Linux Screenshot CLI

Use scrot or gnome-screenshot to capture screenshots on Linux. This is a Linux alternative to macOS Peekaboo.

Setup

Install scrot (recommended):

sudo apt-get install -y scrot

Or install gnome-screenshot:

sudo apt-get install -y gnome-screenshot

Or install maim (more features):

sudo apt-get install -y maim slop

Capture Screenshots with scrot

Full screen

scrot ~/Pictures/screenshot-%Y%m%d-%H%M%S.png

Full screen with delay (3 seconds)

scrot -d 3 ~/Pictures/screenshot-%Y%m%d-%H%M%S.png

Select region/window interactively

scrot -s ~/Pictures/screenshot-%Y%m%d-%H%M%S.png

Current focused window

scrot -u ~/Pictures/window-%Y%m%d-%H%M%S.png

Include window border

scrot -ub ~/Pictures/window-%Y%m%d-%H%M%S.png

Capture and copy to clipboard

scrot -s - | xclip -selection clipboard -t image/png

Set quality (JPEG)

scrot -q 90 ~/Pictures/screenshot.jpg

Capture Screenshots with gnome-screenshot

Full screen

gnome-screenshot -f ~/Pictures/screenshot.png

With delay

gnome-screenshot -d 3 -f ~/Pictures/screenshot.png

Select area

gnome-screenshot -a -f ~/Pictures/screenshot.png

Current window

gnome-screenshot -w -f ~/Pictures/screenshot.png

To clipboard

gnome-screenshot -c

Capture Screenshots with maim

Full screen

maim ~/Pictures/screenshot.png

Select region

maim -s ~/Pictures/screenshot.png

Select window

maim -i $(xdotool getactivewindow) ~/Pictures/window.png

Specific region (x,y,width,height)

maim -g 100x100+500+300 ~/Pictures/region.png

High quality

maim -m 10 ~/Pictures/screenshot.png

Screen Recording

Record screen with ffmpeg

ffmpeg -video_size 1920x1080 -framerate 30 -f x11grab -i :0.0 -c:v libx264 -preset ultrafast output.mp4

Stop recording

Press q in the terminal or Ctrl+C.

Record with audio

ffmpeg -video_size 1920x1080 -framerate 30 -f x11grab -i :0.0 -f pulse -i default -c:v libx264 -preset ultrafast -c:a aac output.mp4

Notes

• Linux-only (alternative to macOS Peekaboo).
• scrot is lightweight and widely available.
• maim offers more advanced features.
• gnome-screenshot integrates well with GNOME desktop.
• For Wayland, use grim instead of scrot.