Frequently asked questions

iPhone screenshots sync through Photos, while Mac screenshots land on the Desktop by default. Even with Desktop syncing through iCloud Drive, getting a Mac screenshot into Photos on iPhone means finding it in Files, downloading it if needed, opening it and saving it. CloudShots brings Mac and iOS screenshots into one history as they sync: search text inside images, use tags and groups, and get smart names based on what each screenshot means on supported devices. With Pro, free space in Photos and your Mac screenshot folder, including the Desktop, by removing originals already confirmed in iCloud.

The built-in tool saves a file and stops there: on iPhone, screenshots mix in with your photos; on Mac, they pile up on the Desktop. CloudShots keeps every screenshot from Mac, iPhone and iPad in one history, synced privately through your iCloud and searchable by the text inside on every device. On-device AI adds tags, smart names and summaries. Mark up, redact, share or collaborate; on Mac, all from a panel in the menu bar. Then clear the originals out of Photos and off the Desktop.

Yes. Free includes capture, import, sync, search, editing, sharing, and your newest 30 screenshots. Older screenshots stay safely stored and synced.

Pro adds Free Up Space, which clears originals already safe in iCloud out of Photos or your Mac folder in bulk, after you confirm. It also opens your full history and adds Private. Choose weekly, yearly, or Lifetime; one purchase covers Mac, iPhone, and iPad. It also offers Optimize iCloud Storage, which keeps a smaller copy of each screenshot in iCloud.

Yes. Sign into the same iCloud account on your iPhone, iPad, or another Mac, and Pro appears there within about a minute.

Install CloudShots on both and sign in to the same iCloud account. From then on it is automatic in both directions: Mac captures and the iPhone or iPad Screenshots album, imported in the background, sync privately through iCloud using CloudKit into one shared history, with no export, AirDrop, or manual transfer. It works the same on Free and Pro, and Apple Watch shows the same history read-only. There is no CloudShots account and no CloudShots server; signing in only matters for cross-device history. Each device builds its own local search index over that history, so recognized text, tags, smart names, AI summaries, and app names are searchable on Mac, iPhone, and iPad with no network required.

There is nothing to file. Every capture lands in one timeline by date, and on-device recognition adds the text, scene tags, and a descriptive filename; the Mac panel also filters by source: Mac, iPhone, iPad, Watch, or CarPlay.

Type what you remember. Search matches recognized text, tags, smart names, AI summaries, and app names in any word order, understands phrases like "last week", and the same screenshots surface in Spotlight.

Pro adds Free Up Your Photos on iPhone and Free Up Your Mac, which remove only originals already confirmed in iCloud. They go to Recently Deleted or the Trash, so they stay recoverable and your CloudShots history keeps them. On both plans, the Delete dialog also offers Move to Trash and Delete from Photos (Folder on Mac) for one backed-up screenshot. With Pro, you can also turn on Optimize iCloud Storage: iCloud keeps a smaller copy of each screenshot (JPEG, about 2048 px, still sharp enough to read and search) and removes the full-resolution original. It cannot be undone.

On your devices and privately in your iCloud. CloudShots has no account system or screenshot server; recognition runs on device and its results sync only through your private iCloud, and Private marks sync across your devices.

No. Recognition, tags, names, and summaries are computed on device and sync only through your private iCloud, never to any server. Diagnostics never contain screenshots or recognized content.

Yes, minus the sync. Capture, import, history, and editing are local; only cross-device history needs iCloud.

1,000 by default. Free and Pro can choose 200 through Unlimited, and out of the box the setting deletes nothing. Only lowering it below your current library size removes anything, permanently, and only after an explainer and a confirmation naming the exact count.

Yes. Share the image, or invite someone to collaborate with edit or view-only access through iCloud. Once it's shared, any edit or redaction is saved into the file for everyone who has it, so nobody sees the original underneath. Only the owner can Restore Original, and that needs an internet connection and stops sharing first.

No. Sync runs through your own private iCloud, which is built into your Apple devices: screenshots appear on every device by themselves, Apple Watch included, with no extra account, and your edits and the text found inside follow them. Only you see them unless you share, and there is no CloudShots server in between. A general file storage service has nothing like that built in, so it cannot work the same way.

No. Screenshots go only to iCloud, privately. The only third-party egress is diagnostics via Sentry and PostHog, and they never carry screenshot pixels, OCR text, tags, or annotations.

It is a separate, purpose-built history that sits beside iCloud Photos, Drive, and AirDrop. CloudShots keeps its own synced, searchable timeline of just your screenshots, with on-device recognition and editing those general-purpose tools do not offer.

On iPhone and iPad, CloudShots imports screenshots from your Photos library; on Mac, it keeps its own captures and watches your screenshots folder. Everything lands in one library synced through iCloud, and the Devices filter sorts that library by the device each screenshot was taken on: iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple Vision Pro or CarPlay. CloudShots reads that device from the screenshot's EXIF metadata, and from its pixel size when the metadata is missing.

Both spellings mean this app. It is called CloudShots, and people often type CloudShot in the singular. The App Store listing and this site are the same app for Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch.

On Mac, choose Uninstall CloudShots…, with a checkbox to delete your local data (including a Direct licence key, re-entered afterward from your purchase email) and one to also delete your screenshots and Pro status from iCloud on every device. An App Store purchase and the Screen Recording permission are never touched by it.

On Mac, yes. Pin to Screen keeps a screenshot floating above other windows: press Command-P, pin up to 6 at once, and press Esc to close one. Pins never appear in CloudShots's own captures. It is not available on iPhone and iPad because iOS has no always-on-top window for app content.