Greenshot is a free, open source, and portable screen capture tool for Windows. It allows you to take screenshots of your entire screen, a single window, or a selected region, then save or edit the image instantly.
Greenshot Portable Free Screen Capture Tool
Greenshot can be used to capture a full screenshot, a specific window, or a custom region of your screen. Once captured, the image can be edited, annotated, and saved in common image formats including JPG, PNG, GIF, and BMP.
In addition to screen capturing, the software also functions as a free image annotation tool. You can open existing image files and add text, shapes, arrows, highlights, and other visual markers. This makes it especially useful for tutorials, documentation, technical support, and presentations.
What Is Greenshot and How Does It Work?
Greenshot is a lightweight screenshot capture and editing utility designed for Windows systems. It runs quietly in the system tray and can be triggered using configurable hotkeys or context menu options.
Once a screenshot is taken, the app lets you choose what to do next. You can save the image to a file, copy it to the clipboard, open it in the built in image editor, or send it directly to another application.
Key Features
- Multiple Capture Modes: Capture the full screen, a window, a selected region, or scrolling web pages
- Annotation Tools: Add arrows, text, highlights, shapes, counters, and speech bubbles
- Image Editing: Crop, resize, and make basic edits before saving
- OCR Support: Extract text from screenshots using optical character recognition
- Export Options: Save images as PNG, JPG, GIF, or BMP, or copy to clipboard
- Hotkey Support: Configure keyboard shortcuts for fast screen capturing
- Plugin System: Extend functionality and integrate with other tools
Who Should Use Greenshot?
- Users creating step by step tutorials or guides
- IT support technicians documenting issues
- Developers and testers capturing application behavior
- Students and teachers sharing annotated screenshots
- Anyone needing a fast and reliable screenshot tool
This works as a stand alone screenshot capture utility, similar to taking a photo of what appears on your monitor. After capturing an image, you can annotate it to point out important details or explain steps visually.
For example, you might use Greenshot to show someone how to configure software, highlight an error message, or save a snapshot of a web page or application screen for later reference.
Is Greenshot Really Portable?
Yes. Greenshot is available in a no installer zip package that can be extracted directly to a USB flash drive or other removable media. This allows you to carry it with you and run it on any compatible Windows system without installation.
Greenshot Portable Specs | Official Site | Download
- Author's Website: Project Page
- License: Open Source
- Supported Operating Systems: Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP
- Extracted File Size: 4.1 MB
- Editor's Rating: 4 Star
- Category: Screen Capture, Image Annotation
- Downloading: Greenshot Portable Download
If you find Greenshot useful, you may also want to check out FastStone Screen Capture, another popular portable screenshot utility with extended capture options.
Final Thoughts
Greenshot remains one of the best free and portable screen capture tools available for Windows. Its combination of fast screenshot capture, built in annotation, and true portability makes it an essential utility for anyone who regularly works with screenshots.
Simple, powerful, and open source, this screen capturing tool earns its place on any USB toolkit.