Pin to screen

Pin a screenshot on top of every window

macOS has no way to keep a screenshot floating above your other windows. In Plumshot, one click on Pin turns a capture into a floating window that stays above every app — full-screen ones included — until you close it.

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3-day full-feature trialmacOS 14 Sonoma or laterUniversal (Apple Silicon & Intel)

A pin stays above every app window. Hover over it for Copy, Save and Close.
How it works

How to pin a screenshot on a Mac

Pinning starts from a capture you've already taken, so there's nothing to set up.

  1. Take a screenshot

    Capture an area, a window, the full screen or a scrolling page from the menu bar or your own shortcut. A Quick Access thumbnail appears in the corner of the screen.

  2. Click Pin

    Hover over the thumbnail and click the pin button in its top-right corner. The thumbnail turns into a pinned copy, centered on the screen your pointer is on.

  3. Put it where you need it

    Drag anywhere on the image to move it. Drag an edge to resize it — the proportions stay locked, so nothing gets squashed.

  4. Copy, save or close

    Hover over the pin to show Copy, Save (as PNG) and Close. Closed it too soon? Restore Recently Closed in the menu bar brings it back.

Built-in vs. Plumshot

Can a Mac pin a screenshot by itself?

Not really. After ⇧⌘3 or ⇧⌘4, macOS shows a floating thumbnail in the corner for a few seconds — longer only while your pointer rests on it — and then saves the file. Open that file in Preview and you get an ordinary window that drops behind the next app you click.

Plumshot's pins are built for the opposite: a picture that stays put, above everything, for as long as you need it.

macOS screenshot thumbnail

  • Disappears after a few seconds unless you keep the pointer on it
  • A small, fixed-size preview in the corner of the screen
  • The saved file opens in a normal window that other apps cover

Plumshot pin

  • Stays on screen until you close it
  • Floats above every app, on every desktop and over full-screen apps
  • Move it anywhere and resize it, proportions locked
  • Pin as many as you like; they return after you quit and reopen Plumshot
Why pin

Keep the reference, skip the app switching

Pin anything you'd otherwise flip back to every few seconds: you read from the pin while you type, click or draw in the app underneath.

  • Type an order number, address or confirmation code from one app into a form in another
  • Keep a design mockup beside the page you're building, or an old layout over the new one
  • Follow the steps from a chat or tutorial while you click through settings
  • Hold onto a chart, table or error message while you write about it
Stays put

Pins that outlast a restart

Plumshot remembers every open pin with its size and position. Quit the app or restart your Mac, and when Plumshot opens again the pins are back where you left them. If a pin's display is gone, it moves to your main display; unplug a monitor or change the resolution and stray pins move back onto a connected screen.

Each pin is kept as a PNG in Plumshot's own folder on this Mac, so nothing is uploaded anywhere.

  • Restore Recently Closed in the menu bar reopens closed pins, newest first — Plumshot keeps the last 10.
  • Every card in capture history has a Pin button, and pinned items are exempt from automatic history cleanup (Clear History still removes them).
  • Pin an image file: plumshot://pin opens a file picker for a PNG or JPEG, and the capture links accept action=pin.

The details

Stays above
Every app window, on every desktop, including full-screen apps
How many
No limit — each pin is its own window
Move & resize
Drag anywhere to move; drag an edge to resize, proportions locked
On the pin
Copy · Save as PNG · Close
After quitting
Restored where you left them; the last 10 closed pins can be reopened
Pin from
Quick Access thumbnail, capture history, plumshot:// links
Permission
Nothing extra. Capturing needs Screen & System Audio Recording (Screen Recording on macOS 14)
Stored
On this Mac only, as PNG files

Questions, answered

Can you pin a screenshot on a Mac without an extra app?

No. The macOS screenshot thumbnail disappears within a few seconds, and Preview's windows fall behind other apps. Keeping a capture above everything takes an app that makes floating windows, like Plumshot.

Does a pinned screenshot stay on top of full-screen apps and other desktops?

Yes. A pin floats above regular app windows, appears on every desktop and shows over apps in full-screen mode, so switching desktops or going full screen doesn't hide it.

Do pins come back after I quit Plumshot or restart my Mac?

Yes. Open pins are saved with their size and position and reappear when Plumshot launches again. If you close one by mistake, Restore Recently Closed in the menu bar brings it back — Plumshot remembers the last 10 you closed.

Can I copy text from a pinned screenshot?

Not from the pin itself — it's an image, and Copy puts that image on the clipboard. For the words, click OCR instead of Pin on the Quick Access thumbnail to recognize the text; you can still pin that capture afterwards from capture history.

Can I pin an image that isn't a screenshot?

Yes. Open the link plumshot://pin — with open in Terminal or from any launcher that opens URLs — and choose a PNG or JPEG. Add ?filepath= and a path to pin a specific file.

How much does Plumshot cost?

Pinning is part of Plumshot: $9.90 once, no subscription. The 3-day trial unlocks every feature and starts with your first capture. Requires macOS 14 Sonoma or later. Details are on the pricing card.

Anything else? Write to support and a human replies. support@plumshot.app

More of what Plumshot does

Keep what matters in view

Download Plumshot, take a screenshot and click Pin. Every feature is yours to try for 3 days, starting with your first capture.

Download free trialSee pricing

3-day full-feature trialmacOS 14 Sonoma or laterUniversal (Apple Silicon & Intel)

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