What is Snipaste and what does it do?

Updated

Snipaste is a snipping tool that also lets you pin a screenshot back onto your screen as a floating window. It runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux, and is free for personal use. The basic workflow is: launch the app, press F1 to start snipping, then press F3 to paste the result as a floating window. If you spend a lot of time in front of a computer — as a programmer, designer, or anyone juggling reference material — this pinning behavior is the part that changes how you work.

The core idea: snip, then pin

Most screenshot tools end when the image lands in your clipboard or a file. Snipaste adds a second step: the captured image becomes a small always-on-top window you can move, resize, and interact with while you keep working in whatever app is underneath.

That means you can keep a design reference, a code snippet, a color swatch, or a chunk of text visible without switching windows or splitting your screen.

Basic workflow

  1. Download and start Snipaste.
  2. Press F1 to start snipping.
  3. Press F3 to paste the clipboard content as a floating window.

The F1 → F3 pairing is the fastest path, and it works not just for screenshots but for anything already in your clipboard.

What you can pin

The source content in the clipboard can be:

  • An image
  • Plain text
  • HTML text
  • Color info text
  • Image files (PNG, JPG, BMP, TGA, ICO, TIFF, GIF)

So if you copy a hex color, a paragraph, or an image file, you can turn it into a floating image window instead of pasting it into a document.

What you can do with a floating window

Once something is pinned, it is not a static picture. Supported operations include:

Action How
Zoom Mouse scroll, or + / - (also sets GIF speed)
Rotate 1 / 2 (or jump frames for GIFs)
Flip 3 / 4
Set transparency Ctrl + mouse scroll, or Ctrl + + / -
Mouse click-through Toggle so clicks pass to the window below
Image editing Space
Thumbnail mode Shift + double click
Hide Double click

Click-through is worth calling out: it lets a pinned reference sit on top of your work without blocking your mouse, which is useful when you are tracing or comparing.

Snipping and annotation features

Beyond pinning, Snipaste includes:

  • Intuitive snipping with auto-detection of UI elements and pixel-level control
  • Color picker (try F1, then C, then F3)
  • History playback (, / .)
  • Multi-screen and HiDPI (retina) support
  • Easy image annotation with rich shapes: rectangle, ellipse, linestrip, arrow, pencil, marker pen, and text
  • Drag & drop, grouping, and auto backup & restore

The auto-detection of UI elements and pixel-level control matter if you need clean, precise captures rather than rough crops.

Pricing and licensing

  • Personal use: always free.
  • Business use: Snipaste 1.x remains free. Starting from Snipaste 2.0, a paid license is required.
  • PRO licenses:
    • Cross-platform Desktop PRO, 1 device (Windows/Mac/Linux): $8.99
    • Cross-platform Desktop PRO, 3 devices (Windows/Mac/Linux): $19.99
    • Microsoft Store PRO, 10 devices (Windows 11/10): $19.99

Downloads are available as Windows portable builds (64-bit, 32-bit, ARM64), a macOS universal build, and a Linux AppImage, plus a Microsoft Store version. Older 1.16.2 builds are still listed for Windows and macOS.

Who it is for

Snipaste is aimed at people who work long hours at a computer and constantly move information between windows. The pinning model is the differentiator: instead of alt-tabbing to check a reference, you keep it floating, translucent, or click-through right where you need it. The manual covers hidden features if you want to go beyond the basics.