How to pin a screenshot on your screen on Mac

What macOS gives you (and doesn't)

The free route: a Stickies note

Stickies is included with macOS. Paste an image into a note and choose Window → Float on Top to keep it above ordinary windows.

• Copy a region with ⌃⇧⌘4, or the whole screen with ⌃⇧⌘3. Holding Control copies the capture to the clipboard instead of saving a file. See Apple’s screenshot shortcuts.
• Open Stickies from Spotlight (⌘Space, type Stickies).
• Press ⌘N for a new note, then ⌘V to paste the screenshot in. The note resizes around the image; drag a corner to resize it further, or drag the note itself to reposition it.
• Choose Window → Float on Top for this note. To show Stickies on other desktop Spaces, use its Dock icon’s Options → All Desktops. This is a desktop assignment, not a guarantee that it overlays full-screen apps.

Partial fix: Split View

macOS's built-in Split View (hold the green button on a window, or Mission Control's Tile options) puts two windows side by side, filling the screen between them. If you open the screenshot in Preview and tile it against the app you're working in, it's genuinely visible the whole time, no floating window needed. The trade-off is that it isn't floating: it claims half the screen, and it can't sit on top of a third window the way a pinned note or a pinned card can.

Where the free routes stop

Stickies gets you a floating window for free, but it's a repurposed note app, not a screenshot tool: pasting is a manual step every time, resizing to the exact size you want takes some dragging, and there's no crop, no arrow to point at the part that matters, and no way to tell at a glance which of several open notes holds which screenshot. All Desktops makes Stickies appear on each desktop Space. For a full-screen workflow, verify visibility in the app you use or work with ordinary windows side by side. It's a fine fix for the occasional "keep this address visible while I type it into a form," and not much more than that.

Screenshot apps that pin: Shottr, CleanShot X, Capso

Pinning is a standard feature of third-party screenshot apps, and the free route's friction (paste, resize, work out which note is which) is exactly what they remove. Three worth knowing, each described from its maker's own site:

Shottr

Shottr, free to use with an occasional prompt to buy a license, pins images as floating, always-on-top borderless windows, which it pitches for keeping references or as temporary screenshot storage. A pinned shot resizes with the scroll wheel, and it can be made semi-transparent to lay over something for comparison.

CleanShot X

CleanShot X has the most complete pin of the three: always on top, adjustable size and opacity, arrow keys to nudge it into an exact position, and Lock Mode, which lets you click through the pinned screenshot to the app underneath. It also has a shortcut to hide pinned screenshots, a command to close them all, and pinning straight from its Capture History. It is paid: a one-time license for the core app.

Capso

Capso, a free app with its source on GitHub, has Pin to Screen with always-on-top windows and a lock / click-through mode, and pin is one of the actions on its post-capture preview. It needs macOS 15 or later.

Which one to use

• Free: Shottr, or Capso on macOS 15 or later.
• You need to click through the reference to the app underneath (tracing a layout, following a checklist over a form): CleanShot X's Lock Mode or Capso's click-through mode. Snapline's pinned window doesn't do this.
• The pin should come from a history you can search by text later, including tall scrolling captures: Snapline, below.

Built-in pinning: Snapline

Snapline pins a capture as its own floating window with one action, no note app in the middle:

• Capture something with ⌥⌘S (rebindable), which opens the Quick Access card in the corner.
• Click the pin action on the card, or open the shot in the editor first and click Pin to Screen in its toolbar if you want to crop, annotate, or redact something before it floats.
• The pinned window carries a hairline border and a hover toolbar, and stays above every other app until you close it. Each capture you pin gets its own window, so several references can stay open at once.
• A scrolling capture's tall image pins the same way, fit to width with vertical scrolling inside the pinned window.

Pinning is screenshot-only: Play opens a recording in your video player, and a converted GIF in Snapline's own GIF player, with a frame scrubber. Snapline is free to try in full for 14 days (after the trial, capture unlocks with a one-time license: no subscription, no account) and requires macOS 14 or later. Screen Recording is needed for screen capture; pinning an existing screenshot asks for no extra permission.

Questions

Does Mac have a built-in way to pin a screenshot on screen?

Not directly. macOS has no universal always-on-top toggle for arbitrary windows. The closest free option is pasting the screenshot into a Stickies note and choosing Window → Float on Top.

How do I keep a screenshot always on top of other windows on Mac?

Copy the screenshot with ⌃⇧⌘4, paste it into a new Stickies note, and choose Window → Float on Top. All Desktops can show Stickies across desktop Spaces, but does not guarantee an overlay on full-screen apps. Screenshot apps do it in one step: Shottr, CleanShot X, Capso, and Snapline all have a pin action that floats the capture above other windows.

Why doesn't Split View keep a screenshot on top?

Split View tiles two windows side by side rather than floating one above the other, so it uses half the screen and can't overlap what you're working on. It's a reasonable stand-in when you just need the image visible at a glance, not a substitute for a floating window.

Can I click through a pinned screenshot on Mac?

Yes, with CleanShot X's Lock Mode or Capso's lock / click-through mode, which let clicks pass through the pinned image to the app underneath. A Stickies note and Snapline's pinned window take the click themselves, so move or close them to reach what's behind.

Can Snapline pin a screen recording or a GIF?

No, pinning is screenshot-only, including a scrolling capture's tall image. Play opens a finished recording in your video player, and a converted GIF in Snapline's own GIF player.

Can I pin more than one screenshot at a time on Mac?

With Stickies, yes, one note per screenshot. Snapline works the same way: each capture you pin opens its own floating window, so several references can stay up at once.