Blinkshot Support

Get started

1. Open Blinkshot. The first time, a welcome window appears with what Blinkshot does and a Choose Screenshot Folder button.
2. Click it. A folder chooser opens at the folder where macOS saves screenshots, which is usually your Desktop. Click Choose, and Blinkshot starts watching that folder.
3. Take a screenshot. For example, press Shift-Command-4, then drag to select an area. When macOS saves the file, a popup appears in the lower-right corner of the screen you took it on.
4. Click Temporary, Keep, or Move to Trash.

If you close the welcome window with Not Now, click Choose Screenshot Folder in the Inbox, or choose Blinkshot > Settings, click Screenshots, then click Choose. To see the welcome window again, choose Help > Welcome to Blinkshot.

To see your screenshots later, click the Blinkshot icon in the menu bar, then choose Open Blinkshot. The Inbox opens. To open settings, click the Blinkshot icon, then choose Settings. When a Blinkshot window is open, you can also choose Blinkshot > Settings.

For step-by-step instructions, open a Blinkshot window, then choose Help > Blinkshot Help.

Common questions

Why doesn’t the popup appear after I take a screenshot?

Blinkshot watches one folder, and it needs to be the folder where macOS saves screenshots. To check, choose Blinkshot > Settings, then click Screenshots.

• If you see Matches where macOS saves screenshots, the folders match.
• If you see macOS saves screenshots to followed by a folder name, click Use This Folder, then click Choose. Or click Save Screenshots Here to point macOS at the folder Blinkshot watches instead.

You can also change where macOS saves screenshots: press Shift-Command-5, click Options, then choose a folder below Save to.

Blinkshot also needs to be open. Its icon appears in the menu bar unless you turned off Show Blinkshot in the menu bar.

Why does the popup take a few seconds to appear?

After you take a screenshot, macOS shows a floating thumbnail and waits to save the file until the thumbnail goes away. Blinkshot can’t see a screenshot until it’s saved.

To save screenshots right away, press Shift-Command-5, click Options, then deselect Show Floating Thumbnail. This setting applies to every screenshot you take on your Mac, even when Blinkshot isn’t open. Blinkshot doesn’t change it for you.

Why doesn’t Blinkshot detect screenshots copied to the clipboard?

Blinkshot finds screenshots by watching for new files. A screenshot copied to the clipboard, for example with Control-Shift-Command-4, isn’t saved as a file, so Blinkshot can’t see it. The same is true when you save a screenshot directly to another app, such as Mail or Preview.

Why didn’t an older screenshot appear in Blinkshot?

Blinkshot looks for screenshots as they’re saved. Images that were already in the folder when Blinkshot started watching it stay out of the Inbox.

Why is a screenshot from my other Mac Saved without a popup?

A screenshot that arrives in the folder already made, such as one another Mac took that iCloud Drive syncs to yours, appears in the Inbox as Saved. No popup opens for it and no timer starts, because the Mac it was taken on is the one that decides what happens to it. Otherwise both Macs would count down the same file and both would move it to the Trash. Select it to see a note saying so.

It appears as soon as the file does, even when iCloud Drive hasn’t downloaded the image yet, which is what usually happens when Optimize Mac Storage is on. Until it does, the screenshot shows Not Downloaded in place of its preview. Select it and choose Download, beside the note under its name or in the Screenshot menu, and the image arrives and the preview appears. Opening it in the Finder, or using Quick Look, Share, or a drag, downloads it too. Blinkshot downloads a screenshot only when you choose Download, never on its own.

Why doesn’t Blinkshot show other images from the folder?

Blinkshot looks only for new images that macOS marks as screenshots, in PNG, HEIC, HEIF, or JPEG format. To include other new images saved to the folder, such as downloads or exports, choose Blinkshot > Settings, click Screenshots, then turn on Also detect images from other apps.

What does Temporary do?

