Snagit Preferences
Explore Snagit settings to capture, edit, share, and save the way you want.
All Tutorials > Snagit > Snagit Preferences
Explore Snagit settings to capture, edit, share, and save the way you want.
In this tutorial:
Note: On Windows, some option locations differ between the General tab in the Capture Preferences and Editor Preferences dialog.
Option
Description
Run Snagit when Windows starts (Windows)
Always keep Snagit running in the background (Mac)
Open and run Snagit on computer startup.
Note: On Windows this option is only available in the Capture Preferences dialog.
Capture interface options (Windows)
Snagit Shows (Mac)
Note: On Windows you can also select the Capture Widget option in the Snagit Editor Preferences dialog. On the General tab select Show Capture Widget.
Snagit theme (Windows)
Editor color theme (Mac)
Select Light, Dark, or System (Mac) from the dropdown to choose the Snagit interface color theme.
Show me onboarding (Windows)
Display pop-up windows to introduce new features or explain functionality the first time you select a feature.
Show videos in tooltips
Display short, looping animations in tooltips that illustrate tool functionality.
Send anonymous usage data
Send anonymous data on Snagit usage to help TechSmith improve future versions. Learn more about usage reporting on the TechSmith website.
Notifications
Select which notifications to receive from the following options:
Send anonymous crash reports
Send anonymous reports when Snagit crashes to help TechSmith identify and resolve bugs.
Automatically check for updates
Automatically check for the latest version of Snagit when connected to the Internet.
On Mac, select how often Snagit checks for updates and if the updates should automatically install.
Note: On Windows this option is only available in the Editor Preferences dialog.
Reset “Don’t Ask Me” Warnings (Mac)
If you previously selected the “Don’t Ask Me Again” option in a message, click the button to reset all messages to display again.
Option
Description
Hide Snagit when capturing
Hide Snagit during capture to avoid including Snagit in captures.
Open screenshots copied from system tools (Windows)
Open screenshots captured using system tools, such as the Snipping Tool or Snip & Sketch, in Snagit Editor.
Show magnifier (Windows)
The magnifier helps to capture pixel accuracy when selecting an area to capture.
Press M to hide the magnifier during capture.
Simplified crosshairs (Windows)
Display simplified crosshairs to improve capture performance.
Automatically start video recording
Automatically start the video recording after selecting the video recording area.
By default, this option is disabled. You must click the Record button to start the recording.
Show video countdown
Displays a three second countdown before starting the video recording.
Show quick controls in fullscreen recordings
Displays the Webcam button and Pause button in the lower-right corner of the screen during a fullscreen video recording.
Open system screenshots and videos in Snagit (Mac)
Open screenshots and videos captured using the MacOS system tools or keyboard shortcuts in Snagit Editor. The capture is moved from the default system location into the Snagit Library.
Select Keep original file to make a copy of the original file in the Snagit Library.
Capture Permissions (Mac)
Permissions are required for Snagit to capture and share images and videos. Click Fix Capture Permissions to open the System Permissions dialog and enable a webcam, microphone, scrolling captures and more. See MacOS Permissions.
Video Quality (Windows)
Select the quality for video recordings. Higher video quality can result in larger file sizes.
Frame Rate (Mac)
Select Low, Medium, or High frame rate for video recordings. Higher frame rates can result in larger file sizes.
Scale captures down to 1920×1080 (Windows)
Downsample Retina video recordings (Mac)
Scales video recordings to smaller dimensions. The dimensions can vary depending on the original recording dimensions.
If video quality is a concern, consider disabling this option. When disabled, the text and graphics appear crisper, but the video may result in larger file sizes and dimensions.
System Audio Component (Mac)
The TechSmith Audio Capture Component allows you to record system audio (the sound from your computer speakers) during a video capture. Click Uninstall Component to uninstall the System Audio Plugin from your computer. To learn more, see MacOS Permissions.
Note: You will not be able to record system audio for any applications that requite the plugin.
Enable webcam (Windows)
Select a built-in or connected camera device for recording camera video. To learn more, see Record a Video with Snagit.
You can change some of the default hotkeys. To view the list of default hotkeys, see the Snagit Hotkeys Guide.
