CurrentScreenImage

CurrentScreenImage[]

returns an image captured from all current display screens on your computer.

CurrentScreenImage[n]

returns an image captured from display screen n.

CurrentScreenImage[{{xmin,ymin},{xmax,ymax}}]

returns the specified rectangle from the image of all current display screens.

Details and Options

  • The primary display monitor is typically numbered 1, and the image from it can be captured with CurrentScreenImage[1].
  • The list of all display screens is given by SystemInformation["Devices","ScreenInformation"].
  • CurrentScreenImage returns an image that contains a faithful representation of pixels on your display screen.
  • In the form CurrentScreenImage[{{xmin,ymin},{xmax,ymax}}], the coordinates are measured from the bottom left of the complete area of all current display screens.
  • CurrentScreenImage always shows a rectangular display area. Any pixels that lie outside the display areas for any screen are assigned a color specified by the setting for the option Background.

Examples

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Basic Examples  (4)

Capturing a screenshot:

Capture an image of the main monitor:

Capture screenshots of all current monitors:

Capture a screenshot of the lower left-hand corner of the screen:

Options  (1)

Background  (1)

Capturing a screenshot with multiple monitors attached may display black areas where no physical monitors exist:

The background color in this case can be changed with the option Background:

Properties & Relations  (2)

CurrentScreenImage uses the standard image coordinate system used in standard image processing functions like ImageTrim:

Using CurrentScreenImage of a rectangle is faster than trimming the full image after taking it:

Interactive Examples  (2)

Display a dynamic image of the full screen:

Make a dynamic image of a rectangle around the current mouse position:

Wolfram Research (2017), CurrentScreenImage, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/CurrentScreenImage.html.

Text

Wolfram Research (2017), CurrentScreenImage, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/CurrentScreenImage.html.

CMS

Wolfram Language. 2017. "CurrentScreenImage." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/CurrentScreenImage.html.

APA

Wolfram Language. (2017). CurrentScreenImage. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/CurrentScreenImage.html

BibTeX

@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_currentscreenimage, author="Wolfram Research", title="{CurrentScreenImage}", year="2017", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/CurrentScreenImage.html}", note=[Accessed: 24-July-2025 ]}

BibLaTeX

@online{reference.wolfram_2025_currentscreenimage, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={CurrentScreenImage}, year={2017}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/CurrentScreenImage.html}, note=[Accessed: 24-July-2025 ]}