A modern Snipping Tool alternative for Linux
Capture any region, annotate with arrows and highlights, redact sensitive data, and copy instantly to your clipboard. Works natively across Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch, Debian, and Linux Mint.
$ curl -fsSL https://screention.gkernel.com/install.sh | bashInstalls the .deb with apt, the .rpm with dnf or zypper, or the AppImage on other distros. x86_64 only. Needs Ubuntu 22.04, Debian 12, Linux Mint 21, Fedora 38 or newer, or openSUSE Tumbleweed.
Snipping Tool shortcuts on Linux
Linux has no app called "Snipping Tool", but most desktops ship a built-in screenshot tool. These are its default keys on each desktop.
| Desktop | Snip a region | Full screen | Active window |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu / Fedora (GNOME) | PrtSc (opens the screenshot UI) | Shift + PrtSc | Alt + PrtSc |
| KDE Plasma (Spectacle) | Meta + Shift + PrtSc | PrtSc (opens Spectacle) | Meta + PrtSc |
| Linux Mint (Cinnamon) | Shift + PrtSc | PrtSc | Alt + PrtSc |
| XFCE (Screenshooter) | Shift + PrtSc | PrtSc | Alt + PrtSc |
Hyprland and Sway have no built-in screenshot tool and no default keys. Bind a key to grim -g "$(slurp)" - | wl-copy for a region, or to grim for the whole screen.
The built-in tools capture, but most can't annotate, blur, or pull text out of the image. Screention does all of that from one hotkey (Ctrl + Alt + A by default) on GNOME, KDE Plasma, Cinnamon and XFCE. On Hyprland and Sway, bind a key to screention --capture instead. Download it free.
Made for precise snipping
Screention waits in your tray and opens its editor when you press the hotkey.
Precision Region Snip
Drag to frame any area on your desktop with live pixel-dimension readouts and arrow-key micro-adjustments.
Instant Annotation Toolbar
Draw arrows, circles, rectangles, and freehand markup in 12 curated professional colors without leaving your snip.
Privacy Blur & Redaction
Mask confidential tokens, passwords, and sensitive emails with pixelate, blur, or a solid box before copying.
Offline OCR Text Extraction
Snip any non-selectable text or terminal output and copy the extracted characters straight to your clipboard.
Local & Private
Your screen captures and OCR text stay on your local disk, and a screenshot is uploaded only if you choose Upload. No accounts, and usage counts can be turned off in Settings.
Tray Dock & Gallery
Sits quietly in your system tray. Keep track of previous snips in a searchable local gallery for quick re-use.
Native packages for all major distributions
Screention captures through the XDG Desktop Portal on GNOME and KDE Plasma, directly on X11 desktops like XFCE and Cinnamon, and with grim on tiling WMs like Sway and Hyprland.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Snipping Tool shortcut on Linux?
It depends on the desktop. On Ubuntu and Fedora (GNOME), PrtSc opens the screenshot UI where you can select a region. On Linux Mint (Cinnamon) and XFCE, Shift+PrtSc snips a region. On KDE Plasma, Meta+Shift+PrtSc captures a rectangular region with Spectacle. Screention uses Ctrl+Alt+A on every distro and can be rebound to PrtSc.
Is there a Snipping Tool for Linux?
The Windows Snipping Tool itself doesn't run on Linux, but every Linux desktop has a built-in screenshot tool (see the shortcut table above). For a closer match to the Snipping Tool workflow, with annotation, blur and text extraction, you can install Screention for free.
How does Screention compare to the Windows Snipping Tool?
Screention reproduces the instant drag-and-markup workflow of the Windows Snipping Tool on Linux: hit your hotkey, select any screen region, annotate directly with arrows, highlights, or blur, and copy directly to the clipboard. Plus, Screention includes built-in offline OCR and QR code scanning.
Which Linux distributions are supported?
Screention supports Ubuntu 22.04+, Debian 12+ and Linux Mint 21+ (.deb), Fedora 38+ (.rpm), and other x86_64 distributions such as Arch Linux and Manjaro through our universal .AppImage (needs FUSE 2).
Does it support both Wayland and X11?
Yes. Screention uses the native XDG Desktop Portal on Wayland sessions (GNOME, KDE Plasma) with automatic fallback to grim for standalone compositors like Sway and Hyprland, as well as native direct X11 capture.
Is Screention fast and lightweight?
Screention is built with a native Rust backend and Tauri, and waits in your system tray until you press its hotkey.
How do I trigger the snipping tool?
The default global hotkey is Ctrl+Alt+A. You can also trigger it from the system tray icon or rebind it to PrintScreen or any custom key combination in Settings.
On Ubuntu? See the Snipping Tool for Ubuntu page, or our comparison of Ubuntu snipping tools.