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How-to
Choose what and when Thoth captures
Full screen, one window or a region; every click or only some; the click marker; and adding a single screenshot without recording.
- Plan
- Free
- Reading time
- 3 min read
- Checked against Thoth for Windows on
- October 23, 2026
On this page
You decide two things before a recording: what part of the screen each screenshot shows, and which clicks take one. The first is chosen in the Capture steps dialog each time; the second lives in Settings → Capturing.
What to capture#
| Choice | Each screenshot shows | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
| Full screen | The whole monitor you clicked on | The task moves between several windows, or you want the context around a click. |
| Clicked window | Just the window you click in | You want tight screenshots of one app without the desktop around them. |
| Selected region | A fixed area you draw once | You are documenting a small part of the screen, such as one panel, and want every screenshot the same size. |
With Selected region, choose Choose region… and drag over the area. A frame marks it while you record, and the control bar has a button to hide the outline. A click outside the region doesn’t take a screenshot of what is outside it. With Capture outside clicks on (Settings → Capturing), such a click still captures the region.
Which clicks take a screenshot#
Open Settings → Capturing → When to capture. The Mode setting has four choices:
| Mode | What it does |
|---|---|
| Capture on every click | The default. Every click is a step. |
| Capture when clicking with a key held | Only clicks made while holding Ctrl, Alt or Shift (you choose) become steps. Everything else is ignored, so you can move around freely and capture only the clicks that matter. |
| Capture unless a key is held | Every click is a step, except clicks made while holding the key. Use it to click through something you don’t want in the guide. |
| Never on click (hotkey only) | Clicks are ignored; you take each step yourself with Ctrl+Alt+C. Good for guides that mostly show screens rather than clicks. |
- Capture right clicks turns right clicks into steps titled “Right-click …”.
- Screenshot delay is 0 ms by default, which grabs the screen the instant the mouse button goes down, before the app reacts. A delay up to 5 seconds captures what the click opens instead.
- Compatibility mode is a slower way of capturing that also works in remote sessions: see Record inside remote sessions and admin windows.
How a click is shown#
By default Thoth draws a marker where you clicked. Under Click marker and cursor:
- Mark clicked area turns the marker on or off. You can still edit or remove it on any step afterward.
- Shape is Outline the control (traces the button or field when Windows reports its size), Circle or Square. For circle and square you also set the size and the fill and border colors.
- Show cursor draws a mouse cursor at the click point: a Windows or Mac pointer or hand, or a text cursor.
- Hotkey captures mark the cursor puts the marker on steps you take with the capture hotkey.
One screenshot without recording#
To add a single screenshot to the guide you have open, choose Screenshot in the editor’s header or press Ctrl+Alt+S. Thoth hides itself, freezes the monitor under your cursor and, by default, lets you draw the area to keep. Turn off Choose an area for single screenshots to grab the whole screen at once.
You can also paste an image with Ctrl+V, or choose Images from files… in the Insert step here menu between steps. Pasted and imported images become steps like any other.