How do you annotate a screenshot on a Mac?

The easiest way is the free Paint Vlix app, where arrows, boxes, and text stay editable objects you can move or restyle. You can also use the built-in tools: right after you take the screenshot, click the thumbnail in the corner, then use the shapes, arrow, and text tools.

How do I add text to a screenshot on Mac?

In Preview or the screenshot editor, click the text tool (the T), click on the image, and type. In Paint Vlix the text stays a real text object, so you can retype or restyle it later instead of starting over.

How do I add an arrow to a screenshot on Mac?

In the Markup toolbar, open the Shapes menu and choose the line, then drag the green handle to add an arrowhead. In Paint Vlix there is a dedicated arrow tool, and the arrow stays a movable object you can reposition after placing it.

How to Annotate a Screenshot on Mac

A screenshot says more when you point at the thing you mean. The quickest way to annotate one on a Mac is the free Paint Vlix app, and the built-in Markup tools work too. Here is each one.

The quick answer: the simplest way is the free Paint Vlix app, where arrows, boxes, and text stay editable until you export. Prefer built-in tools? Take the screenshot, click the thumbnail in the corner to open the built-in editor, then use its shapes, arrow, and text tools.

The easiest way: annotate in Paint Vlix (free)

Paint Vlix is a free Mac app built natively in Swift, so it opens instantly. Arrows, boxes, and text stay as objects you can move, restyle, or delete at any time, right up until you export. Nothing is baked in by accident.

A screenshot annotated in Paint Vlix with green callout arrows, a red rectangle, a red circle, and bold text reading Cats — Arrows, boxes, circles, and text over an image in Paint Vlix. Every mark stays selectable, so a slightly off arrow is one drag from right.

Open the screenshot in Paint Vlix, or paste it straight from the clipboard.
Drop on arrows, boxes, circles, and text, and set the colour and thickness.
Move or restyle anything, then export as PNG or JPEG, or copy it to the clipboard.

It is 100% free on the Mac App Store, with no in-app purchases, no subscription, and no account.

How to annotate a screenshot using macOS Preview

If you would rather not install anything, macOS can mark up a screenshot with the Markup tools built into Preview and the screenshot editor, and the screenshot thumbnail is the fastest way in.

A photo of a kitten marked up in macOS Preview with a text label reading THIS IS A KITTEN and a white arrow, using the Markup tools — A screenshot marked up in macOS Preview with the Markup tools: a text label and an arrow.

Take a screenshot (Shift‑⌘‑4 for a region, Shift‑⌘‑3 for the whole screen).
Click the thumbnail in the corner before it slides away. The built-in editor opens with the Markup tools.
Use the toolbar: Shapes for rectangles and circles, the line for arrows, the text tool (T) for labels, and the Sketch tool for freehand.
Set colour and line thickness from the toolbar on the right.
Click Done, or share it straight from the window.

If the thumbnail already disappeared, open the saved file in Preview and click the Markup button (the pen tip) to get the same tools.

How to add an arrow to a screenshot on Mac

In the Markup toolbar, open the Shapes menu and pick the plain line. A line appears with a small green handle at one end; drag that handle and the line turns into an arrow. Reposition it by dragging either endpoint. It is a little hidden, which is one reason a dedicated arrow tool feels better once you do this often.

The catch with the built-in tools: hard to use, and they bake in

The built-in Markup tools are genuinely handy for a one-off note, but two things wear thin fast. First, they are frustrating to use: the arrow is buried inside the Shapes menu, the colour and thickness controls are scattered across the toolbar, and grabbing something you already placed to nudge or restyle it is fiddly. Second, everything you add is flattened into the image the moment you save, so a slightly-off arrow or a misspelt label leaves you no way back. You undo on the spot, or you redo the whole thing.

An illustration of a frustrated person with a hand on their forehead, hunched over a laptop late at night, next to a mug reading Stressed — Fighting the built-in tools to place one arrow. There is a calmer way.

Why Paint Vlix beats Preview for this

Now you have seen both. The difference that matters is that Paint Vlix keeps your annotations editable, and gives you a fuller toolset in the same free app:

Arrows, boxes, and text stay editable, so a misplaced arrow is one drag from right instead of a redo.
Text stays real text, with any font, an outline, and a drop shadow, and you can retype it later.
Draw freehand with a real pencil and brush, with unlimited undo.
Crop and resize in the same window.
Fix the picture itself with live brightness, contrast, and opacity.
Export anywhere: PNG, JPEG with adjustable quality, BMP, or TIFF, copy to the clipboard, or print.

A rich text box in Paint Vlix reading THIS IS A TEXT in yellow Impact with a black outline and drop shadow — Text that stays text, styled with an outline and shadow so it holds up over any screenshot.

What you want to do	Paint Vlix	macOS Preview
Add arrows, shapes & text	✔	✔
Annotations stay editable after saving	✔	Baked in on save
Retype or restyle text later	✔	Changes are final
Freehand pencil & brush	✔	Basic sketch only
Crop & resize in the same app	✔	Crop only
Brightness, contrast & opacity	✔	Basic colour adjust
Export PNG, JPEG, BMP, TIFF, clipboard, print	✔	A few formats
Opens instantly, native, free	✔	✔

Which method should you use?

Annotations you will tweak, restyle, or reuse, or you mark up screenshots all day: Paint Vlix.
A one-off arrow you will never touch again, with no install: the built-in editor from the thumbnail.