CleanShot X
CleanShot X is a macOS screen capture and recording app for taking screenshots, recording video, annotating images, and sharing captures quickly.
What is CleanShot X?
CleanShot X is a native macOS screen capture app that helps users take polished screenshots, record their screen, and mark up captured images without switching between multiple tools. It is designed for everyday Mac workflows such as documentation, bug reporting, teaching, design feedback, and sharing visual instructions. The app combines screenshot capture, scrolling capture, screen recording, annotation, OCR text recognition, and quick sharing in one interface. It also includes tools for hiding desktop icons, adding backgrounds, pinning screenshots on screen, and managing recent captures through a history view. CleanShot X is published by Make The Web Oślizło & Magiera s.c. and is aimed at users who want more control and convenience than the built-in macOS capture tools provide.
Key features
- Capture screenshots of the full screen, a window, or a selected area
- Record screen video and create shareable visual walkthroughs
- Annotate images with arrows, shapes, text, highlights, and redaction tools
- Capture scrolling content that does not fit on screen at once
- Extract text from screenshots with built-in OCR tools
- Pin screenshots on screen for temporary reference while you work
- Hide desktop icons or add clean backgrounds before sharing captures
- Review, reopen, and manage recent captures from capture history
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Safety overview
Status: Mostly safe
CleanShot X is legitimate screenshot and screen recording software for Mac. To work as intended, it may request permissions such as Screen Recording, Accessibility, Microphone, Camera, or notification access, depending on which features you use. Those requests are normal for capture, recording, and workflow shortcuts, but anything visible on your screen can be included in screenshots or recordings, so take care before sharing sensitive information. If you use cloud sharing features, review what you upload and who can access the resulting links.
Recommendation: Keep CleanShot X if you use it for screenshots, recordings, or annotation in your daily Mac workflow. Remove it if you no longer need those tools, understanding that saved preferences, recent capture history, and app-specific helper data may also be removed with the app.
Common paths
/Applications/CleanShot X.app
Cache paths
~/Library/Caches/pl.maketheweb.cleanshotx
Support paths
~/Library/Application Support/CleanShot X~/Library/Application Support/pl.maketheweb.cleanshotx
Preference paths
~/Library/Preferences/pl.maketheweb.cleanshotx.plist
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