Temporary keeps a screenshot where macOS saved it for the time you choose, then moves it to the Trash. Choose 1, 2, 3, 5, or 15 minutes, 1 hour, or the end of the day from the Temporary for menu in the popup. Blinkshot remembers your last choice. If Blinkshot isn’t open when the time is up, it moves the screenshot to the Trash the next time it opens.

How do I keep a Temporary screenshot after all?

Click the Blinkshot icon in the menu bar, choose Open Blinkshot, select the screenshot, then click Keep. The timer stops, and the screenshot is kept with no timer.

Blinkshot also keeps a Temporary screenshot if you rename it or move it in Finder, or with Screenshot > Move and Rename.

How do I find one screenshot among many?

Type in the search field at the top of the Inbox list, or press Command-F. Blinkshot looks at each screenshot’s filename, its description, and the text it has recognized in the image.

Text is recognized when Blinkshot describes a screenshot, and when you use Extract Text. A screenshot that has had neither has no recognized text yet, so searching for words inside such an image finds nothing until you choose Screenshot > Extract Text for it.

To see one kind of screenshot at a time, click the filter button in the toolbar and choose Pending Screenshots, Temporary Screenshots, Saved Screenshots, or Unavailable Screenshots. Choose All Screenshots to show everything again.

Can I keep or delete several screenshots at once?

Yes. In the Inbox list, Shift-click or Command-click to select more than one screenshot, or press Command-A to select them all. The detail area then shows how many are selected and offers Keep, Mark Temporary, and Move to Trash for the whole selection. The same three are in the Screenshot menu and in the menu you get by Control-clicking the list.

Each action applies to the screenshots it can change: Keep skips ones already saved, and Mark Temporary only affects ones still waiting for a decision. If a file can’t be moved to the Trash, Blinkshot moves the rest, keeps that one in the Inbox, and tells you how many were left and why.

Where do screenshots go when I move them to the Trash?

When you click Move to Trash, or when a Temporary screenshot’s time is up, the file moves to the Trash. The popup moves a screenshot to the Trash right away. In the Inbox and the Screenshot menu, Blinkshot asks you to confirm first.

To recover a screenshot, click the Trash in the Dock, select the file, then choose File > Put Back. Blinkshot doesn’t restore the description or other details it had stored for that screenshot.

Blinkshot uses the Trash for everything unless you ask it not to. Three settings in Settings > Screenshots skip it, and each is off until you turn it on. A screenshot that is deleted can’t be recovered.

• Show Delete Immediately in menus adds one command, with Option-Command-Delete. It deletes the file whatever the other two settings say, and it asks first every time. Move to Trash stays as it is.
• Move to Trash deletes instead changes that command in the Inbox and in the popup. Both ask first. The popup doesn’t ask before using the Trash, but it does before deleting.
• Delete Temporary screenshots when their time is up applies when their time runs out, which happens with nobody watching. Nothing asks, and nothing can be recovered.

Turning on one of these says nothing about the other two. With all three off, which is how Blinkshot starts, every screenshot goes to the Trash.

How do I copy a screenshot, or send it to someone?

In the Inbox, select the screenshot, then press Command-C to copy it. Paste it into a message, a document, or an email to get the picture, or paste it into a Finder window to get a copy of the file. The screenshot popup has a Copy button that does the same for the screenshot it’s showing.

You can also drag a screenshot out of the Inbox list, or drag the preview in the Inbox or the popup, straight into Mail, Messages, or a Finder window. The app receives the file itself.

To use AirDrop and the other services Finder offers, select the screenshot, then click Share in the Inbox toolbar. Share is also in the Screenshot menu and in the menu you get by Control-clicking a screenshot in the list. Select several screenshots and Share sends them all at once.

The popup has a Share button of its own, in the corner of the preview, so you can send a screenshot the moment you take it. What you send is named what the popup’s Filename field shows, not the date macOS gave the file, and the screenshot still waits for your decision.

Blinkshot always copies, drags, and shares the original file, in the format it already has, so nothing is re-encoded and no quality is lost. Copying doesn’t change the screenshot: a Temporary screenshot still moves to the Trash at its set time. While you’re typing in a field, including while renaming a screenshot, Command-C copies text as usual.