To change a default keyboard shortcut on Windows:
To change a default keyboard shortcut on Mac:
The new keyboard shortcut appears in the field.
Option
Description
Editor workspace color
Select the Editor background color.
Consider changing the background color to increase the contrast between the application and the capture previewed on the canvas.
Recent files thumbnail size
To change the size of the thumbnails in the Recent Captures Tray, select Recent files thumbnail size > Small, Medium, or Large from the dropdown.
Automatically expand the canvas to fit objects
Automatically increase the size of an image when pasting or dragging objects outside of the current image.
Note: On Mac this option is available in the Advanced tab.
Escape key closes Editor
Set the keyboard shortcut to exit Snagit Editor to the Esc key.
This option is disabled by default. To exit Snagit, select File > Exit Snagit Editor.
Show cursor quickstyle popup
Display a preview of the tool style next to the cursor on the canvas.
Show Toolbar Labels
Display icons and text labels or icons only in the Snagit Editor toolbar.
Enable spell check
Enable the OS spell check to identify misspelled words in callouts, text boxes, and Grab Text output.
Select the spell check language from the dropdown.
See Share Captures for more information on the Share tab.
Option
Description
Maximum recent files
Enter the maximum number of recent files to display at a time under File > Open Recent. Enter a number 1-15.
Automatically save new image captures in the Library
By default, Snagit automatically saves new captures in the Snagit Library. If this option is disabled, any unsaved captures are closed and deleted when you close Snagit.
Automatically save new video captures in the Library
By default, Snagit automatically saves new captures in the library. If this option is disabled, any unsaved captures are closed and deleted when you close Snagit.
Prompt before deleting files
Display a message prompt before deleting files in Snagit.
Remove all items from the Tray when closing Editor
Removes all captures in the tray when closing Snagit. An empty tray appears the next time Snagit Editor opens.
Library location
By default, the library files are located in this folder: C:UsersusernameDocumentsSnagit. To change the location, click Choose location. For more information, see Manage the Library.
Show prompt to convert and access past captures
When you open the Library for the first time in Snagit 2022, Snagit prompts you to convert your previous captures from the SNAG file format to SNAGX. If you selected Ignore and Do Not Convert, select this option to restore the prompt in order to convert captures from previous versions of Snagit.
Option
Description
Always keep Editor running in the background (Windows)
Enable this option to open captures in Snagit Editor quicker. This option keeps Snagiteditor.exe running in Windows Task Manager when you close the Snagit Editor window.
Delete cropped content (Windows)
Automatically delete the content cropped out of an image.
Automatically flatten pasted images (Windows)
Automatically flatten images or objects pasted onto the canvas. The pasted objects are not editable and become a permanent part of the image when flattened.
Scale down retina images when sharing (Mac)
Reduces the size of a Retina image to improve how it displays on a standard resolution screen. This option is enabled by default and reduces the image size when you:
Tip: Hold the Shift key to temporarily disable this setting when dragging an image from Snagit Editor.
Keep a duplicate editable capture when saving (Mac)
Creates a copy of the .snagx files in the tray to allow for future editing when saving to another file type such as .png.
Automatically expand the canvas to fit objects
Automatically increase the size of an image when pasting or dragging objects outside of the current image.
Note: On Windows this option is available in the Editor tab.
Show quick edit toolbar on canvas (Mac)
Display a floating properties toolbar for callouts, text, shapes, and other tools.
Always create new canvas at this size (Mac)
Sets the default image dimensions when you select File > New Image (Command+N). If you enable this option, the dialog to enter custom dimensions for a new image will not open.
Always use black and white menu bar icon (Mac)
The Snagit menu bar icon turns red during video recording. Select this option to keep the Snagit icon black or white when recording.
Autosave location (Mac)
Unsaved image captures are stored as .snagx files and video captures as .mp4 files in: Username/Pictures/Snagit.
Click the Choose button to select another location. See Manage the Library.
Drag and paste format (Mac)
Set the default file format when dragging captures from Snagit Editor into another application or location.
Mobile Sharing (Mac)
Add a mobile device under File > Connect Mobile Device to enable this option and allow image and video sharing between the mobile device and Snagit.