Snipaste is a sleek snipping tool for Windows 10

From grabbing a shot of your entire screen to snipping the tiniest detail of an image, a snipping tool is always handy. Windows 10 has a built-in snipping tool, but Snipaste puts it to shame.

You can use Snipaste to grab a selection, annotate it directly within the app, and paste it anywhere you'd like.

The app is available for free on Windows 10.

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Snip in a jiffy

The most impressive aspect of Snipaste is its speed. With keyboard shortcuts you can instantly open up a selection session or paste a photo. Snipaste can automatically detect elements on the screen to make it easy to grab a window, icon, or shape on the screen, or you can freehand a selection. You can also save a selection directly to your clipboard.

The automatic detection worked well in my testing. Additionally, when making a selection Snipaste shows you a blown up circle of what you're selected that allows you to snip shapes with precision.

After making a selection, you can annotate them with various tools such as pens. This saves you the step of having to open up an editing app and cuts down time from selecting to sharing.

The pasting aspect of Snipaste is also simple. Similar to snipping, you can just press a keyboard shortcut to insist a selection into a document or image.

Snipaste doesn't launch in a window when you click it. It just starts running in the background. To change hot keys or any other preferences you have to right-click Snipaste from your system tray. I've seen complaints that it doesn't load but in my testing, it worked well every time I tried it.

Sticking to stills

When it comes to grabbing still images, there are no flaws to be found with Snipaste. My biggest issue with it is that it can only capture still images. If you want to capture video or gifs, you'll need a different app. Snipaste's main competitors — ShareX and Snagit — can capture videos and gifs, rendering Snipaste's functionality redundant if you require such.

Overall thoughts

Snipaste is an excellent app. It's fast, easy to use, and just works. The keyboard shortcuts streamline your workflow and Snipaste makes it a snap to grab an entire screenshot or a specific selection with accuracy down to the pixel level. I'd love to see support for recording gifs and videos, but if all you need is to grab still images then you won't find a better app than Snipaste.

Pros

  • Fast
  • Simple
  • Precise

Cons

  • Only records still images

See in Microsoft Store

Sean Endicott
News Writer and apps editor

Sean Endicott is a tech journalist at Windows Central, specializing in Windows, Microsoft software, AI, and PCs. He's covered major launches, from Windows 10 and 11 to the rise of AI tools like ChatGPT. Sean's journey began with the Lumia 740, leading to strong ties with app developers. Outside writing, he coaches American football, utilizing Microsoft services to manage his team. He studied broadcast journalism at Nottingham Trent University and is active on X @SeanEndicott_ and Threads @sean_endicott_.