Who this is for
Developers and ops people who jump between terminal, browser, IDE and docs all day. You screenshot error dialogs, stack traces, PR comments, a teammate's pasted config or a slice of API docs and use them as a scratchpad. Weeks later the same kind of problem returns, you remember seeing it, and you cannot find the image.
How it works with Shotbox
- Take the shot with the Shotbox shortcut, by dragging an area or hovering to pick a window.
- A thumbnail card with "Saved · searchable" appears bottom-right. By then the text in the image has been recognized on your Mac and indexed along with an automatic title.
- Weeks later, open the main window and type any word you remember: "timeout", "aws", "permission denied" or a function name.
- The match is on text that really appears in the image, not the filename. You get the image, the full recognized text and the app it came from.
Details that help developers
- Codes, URLs and IDs are pulled out as fields you can copy in one click instead of selecting them by hand.
- Capture Text (default Shift-Command-1) takes only the words and saves no image, handy for pasting a log snippet into a ticket. See this guide.
- The annotation editor can blur and pixelate, so you can hide keys and personal data before sending a shot to a colleague.
- Scrolling capture turns a long page or log into one image (its default shortcut has to be switched on in Settings).
Privacy: will code and secrets leave my machine?
Recognition and indexing run on your Mac and work offline. There is no account and no cloud library. The app sends only anonymous usage statistics, with no screenshot or content, and you can turn that off in Settings. See does a screenshot tool upload my screen. If a shot contains a secret, mask it with the annotation tools before sharing.
What about old error screenshots?
Add a watched folder in Settings. The system screenshot location is picked up automatically, and you can also scan existing screenshots. Once old images are recognized and indexed they are searchable too. Shotbox only reads your original files and never moves, edits or deletes them.
FAQ
Does it upload my code or error output?
No. Text recognition and indexing happen on your Mac, and the screenshot and its text never leave the device. The app sends only anonymous usage statistics with no screenshot or content, and you can turn that off in Settings.
Can I search old error screenshots already sitting on my desktop?
Yes, but bring them in first. Add the folder as a watched folder in Settings, or scan existing screenshots, and old images are recognized and indexed. Shotbox only reads the originals and never changes or deletes them.
