right-click the NexoPad icon next to the clock and choose Take a screenshot.
When it starts, NexoPad freezes the image of your screens and places a dark layer on top. Whatever was on screen at that moment stays still, so you can pick the area calmly.
Picking the area
Choose what to capture in the top bar
The bar shows Area, Window and Screen, the countdown (3, 5 or 10 seconds), Repeat last area and the ✕ to exit. Esc also cancels.
- Area: drag to draw a rectangle. A crosshair guides you and shows the position in pixels. If you click without dragging, the window under the mouse is picked.
- Window: move the mouse over the windows (the one underneath lights up) and click the one you want. It is a crop of the frozen screen: if another window partly covers it, that part shows too.
- Screen: picks the whole screen where you click the button.
Adjust the edges
- Drag any of the eight handles (corners and sides) to make the area bigger or smaller. Hold
Shifton a corner to keep its shape. - With the Select tool, drag from inside to move the area, or drag outside to draw a new one. The arrow keys move it 1 pixel (10 with
Shift). - Snapping: near the edge of the screen or of a window, the area sticks to it. Hold
Ctrlto move it without snapping.
Type the exact size if you need it
Above the area you will see a box like 828 × 508 px · Free. Type the width and height in real pixels and press Enter (Esc keeps the previous size).
In Aspect ratio you can lock 1:1, 4:3 or 16:9: the area adjusts right away and keeps that shape when you stretch it. Free removes the ratio.
Markup tools
| Tool | Key | What it is for | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
| Select | V | Move the area or pick a drawing to move, change or delete it. | — |
| Arrow | A | Arrows and lines. With Shift, at 45° angles. | Head (one, both or none), straight or curved line, solid or dashed stroke, shadow, color and thickness. |
| Rectangle | R | Boxes. With Shift, squares. | Fill (Outline, Soft or Solid), rounded or square corners, stroke, color and thickness. |
| Circle | E | Circles and ovals. With Shift, a perfect circle. | Fill, stroke, color and thickness. |
| Pen | P | Freehand drawing. With Shift, a straight line. | Color and thickness. |
| Highlighter | H | Marks like a highlighter pen without hiding the text. It is a mode of the Pen. | Yellow, green, blue or orange, and thickness. |
| Text | T | Write on the screenshot, as plain text or as a Bubble with a pointer. | Mode, style (Filled, Outline or Plain), size, bold and color. |
| Number | N | Steps 1, 2, 3…: each click adds the next one. | 1 · 2 · 3 or A · B · C, size, color and Start over. |
| Stamp | S | One click, one stamp: ✓ ✗ ! ? ★ 👍. | Stamp type and size. |
| Spotlight | F | Darkens everything except what you mark. You can mark several areas. | Shape (rectangle or ellipse) and darkness (Soft, Medium or Strong). |
| Hide | B | Cover names, emails, phone numbers or customer data. | Pixelate, Blur or Cover (dark or white block), and strength. |
Colors and changes to your drawings
- Tool options: click the selected tool again, press its key again or right-click it. A panel opens with its Look and, for Arrow, shapes, Text and Number, a Quick style (Guide, Focus and Alert). NexoPad remembers your choices for the next screenshots.
- Colors: keys
1to6set red, blue, amber, green, black or white. The panel also has Custom color, the Eyedropper (takes a color from the screenshot) and your Recent colors. - Changing a drawing: with Select, click it; the panel then changes only that drawing. Drag it to move it or use its handles: the ends of an arrow (the diamond in the middle curves it), the corners of shapes or the pointer of a bubble.
- Writing: with Text, click where you want to write.
Enterfinishes,Shift + Enteradds a line break andEscdiscards it. Double-click a text to edit it. - Delete and duplicate:
Deldeletes the selected drawing andCtrl + Dduplicates it. The arrow keys move it 1 pixel (10 withShift). - Undo and redo:
Ctrl + ZandCtrl + Y, or their buttons in the bottom bar.
