Draw On Clipboard
Windows · built on .NET
Paste. Draw. Copy back.
Paste an image from your clipboard, draw or write on it, then copy the result back. Ready to paste into a message, email, or document—without opening or saving a file.
Seven complete languages. Full keyboard and screen-reader workflows. Named colors, high-contrast themes, and reduced motion — without a separate “accessible mode.”
Windows 11 · x64 and ARM64 · no account, ever
The Windows build is the same app, written in C# on .NET — the drawing model and file format are shared with the Mac version, so a session created on one opens on the other.
The loop
Three steps, then it's back on your clipboard
From clipboard to clipboard: make your point on the image, then return to what you were doing. File import and export are optional, not steps you have to complete.
Paste an image
Start with an image on your clipboard. Paste it into Draw On Clipboard to begin.
Draw or write
Add freehand marks, arrows, text, highlights, or solid redaction. Undo or revisit history whenever you need to.
Copy back
Click Copy to put the finished image back on the clipboard at full resolution. Paste it into the conversation, email, document, or app where you need it.
What's in it
Every tool has a one-key shortcut
The whole toolbar is reachable without moving your hand to a menu — and holding ⇧ constrains lines to 45°, rectangles to squares, ellipses to circles.
Drawing
Pen, highlighter, line, arrow, rectangle, ellipse. Shapes are outline-only; the highlighter multiplies with what's underneath, like a real marker.
Text that stays readable
Click, type, done. Text automatically gets a subtle contrast halo so it reads on any background — light UI, dark terminal, busy photo.
Numbered steps
Drop 1, 2, 3… onto a screenshot to walk someone through a flow. Delete one in the middle and the rest renumber themselves.
Redaction that holds
Solid blocks are genuinely opaque — nothing is recoverable. Pixelate is offered for faces and clutter, with a plain warning that it's the wrong choice for secrets.
A visible history
Every change is a frame on the timeline. Click any frame to rewind; hover to peek. What you're looking at is exactly what exports.
Fork instead of losing work
Draw after rewinding and it doesn't silently discard your later steps — it offers to fork into a new window so you keep both versions.
Full-resolution exports
Copy or save your image at full resolution.
Find and keep past work
When session backups are on, open the Past Session Manager from Settings to preview, reopen, copy or save past work. Keep protects important sessions from automatic cleanup.
Honest status
The toolbar chip always tells you the truth: "Not exported yet", "Copied ✓ 2:41 PM", or "Edited since export" if you've drawn something since.
Accessible without a pointer
Choose a tool and add it at the image center, then select, move, resize supported objects, edit text, duplicate, or delete with native controls. Color names are spoken, and selection never relies on color alone.
Privacy
Your screenshots and drawings stay local
Opening My Reports or More Apps uses local data. Network requests occur only when you send feedback, check report status or available apps, or manage a report's contact details. Feedback contains the text and compatibility facts shown before sending; an email address is optional.
- No accounts, sync, analytics, crash uploads, attachments, or background check-ins
- Exports carry no embedded thumbnail, no leftover metadata, no hidden trailing bytes
- Logs record that things happened — never your image contents or typed text
- Session backups are optional; clear saved sessions in Settings.
The trailing-bytes one is worth naming. A well-known class of bug let "cropped" screenshots be un-cropped, because the cropped-out data was still sitting in the file. Draw On Clipboard excludes that by construction — exports are a flat render — and an automated test enforces it on every build.
Saved sessions retain the original image so undo works. Clear saved sessions in Settings when you no longer need recovery. External backups are not deleted.
Getting started
- Capture an area
- Win+Shift+S
- Paste the clipboard
- Ctrl+V
- Open a file
- Ctrl+O
- Help
- Ctrl+/
Tools
- Select · Pen
- V P
- Highlighter · Line
- H L
- Arrow · Rect · Ellipse
- A R O
- Text · Badge · Redact · Crop
- T N X C
Editing
- Undo · Redo
- Ctrl+Z Ctrl+Shift+Z
- Duplicate · Delete
- Ctrl+D ⌫
- Constrain
- ⇧
- Commit · Cancel
- ↩ esc
Sending it out
- Copy
- Ctrl+C
- Save…
- Ctrl+S
- Zoom in · out · fit
- Ctrl++ Ctrl+− Ctrl+0
- Close window
- Ctrl+W
Getting it
Coming soon for Windows
The Windows version is being prepared for Microsoft Store.
Microsoft Store — coming soon
The Windows build is the same app as the Mac one, written in C# on .NET and sharing the drawing model and file format — a session created on either opens on the other. It keeps every screenshot on your PC and uses HumansAreUseful.ai services only for explicit feedback, report-status, and More Apps requests.
Once it's live, this section becomes the download button. In the meantime the user guide covers the whole app end to end, so you can see exactly what you're getting.
- Windows11
- Architecturex64 & ARM64
- Runtime.NET 10 (bundled)
- WhereMicrosoft Store (soon)
- AccountNone
- Network accessExplicit requests only
- Saved sessionsKeep protects from cleanup
Questions
Reasonable things to ask
Is pixelation safe for passwords?
No — and the app says so at the point you choose it. For known text in a known font, pixelation can sometimes be reversed. Use the solid style for passwords, tokens, account numbers, and anything else that actually matters; it's a flat opaque block with nothing recoverable underneath. Pixelate is fine for faces and general clutter.
If I redact something, is it really gone from the file I export?
Yes. Every export is a flattened render — the hidden pixels aren't layered underneath, they're not in the file at all. Exports also carry no embedded thumbnail, no leftover metadata, and no hidden trailing data, and that's covered by an automated test.
Saved sessions retain the original image so undo works. Clear saved sessions in Settings when you no longer need recovery. External backups are not deleted.
I closed the window by accident. Is my work gone?
When session backups are on, open the Past Session Manager from Settings to preview, reopen, copy or save past work. Keep protects important sessions from automatic cleanup.
Unkept, closed sessions normally expire 14 days after last work. Above 50 unkept closed sessions, fully exported work may be removed earlier. Sessions marked Keep and sessions in open editors are protected from automatic cleanup. Deleting a session removes its original and history after confirmation, never separately exported images.
Does it need Screen Recording permission?
Use your operating system’s screenshot tool, then paste its image. Draw On Clipboard does not need screen-recording permission to read the clipboard.
Nothing happens when I click the tray icon.
A plain click opens whatever image is on your clipboard — that's the fast path. If there isn't one, you get a window explaining how to capture. Right-click the tray icon for the menu: past sessions, settings, help and quit. Closing the last window leaves the app in the tray, so the icon is always there; Quit is how you exit.
What happens if I draw after rewinding the timeline?
You're asked, rather than silently losing steps. Fork to New Window keeps both versions — the original window stays intact and your new direction continues in a fresh window. Replace Later Steps is the classic behavior. Frames after your current position are dimmed, so you can see what's at stake.
How do I remove it completely?
Clear saved sessions in Settings, then uninstall the app using your operating system. Files you exported and external backups remain untouched.