Screendrop

A lightweight native macOS menu bar app for instant screenshots, screen recordings, annotations, and private sharing.

← Part of the Productivity knowledge base

Why Screendrop?

If you take a lot of screenshots for notes, bug reports, tutorials, sharing ideas, or quick annotations, the built-in macOS tools (Command-Shift-3/4/5) can feel clunky. You capture, then have to hunt in Downloads or Desktop, open Preview or another app to annotate, then copy or upload manually.

Screendrop solves this with a fast, local-first workflow that lives in your menu bar. Capture → instant floating preview with powerful annotation tools → copy, save, or upload in one place. No cloud lock-in unless you want it.

It's especially useful for productivity: quickly capture a UI bug, annotate a design idea, record a short demo, or grab a chart for your notes — all without leaving your flow.

Installation

Option 1: Direct Download (Recommended for most users)

  1. Go to the latest release on GitHub.
  2. Download Screendrop.dmg.
  3. Open the DMG and drag Screendrop to your Applications folder.
  4. Launch it from Applications or Spotlight.

On first launch, macOS may show a warning about an unidentified developer. Right-click the app → Open, or go to System Settings → Privacy & Security to allow it.

Option 2: Homebrew

brew install --cask fayazara/tap/screendrop

To update later:

brew upgrade --cask screendrop

First Launch & Setup

Screendrop runs as a menu bar app (look for the icon in the top-right of your screen). There is no main window by default.

  1. Launch Screendrop.
  2. Click the menu bar icon to open the menu.
  3. Go to Settings (or Preferences) to choose your default save folder and other options.
  4. (Optional but recommended) Grant Screen Recording and Accessibility permissions when prompted — this is required for capture and some annotation features.

By default, it saves captures to a folder you choose (e.g., ~/Screenshots or a dedicated folder in your notes app sync).

Taking Screenshots

The fastest way is using the default hotkeys (you can customize in Settings):

Full Screen

Option + 1

Captures everything on your main display (or all displays if configured).

Window

Option + 2

Click any window to capture just that window (with shadow if desired).

Area / Selection

Option + 3

Drag to select any rectangular area on screen. Great for specific UI elements or content.

After capture, a floating preview window appears immediately with the image. From here you can annotate, crop, copy, save, delete, or upload.

Annotation Tools

This is where Screendrop shines for productivity. The preview editor supports:

  • Shapes (rectangles, circles, lines)
  • Arrows
  • Freehand drawing / pen
  • Text boxes
  • Numbered markers (great for step-by-step guides)
  • Blur / pixelate (for redacting sensitive info)
  • Background color or blur options

Annotation coordinates are stored separately, so you can re-export at different sizes later if needed.

Tip: Use numbered markers + arrows for quick bug reports or design feedback. Capture → annotate → copy to clipboard in seconds.

Screen Recording

Screendrop also supports recording (full screen, window, or area). From the menu bar you can start a recording with overlays like mouse clicks or key presses if desired.

After stopping, the recording appears in the preview stack. You can:

  • Trim the video
  • Compress it (requires FFmpeg — brew install ffmpeg for best results)
  • Export or copy

Great for short demos, Loom-style explanations without the bloat, or capturing a workflow to share with your team.

Managing Your Captures

Screendrop keeps a local history of recent screenshots and recordings (visible in the floating stack or menu).

Actions from the preview:

  • Copy to clipboard (image or video)
  • Save to your chosen folder
  • Annotate / edit
  • Delete
  • Upload (if cloud configured)

All captures are stored locally by default — no forced cloud upload.

Optional: Private Cloud Sharing

If you want shareable links without using Dropbox, Imgur, or other third parties, Screendrop supports uploading to your own Cloudflare setup (R2 for storage + D1 for metadata + a Worker).

This can run on the free tier for light use.

Quick setup:

  1. In Screendrop → Settings → Cloud, copy the generated upload token.
  2. Click "Deploy to Cloudflare" (or manually deploy the companion worker: screendrop-worker repo).
  3. Paste your token as the UPLOAD_TOKEN secret.
  4. Copy the Worker URL back into Screendrop and verify.

Once set up, the Upload button in the preview will send the file to your R2 bucket and copy a share link to your clipboard.

Note: This is optional. Most users are perfectly happy with local-only workflow.

Productivity Tips

  • Quick idea capture: Use area capture + annotation to grab a chart or UI mockup and drop it straight into your notes app.
  • Bug reporting: Capture → annotate with arrows/numbers → copy. Done in <10 seconds.
  • Team sharing: Set up the Cloudflare option for instant private links (no public imgur exposure).
  • Meeting notes: Record a quick 30-second demo of a feature instead of typing everything.
  • Daily review: The local history makes it easy to go back and find something you captured earlier in the day.
  • Combine with other tools: Use with Raycast or Alfred for even faster triggers, or with your note-taking app of choice.

Resources

Looking for more macOS productivity tools?

Browse the Productivity Category →