Copy, save or pin
| Button | Key | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| ✕ Cancel | Esc | Closes the screenshot without saving anything. |
| Undo / Redo | Ctrl + Z / Ctrl + Y | Removes or brings back the last change. |
| Pin | — | Keeps the screenshot floating on top of everything, in the same place. |
| Save | Ctrl + S | Saves the image in the screenshots folder. |
| Beautify | — | Adds a background, margin and shadow for sharing. |
| Copy | Ctrl + C | Copies the image so you can paste it with Ctrl + V. With Also save a copy turned on, it is saved too. |
| ▾ Copy text | Ctrl + Shift + T | Reads the text in the image offline and copies it. |
| ▾ Copy and save | Ctrl + Shift + C | Copies the image and saves it. |
| ▾ Save as… | Ctrl + Shift + S | Lets you choose the folder and name (always PNG). If you close that window without saving, the screenshot is discarded. |
| ▾ Open screenshots folder | — | Closes the screenshot without saving it and opens the folder. |
Enter, Esc and double-click
The bottom bar only shows icons (except Copy): hover over each one to see its name and key. The ▾ arrow next to Copy opens More options.
Enter finishes the screenshot with the action chosen in Preferences › Screenshots › When you press Enter: Copy (the default), Save or Copy and save. Double-clicking inside the area with Select does the same. Esc first closes whatever is open (a menu, a panel); if nothing is open, it cancels the screenshot.
When you finish, the layer closes and you are back in the program you were using, ready to paste. Images are saved as PNG, at the real screen size, with a name like NexoPad 2026-10-24 14-05-01.png.
Beautify and pin
Beautify opens a preview with the screenshot on a colored background. Choose the Background (five gradients), Margin (S, M or L), Corners, Shadow and Credit, which adds “Made with NexoPad” at the bottom right. Below you see the Final size. Click Copy (or press Enter), Save or Back (Esc).
Pin puts the screenshot in a small borderless window that stays on top of the others, in the same place where you took it. Drag it to move it and close it with the ✕ (it appears on hover), with Esc or by double-clicking. You can have several at once. If Also save a copy is turned off, the pinned image is not saved and disappears when you close it.
Copying the text in an image
Pick the area with the text
For example, an error message, an order number inside an image or a scanned document you are viewing on screen.
Open ▾ and click Copy text
Or press Ctrl + Shift + T. NexoPad reads the area with the text reader built into Windows. It does not use the internet and the image never leaves your PC.
Paste the text wherever you want
You will see “Text copied” and how many lines were read. The screenshot closes by itself and the text is on the clipboard, one line per row: paste it with Ctrl + V. The image is not copied or saved.
- It reads the image as it looks: anything you covered with Hide is not read, but text and numbers you drew can show up. If you only want the original text, use Copy text before marking up.
- Small areas are enlarged before reading so that small print comes out better.
- It uses the languages of your Windows. If you see “Windows has no text reader for your language (Settings › Time & language)”, add your language in that section of Windows Settings.
- If you see “No text found”, try a bigger area or clearer text. The screenshot stays open so you can adjust it.
The Screenshots page
In the NexoPad window, Screenshots shows your saved screenshots with a thumbnail, the program you took them in, when, and their size. Favorites come first. At the top you have Open folder and New screenshot.
- Click the thumbnail: opens the image in your photo viewer.
- Copy: copies the image to the clipboard again.
- Pin on screen: keeps it floating on top of everything, next to the mouse.
- Show in folder: opens File Explorer with the file selected.
- Favorite (star): protects it from automatic cleanup.
- Delete: removes it from the list and deletes the file.
- Only saved screenshots are listed. If you delete or move a file in File Explorer, it disappears from the list.
