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When taking screen shots for use in tutorials, it would be really helpful to include the mouse cursor in the picture, but I've found that most screenshot tools (including those that ship with Windows) hide the cursor from the screenshot.

How can I take a screenshot on Windows which includes the mouse cursor?

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    Why not just take a shot of the relevant pointer type from the control panel mouse window, and then you can paste it in where ever you like. Not an ideal solution, but it's probably what I'd do.
    – DMA57361
    Commented Sep 15, 2010 at 7:26
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    I don't know of any offhand, but I wrote a basic screenshot app, it would just be deleting a line to make it not hide the cursor, its GPL'd, so anyone can make that change freely. Source can be found here: pulsarsoftware.net/Download/Source/SC_0.1_Source.zip
    – MaQleod
    Commented Sep 15, 2010 at 7:49
  • @DMA57361, because I mostly need custom mouse icons which are not in the standard control panel.
    – Sam
    Commented Sep 15, 2010 at 8:08
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    you can get a compiler for that for free here autoitscript.com/autoit3/downloads.shtml
    – MaQleod
    Commented Sep 15, 2010 at 8:20
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    Please reopen. There is nothing in the question that requests product, service, or learning material recommendations. The OP asks how to accomplish a particular and reasonable task.
    – Jason S
    Commented Nov 9, 2018 at 15:44

14 Answers 14

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4

Hypersnap is another good one.

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  • The trial version adds ugly ads to the screenshot, but it worked for me so this is my answer.
    – Sam
    Commented Sep 16, 2010 at 5:29
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    Irfanview is far better, free + no ads (see next answer) -- I always copy-and-paste screenshots into Ifranview for cropping anyway, so the capture feature makes it one step.
    – Jason Hanley
    Commented Dec 9, 2012 at 19:10
  • Solid Capture - ten bucks cheapier, easier to use and trial without dirt on the screenshot. (It captures mouse cursor with tooltip, in contrast to IrfanView)
    – rook
    Commented Dec 6, 2013 at 12:00
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IrfanView has an option to include the cursor while taking screenshots. Press C to configure options and the hotkey. It is free for private, educational, and non-commercial use.

InfanView Options

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    IrfanView is a great image viewer and a decent basic editor; I had no idea it took screenshots too! The screenshot capture tool looks nice and very flexible.
    – Steven Noto
    Commented Aug 6, 2012 at 20:55
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    This should be the best answer. I've been using Irfanview for ages and completely forgot about this functionality until now.
    – Jason Hanley
    Commented Dec 9, 2012 at 19:08
  • IrfanView is good on capture, it's free and has advanced capturing options, but I couldn't get it to capture mouse cursor with tooltip..
    – rook
    Commented Dec 6, 2013 at 11:52
  • Upvoted. Thank you very much. Did you know how to enable/disable mouse cursor using command-line options?
    – john c. j.
    Commented Feb 19, 2018 at 18:05
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    @Black: by typing shortcut keys defined in the Capture method -> Hot key section (see the screenshot).
    – ccpizza
    Commented Dec 19, 2018 at 14:55
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I've been very happy with Greenshot - you can turn on/off if mouse is captured or not + it has nice capability of adding notes and lines/arrows diretcly on the image after taking the shot. Great if you're creating user manuals or similar stuff. It's also free and open source.

http://getgreenshot.org/

(I'm not in any way affiliated with this product or it's author - just a satisfied user).

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  • As an FYI, this program does not capture the drop-shadow of the Aero mouse cursor. But it seems to do a decent job otherwise.
    – Jessica Brown
    Commented Aug 18, 2012 at 21:35
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    This is the best of them ALL! Get it on GitHub: github.com/greenshot/greenshot/releases
    – user
    Commented Mar 9, 2019 at 23:03
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In Windows 7 you can also search 'psr' in the Start Search:

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofthetrade/ht/problem-steps-recorder.htm

This produces a .mht and images you can use in a tutorial.

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    The only con to this method is that the images that were captured will be compressed and saved in JPEG format. Nonetheless, this helped me get my presentation across to others.
    – tom_mai78101
    Commented Nov 14, 2013 at 13:24
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    Another con to this method is that it only captures an image when you click the mouse button. In my case i was trying to record a problem that happens when you hover over the Close button of an application.
    – Ian Boyd
    Commented Jul 25, 2015 at 19:15
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    Exists in Windows 10 too.
    – Adám
    Commented Jul 27, 2017 at 10:01
  • Doesn't just screenshot. It adds basket balls under the cursor when it records an image.
    – Mark Jeronimus
    Commented Aug 2, 2019 at 9:34
  • "Records" only standard pointers, even if they are customized in fact
    – Serhii Kheilyk
    Commented Oct 7, 2019 at 5:01
3

ShareX is a good free tool to capture screen with cursor

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3

On windows 7 through 11, you can use the built in "Steps Recorder" application. This application shows the cursor as it is, and doesnt require installing a program (which may require admin access). The big disadvantage is resolution.

Unfortunately, you cannot copy the taken screenshots directly, but you can either use Win + Shift + S to then take a screenshot of that screenshot, or use this tutorial to extract the images.

Here are a couple of examples:

The screenshot of steps recorder that I got my target image from: A screenshot shown in steps recorder overlaid over the webpage the screenshot is of

A couple of screenshots taken this way:

screenshot with cursor

screenshot with "not allowed" cursor

The resolution problem can be partially mitigated by enlarging the screen if the area required is small, example:

screenshot with "not allowed" cursor, taken magnified for better resolution

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Screenshot Captor has the option to capture the cursor. It's my screenshot tool of choice.

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  • I’ve just checked it. It's really worth having a look at. And it shows (if wanted) the mouse pointer. (Windows 10 64 Bit)
    – Juergen Schulze
    Commented Jan 11, 2022 at 10:43
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Snagit has the option includes the mouse cursor. Plus it includes a REALLY good editor for screenshots. If you are not a computer expert, it is the best tool.

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  • SnagIt is good and I have used both version 10 and 11. But somehow, it never captures the mouse for me on my Windows 7-64 bit machine. What's the trick there? I have used full screen, hot keys, timer but none of them work to capture the mouse cursor. I have to manually insert it by their excellent Stamp feature.
    – user173399
    Commented Sep 26, 2014 at 5:39
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You can use Steps Recorder.

Press Start Record when you have it open, do what you have to, then press Stop Record.

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  • I dont know why this was downvoted, it works well as a built in tool, even if it is slightly lower resolution
    – Anas Malas
    Commented Dec 7, 2022 at 16:18
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XnView is another option. Go to Tools | Capture screen... and select Include mouse cursor:

enter image description here

XnView is provided as FREEWARE (NO Adware, NO Spyware) for private or educational use (including non-profit organizations).

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0

Screen Hunter should do the trick.

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    It does show the mouse pointer, but in a slightly misplaced location, and it messes up the background behind the mouse pointer :(
    – Sam
    Commented Sep 15, 2010 at 9:57
0

PicPick...

http://www.picpick.org/en/

great tool -- plus has little utilities that the rest of the suggestions don't.

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  • Please refer to this meta post on how to give answers that may require recommending software.
    – James Mertz
    Commented Feb 28, 2013 at 23:56
0

Modern versions of GIMP can also take screenshots with cursor. Added bonus is easy editing after the capture.

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-2

When the mouse pointer is enlarged (large mouse pointer) on Windows 10, the only screen capture app I find can capture it is ScreenHunter 7. It has a free version.

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    – Community Bot
    Commented Jun 12, 2022 at 15:43

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