Can I copy the text, share, or keep just the window from the popup?

Yes. Three buttons appear in the corner of the preview in the popup. If you turn off Show image thumbnail in popup in Settings > Popup, Copy Text and Share appear as buttons instead, since neither one needs to see the picture. Extract Window needs the preview, so it goes with it.

Click Copy Text to copy the text in the screenshot. “Text copied” appears briefly over the preview. If Blinkshot doesn’t find any text, it says so and the clipboard doesn’t change. Click Share to open the macOS share menu for the picture in the preview.

Click Extract Window to see just the window in the screenshot. If there’s more than one, Blinkshot shows the one in front. While the button is highlighted, Temporary, Keep, Copy, and Share use the window instead of the whole screenshot, and so does the popup if it closes on its own. Temporary and Keep save the window under the screenshot’s name and move the original screenshot to the Trash, so you can put it back. Copy puts just the window on the clipboard, and Share sends just the window. Nothing changes until you choose, and clicking the button again shows the whole screenshot. Extract Window starts off for each new screenshot.

To pick a different window or adjust its edges, turn off Extract Window, click Keep, then use Extract Window in the Inbox.

Can I keep a window’s shadow when I extract it?

Yes. In the Inbox, select the screenshot, click Extract Window, then select Include window shadow beside the Detected content menu. Blinkshot grows the crop to take in the shadow on every side of the window. The pixel bounds and the preview change as soon as you select it, and clearing the checkbox takes back exactly what it added, so an adjustment you made in between stays.

macOS draws the same shadow around every window, so a screenshot taken on a Mac gets exactly that shadow, whatever is behind the window. Blinkshot checks the screenshot to confirm the window has one. Where a shadow runs off the edge of the screenshot, the crop stops at that edge.

An image that doesn’t say what display it came from, such as one saved from another app, is measured instead, and some of those don’t allow a measurement. If the desktop behind the window is too busy, or other windows cover too much of it, Blinkshot can’t tell the shadow from what’s behind it. It then uses a typical shadow size, says so in the editor, and asks you to check the preview, so adjust the bounds if the margin looks wrong. When the detected area has no shadow around it at all, the checkbox is dimmed with a line saying why.

A screenshot of the whole screen is flat, so the shadow in it is already blended into the desktop behind it, and the saved image keeps that desktop inside the shadow. Blinkshot remembers your choice while it’s running, and Extract Window in the popup follows it too. It isn’t a setting in Settings.

How do I remove a screenshot from Blinkshot but keep the file?

In the Inbox, select the screenshot, then choose Screenshot > Remove from Inbox. You can also Control-click the screenshot in the list. Blinkshot forgets the screenshot, with its description and recognized text, and the file stays where it is.

To remove every screenshot from the Inbox, choose Blinkshot > Settings, click General, click Clear Inbox Records, then click Clear Records. The files stay where they are, and Temporary screenshots are no longer moved to the Trash.

What happens when the trial ends?

Blinkshot works fully for 14 days. After that the popup stops appearing when you take a screenshot. Everything else keeps working: your Inbox is still there with everything in it, search and the filter still work, and screenshots you marked Temporary still move to the Trash at their time. Nothing is deleted and nothing is hidden.

A licence is $12, once, for every Mac you own. There’s no subscription and no account.

How do I enter my licence key?

Choose Blinkshot > Settings, click Licence, then enter the email address you bought with and paste the key from your purchase email. Click Use Licence.

If the key is refused, the usual cause is the address rather than the key: it has to be the one on the receipt. The key itself can be pasted with line breaks in it, which some mail apps add.

Your key is checked on your Mac. Blinkshot doesn’t send it anywhere, so it works offline, it works if this site ever goes away, and you can enter it again after rebuilding your Mac or on another Mac you own.

How do I close the Blinkshot window without quitting?

