Your first snip.
- Click New Snip in the editor — it is the leftmost control — or use the scissors icon in the menu bar.
- Drag to select an area, or choose Full screen for that display.
- Add arrows, highlights, text or numbered markers.
- Click Copy image, then paste into a destination that accepts images.
Use Open, Paste or drag an image into the editor to work with a file you already have. Snip requires macOS 14 or later and has an English interface.
Screen capture permission.
Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen & System Audio Recording and enable Snip. On some macOS versions this is called Screen Recording. If macOS offers Quit & Reopen, follow that prompt and try New Snip again.
If capture is still blocked, check that you enabled the same installed copy of Snip that you are opening. Editing an existing image with Open or Paste does not need capture permission. Snip captures still images only — it does not record video or audio, and it captures only when you ask it to.
Get the screen ready first.
Choose Delay: 3s, 5s or 10s, then click New Snip. The editor hides while the countdown runs, giving you time to open a menu or arrange another app. After the countdown, select an area or Full screen.
Delay: Off captures immediately. Cancel returns to your existing image without clearing its marks. The countdown panel is excluded from the captured image.
Change your mind. Change your marks.
Use Select to move an annotation. Shapes, arrows and redactions have handles for resizing. Use the color and size controls to adjust a selected mark, and Edit text for a text annotation. Undo and Redo are available in the editor for the current session.
These controls edit marks you added in Snip. Text and objects already inside a screenshot are image pixels, so they cannot be edited separately.
Extract Text isn't reading it correctly.
Extract Text uses Apple Vision on your Mac to read the visible pixels of the current image. Review and edit the result in the panel, then use Copy Text. Nothing is uploaded, and no API key or account is involved.
- Capture the text larger or closer in — small, low-contrast text reads poorly.
- Code, tables and multi-column layouts can be misread or reordered; check the result before you use it.
- English is prioritized. Recognition of other languages depends on your macOS version and installed language support.
- Edits you make to the extracted text are not written into the PNG — the image keeps its original pixels.
Where are my images?
Captures save automatically as PNGs. Editing a capture updates its saved PNG after a short pause, and starting a new capture saves the previous image and its marks first.
Click Show Snips in the editor footer or the File menu to open the correct folder in Finder. The direct local build uses Pictures/Snip; sandboxed builds use Snip's app storage (Application Support/Snip/Captures inside the app container). Files remain until you delete them. Save lets you make an additional PNG wherever you choose.
Saved PNGs are flattened images. Separate marks and undo history remain only in the current editing session — reopening a PNG does not restore editable annotations.
If automatic saving fails, keep the current image open and use Save to export a copy to a writable location. Check free disk space and folder access, then retry.
Check what you share.
Drag Redact over a detail to cover it with solid black pixels that are flattened into copied and saved images. Check that the entire sensitive area is covered before sharing. The redaction remains editable during the current session.
An automatic capture file may exist before you add a redaction. Editing updates that PNG, but does not erase copies you made earlier or copies held in backups or sync folders. Delete or replace those separately if needed.
Bring the context to your AI chat.
Capture the interface you want to discuss, point to the change, then click Copy image. Paste the image into a chat that supports image input and type your request.
Snip prepares and copies the image. It does not connect to an AI service, send prompts or modify your code. Your chosen service handles the next step under its own account requirements, charges and privacy policy.
NEED A HAND?
Contact support.
Support contact is being finalized.
A support address is not published yet. Please keep the details below ready so a report can be handled quickly once it is available.
When reporting a problem, note:
- Your Snip version (Snip → About Snip) and your macOS version.
- What you expected to happen, and what happened instead.
- The exact steps that caused the problem, in order.
- Whether you use multiple displays.
Remove private information before attaching screenshots.