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A transparent overlay window for Windows that is invisible to screen capture software. Perfect for presentations, video calls, content creation, and keeping notes visible while screen sharing.

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ScreenPrompt

ScreenPrompt

Notes only you can see.
A transparent overlay for Windows that stays invisible in screen shares and recordings.

Download for Windows  ·  Share your story  ·  Request a feature  ·  Report a bug

Windows 10+ MIT Downloads

ScreenPrompt demo

You see They see

Why

Keep talking points, names, numbers, and scripts right where you're looking, so you never have to glance at a second screen or your phone mid-call.

Hidden from Zoom, Teams, OBS, and Snipping Tool.

Made for calls, demos, streams, and presentations. It's not for cheating on exams or interviews, or for getting around proctoring software or any platform's rules, and features for that won't be added (see Project scope).

Features

  • Capture-proof: excluded from screen shares and recordings
  • Always on top: adjustable transparency and click-through lock
  • Keyboard-first: every action has a shortcut
  • Formatted notes: paste or write Markdown and see headings, bold and lists while you present
  • Auto-scroll: your notes scroll by themselves at a speed you set, teleprompter style
  • Make it yours: font, size, colors, and position presets
  • Private: your notes never leave your PC; no telemetry, no data collection. The only network request is an update check against GitHub releases, which you can turn off in Settings

Quick start

  1. Download ScreenPrompt_x.y.z_x64-setup.exe from Releases
  2. Install and launch
  3. Type or paste your notes, then share your screen as usual

Requires Windows 10 (build 2004+) or Windows 11.

Essential shortcuts

Shortcut Action
Ctrl+Shift+H Show / hide
Ctrl+Shift+L Lock (click-through)
Esc Unlock (or Ctrl+click the lock icon)
Ctrl+Shift+E Edit text
Ctrl+Shift+Space Start / pause / resume auto-scroll
F1 All shortcuts (while ScreenPrompt is focused)
Ctrl+Shift+F1 Panic close, works even when locked

Locked mode

Lock the overlay (Ctrl+Shift+L or the lock icon) when you're presenting, and it gets out of your way:

  • Clicks and scrolling go through to the app below, everywhere on the overlay, including the lock icon.
  • To scroll your notes, hold Ctrl and scroll over the overlay.
  • To unlock, press Esc or Ctrl+click the lock icon. The bottom bar shows this while locked.
  • To edit quickly, press Ctrl+Shift+E: it unlocks until you click away, then locks again.

Auto-scroll and formatting

  • Auto-scroll: Ctrl+Shift+Space (or ▶) starts and pauses it, and Ctrl+Shift+, / . change the speed.
  • Formatting: Markdown formats as you type. Use Ctrl+B / Ctrl+I or the T button, and turn it off in Settings if you prefer plain text.
All shortcuts

These work anywhere, even while the overlay is locked or another app has focus:

Shortcut Action
Ctrl+Shift+O Cycle opacity
Ctrl+Shift+Q Quit

These work while the overlay is focused (click it, or press Ctrl+Shift+E when locked), so they don't override the same keys in your other apps:

Shortcut Action
Ctrl+Shift+PageUp / PageDown Font size up / down
Ctrl+Shift+Home Reset font size
Ctrl+Shift+S Settings
Ctrl+Shift+C Copy all text
Ctrl+Shift+V Paste and replace all (undo with Ctrl+Z for a few seconds)
Ctrl+Shift+Delete Clear all text (undo with Ctrl+Z for a few seconds)
Ctrl+Shift+Arrows Nudge window 20px
Ctrl+Shift+R Reset size and position

Position presets work anywhere (layout is auto-detected, or set it in Settings)

Position QWERTY QWERTZ
Top row Ctrl+Alt+7/8/9 Ctrl+Shift+7/8/9
Middle row Ctrl+Alt+4/5/6 Ctrl+Shift+4/5/6
Bottom row Ctrl+Alt+1/2/3 Ctrl+Shift+1/2/3
Build from source

Requires Node.js 20+ and rustup, which installs the pinned Rust version on the first build.

git clone https://github.com/dan0dev/ScreenPrompt.git
cd ScreenPrompt/screenprompt-tauri
npm install
npm run tauri build

The installer is written to src-tauri/target/release/bundle/nsis/.

What ScreenPrompt does on your PC

ScreenPrompt uses a few Windows features that are worth knowing about. None of them records your input or sends it anywhere.

  • Hidden from capture: the overlay calls SetWindowDisplayAffinity with WDA_EXCLUDEFROMCAPTURE, so Windows leaves it out of screen shares, recordings, and screenshots.
  • Click-through lock: locking marks the window as transparent to the mouse, so clicks and scrolling reach the app below.
  • Keyboard and mouse hooks, only while locked: a locked window gets no input of its own, so ScreenPrompt installs two low-level hooks while it is locked and removes them when you unlock. The keyboard hook only reacts to Esc (to unlock) and passes every key through. The mouse hook only reacts to Ctrl+click on the lock icon and Ctrl+wheel over the overlay. Nothing is logged, stored, or sent anywhere.
  • Global shortcuts: shortcuts that work anywhere, such as Ctrl+Shift+H, are registered with Windows. The rest only work while the overlay is focused.
  • Update check: see Privacy.

Privacy

Your notes and settings are stored only on your PC. ScreenPrompt has no telemetry, no analytics, and no accounts.

This program will not transfer any information to other networked systems unless specifically requested by the user or the person installing or operating it, with these exceptions:

  • Update check: on startup, ScreenPrompt asks the GitHub Releases API (api.github.com) for the latest version number. The request contains no notes, settings, or personal data, but GitHub sees your IP address, as with any web request. If a newer version is available, ScreenPrompt asks you before downloading it from GitHub. To turn the check off, open Settings and clear Check for updates on startup. GitHub's handling of the request is covered by the GitHub Privacy Statement.
  • WebView2 during installation: if your PC doesn't have Microsoft Edge WebView2 (Windows 11 and most Windows 10 PCs already do), the installer downloads it from Microsoft. This is covered by the Microsoft Privacy Statement.

Share your story

How do you use ScreenPrompt? Tell us in this discussion: what you use it for, how it feels, and what's missing. Many of the stories will appear on the upcoming ScreenPrompt website (only if you say it's OK).

Code signing policy

Free code signing provided by SignPath.io, certificate by SignPath Foundation.

Signed releases are built by GitHub Actions from the source code in this repository, and each one is approved by hand before it is signed.


MIT License · Contributing

About

A transparent overlay window for Windows that is invisible to screen capture software. Perfect for presentations, video calls, content creation, and keeping notes visible while screen sharing.

Topics

Resources

Contributing

Stars

45 stars

Watchers

1 watching

Forks

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