How it works
- Take a screenshot the way you always do. PasteBee watches your screenshot folder (it reads the same location macOS uses, usually the Desktop).
- The new screenshot appears at the front of your history within a moment. Your file stays where macOS saved it.
- Press ⌘⇧V, pick the screenshot and press ↩ to paste it into a chat, an email or a document.
Screenshots you copy straight to the clipboard (with ⌃ held down) are recorded too, like any other copy.
Find a screenshot by what's in it
Type a word into PasteBee's search and it looks inside your images as well as your text. The first time you search, PasteBee reads the text in your screenshots with Apple's Vision framework, on your Mac, and remembers the result so later searches are instant. Nothing is uploaded.
Use the Image filter to show only images and screenshots. The footer shows each image's size, for example 1440 × 900.
Mac screenshot shortcuts
| Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|
| ⌘⇧3 | Capture the whole screen |
| ⌘⇧4 | Capture a selected area |
| ⌘⇧4, then Space | Capture a window |
| ⌘⇧5 | Open the screenshot and recording toolbar |
| Add ⌃ to any of the above | Copy the screenshot to the clipboard instead of saving a file |
Turning it off
If you don't want screenshots in your history, open PasteBee's Settings › General and turn off Automatically capture screenshots. The settings also show which screenshot folder PasteBee is watching.
Questions
Does PasteBee import my old screenshots?
No. It adds screenshots you take after PasteBee is running, so your history doesn't fill up with old files.
Is text recognition done online?
No. PasteBee uses Apple's Vision framework on your Mac. Your screenshots never leave your computer.
Will PasteBee move or delete my screenshot files?
No. The files stay where macOS saved them. PasteBee keeps its own copy in your history.