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Chromebook⏱ 3 min

How to Annotate a Screenshot on Chromebook

Add arrows, text, and highlights to a screenshot using built-in tools.

Last verified: February 21, 2026

Chromebook opens every screenshot in the built-in Gallery app, which has a basic annotation toolbar accessible via the edit pencil icon. The tools cover pen drawing, text insertion, and cropping, which handles the majority of documentation and communication use cases without additional software. For more advanced annotation — callouts, arrows, numbered steps — opening the screenshot in a Google Slides or Google Drawing tab from the browser provides substantially more formatting options since Chromebook works best in the web app ecosystem.

Quick Steps

Follow in order for the fastest result.

  1. 1Take a screenshot and click the preview thumbnail. Use the built-in editor to add notes, crop, and highlight areas.
  2. 2Add callout arrows and text labels to draw clear attention to specific areas.
  3. 3Save or share the annotated image using the Done / Share button in the editor.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can I annotate a screenshot on Chromebook without installing anything?
Yes. Chromebook opens captured screenshots in a basic editor — for more annotation tools, open the file in the Gallery app.
How do I add an arrow to a screenshot on Chromebook?
Open the screenshot in the editor and look for the Shapes tool in the annotation toolbar to find arrow options.
How do I blur or hide sensitive information in a screenshot?
Use the drawing tools in the screenshot editor to draw a filled shape over any data you want to hide.
Does annotating a screenshot on Chromebook overwrite the original?
Built-in annotation tools save the annotated version as the same file by default. If you need both the original and annotated version, duplicate the file first before opening it for editing.

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