Click the red button or press Command-W. Blinkshot keeps running in the menu bar and goes on watching for screenshots. You can also Control-click Blinkshot in the Dock and choose Close Window. Blinkshot appears in the Dock only while one of its windows is open.

Quitting is different. It stops Blinkshot watching until you open it again, and a screenshot you take while it isn’t running is saved without a popup. If screenshots are still waiting for a decision when you quit, Blinkshot asks first.

What does Control-Shift-Command-B do?

The popup appears without taking keyboard focus from the app you’re using. Press Control-Shift-Command-B in any app to move focus to the popup. Then press Return to choose Temporary, or press Escape to close the popup and go back to your app. A screenshot you don’t decide on stays in the Inbox, marked Pending decision.

If no popup is showing, the shortcut opens the popup again for screenshots that are still waiting for a decision. The same command is Review Screenshot in the Screenshot menu and in the Blinkshot menu bar menu. To choose a different shortcut, choose Blinkshot > Settings, then click Keyboard.

Why doesn’t my screenshot have a description?

Descriptions and suggested filenames use Apple Intelligence. A description may not be available if:

• Apple Intelligence is turned off in System Settings.
• Your Mac doesn’t support Apple Intelligence.
• The on-device model is still downloading.
• Analyze screenshots is turned off. Choose Blinkshot > Settings, then click Intelligence.
• The screenshot has too much content, uses a language the model doesn’t support, or was stopped by Apple’s on-device safety check.
• The screenshot arrived from another Mac. Blinkshot doesn’t describe these, so neither Mac spends Apple Intelligence twice on the same image. Select it in the Inbox, then choose Screenshot > Analyze, to describe it anyway.

When a description can’t be created, Blinkshot tells you why, and the screenshot keeps its original filename. You can still extract text and rename the screenshot yourself. If trying again could help, select the screenshot in the Inbox, then choose Screenshot > Analyze Again.

Where are Blinkshot’s settings?

Choose Blinkshot > Settings, or click the Blinkshot icon in the menu bar, then choose Settings. Settings has five tabs:

• General: The menu bar icon, opening at login, automatic update checks, and Clear Inbox Records.
• Screenshots: The folder Blinkshot watches, whether it matches where macOS saves screenshots, buttons to make either side match the other, and images from other apps.
• Popup: The image thumbnail, whether the popup closes on its own after a number of seconds, and which filename the screenshot keeps when it does.
• Keyboard: The shortcut that moves keyboard focus to the popup.
• Intelligence: Descriptions and suggested filenames.

Does Blinkshot change my macOS screenshot settings?

Only if you ask it to. Blinkshot reads where macOS saves screenshots, so it can open that folder for you and tell you if the folders differ. It changes that setting in one case: in Settings > Screenshots, when the folders differ, you can click Save Screenshots Here to point macOS at the folder Blinkshot watches. Blinkshot asks you to confirm first, because it changes where every app on your Mac saves screenshots, and it offers Undo afterwards. You can also change it back at any time by pressing Shift-Command-5 and clicking Options. Blinkshot changes no other macOS setting.

How does Blinkshot update itself?

Blinkshot comes from this website rather than the App Store, so it looks for new versions itself. Choose Blinkshot > Check for Updates, or click the Blinkshot icon in the menu bar and choose it there, to look whenever you like.

Blinkshot can also check about once an hour on its own. It asks you first, and never on a first launch. To change your answer, choose Blinkshot > Settings, click General, and turn Automatically check for updates on or off.

When there is an update, Blinkshot shows the new version and what changed, and waits for you to choose Install Update. It checks that the update was signed by its developer before installing it, then opens again on the new version. Your screenshots, your Inbox, and your settings are untouched. You can also download the current version from this site at any time and drag it to your Applications folder over the copy you have.

How do I stop Blinkshot from opening at login?

Choose Blinkshot > Settings, click General, then turn off Open Blinkshot at login. This option is off unless you turn it on.

When Blinkshot opens at login, it starts in the menu bar without opening a window. When you open Blinkshot yourself, the Inbox opens.

Contact support