Screenshot preferences
| Option | What you can choose | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Screenshot key | A key combination or No key. Default: Alt + 2. | Click Change and then press the combination (Esc cancels). While it waits, No key appears in case you do not want one; the New screenshot button and the clock icon menu keep working. |
| When you press Enter | Copy, Save or Copy and save. Default: Copy. | What Enter (or a double-click) does when you finish a screenshot. |
| Also save a copy | On (default) or off. | When you copy (and when you pin), the screenshot is also saved to the folder and shows in Screenshots. When off, it only goes to the clipboard. |
| Screenshots folder | Change to pick another one. | Where screenshots are saved. Default: the Pictures\NexoPad folder of your user. |
| Delete old screenshots | After 7 days, After 30 days (default) or Never. | Deletes older screenshots and their files. Favorites are never deleted. |
You will find them in the NexoPad window, under Preferences, in the Screenshots group. The other preferences are explained in Getting started on Windows.
Privacy
- Screenshots are saved only on this PC: the images in your screenshots folder and the list with thumbnails in the app’s data. They are not uploaded to the internet or to your NexoPad account.
- Copy text uses the Windows text reader, offline.
- Anything you cover with Hide stays covered in the final image: it is copied and saved already pixelated, blurred or covered.
- The list only stores the name of the program you had in front, for the title of each card.
- More details in the privacy policy.
Common problems
- The key does nothing: check which key you have in Preferences › Screenshots (it may be set to No key) and make sure NexoPad is still running, with its icon next to the clock. If another program uses the same combination, such as another screenshot tool, pick a different key.
- It does not respond in a program opened as administrator: Windows may not let NexoPad receive keys in those programs. Use Take a screenshot in the icon menu or New screenshot.
- A program no longer receives `Alt + 2`: while NexoPad is running, the screenshot key is only for screenshots. If you need it in that program, change the screenshot key.
- Copy text finds nothing: try a bigger area or clearer text, and check the language message explained above.
- A screenshot is missing from Screenshots: only saved ones are listed. With Also save a copy turned off, Copy and Pin do not save anything.
- “Repeat last area” is grayed out: there is no previous area on that screen yet, or its resolution has changed.
Keys you cannot choose
| If you choose… | NexoPad tells you |
|---|---|
A letter, a number or another key on its own, or with Shift | “Use Ctrl or Alt with another key (or F1–F12, Print Screen)” |
Ctrl with A, C, V, X, Z, Y, S, F, P, N, W, T, O or R | “Windows or many programs already use that combination” |
Alt + F4, Alt + Tab or Alt + Space | “Windows or many programs already use that combination” |
Ctrl + Alt with a letter or a number | “Ctrl+Alt with a letter or number types symbols (@, €…) on many keyboards”. Add Shift or use another combination. |
FAQ
Where are my screenshots saved?
In the Pictures\NexoPad folder of your user, unless you pick another one in Preferences › Screenshots › Screenshots folder. Each file is a PNG with the date and time in its name. The ones you save with Save as… go wherever you choose.
Can I use the Print Screen key?
Yes. In Preferences › Screenshots › Screenshot key, click Change and then press Print Screen. The keys F1 to F12 also work on their own.
Can I take a delayed screenshot?
Yes. In the top bar, open the countdown and choose Capture in 3 s, 5 s or 10 s. The layer closes, gives you that time (for example, to open a menu) and freezes the screen again so you can pick the area.
Does it work with several monitors?
Yes. Each monitor has its own layer and its own bar. The area is picked within a single screen, and Screen captures the monitor where you click the button.
Can I edit a screenshot I already saved?
No. Markup is done before you finish; the saved image is a regular PNG. Click its thumbnail to open it in your photo viewer.
When are old screenshots deleted automatically?
When you open the Screenshots page, NexoPad deletes the ones older than the days chosen in Delete old screenshots, along with their files. Favorites are never touched and with Never nothing is deleted.
Is this related to the extension’s automatic captures?
No. The browser extension’s automatic captures do not take images: they read a value from a website (a name, an order number) to use it in your snippets. Windows screenshots stay on your PC and are not synced.
Don't have NexoPad for Windows yet?
It is free on the Microsoft Store. Install it and take your first screenshot with Alt+2.