Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsUse MSS’s current MSS context manager, then call grab() for a monitor or screen-coordinate region. For a quick PNG file, use shot(); for a crop or image processing, use grab() and save or convert the returned screenshot object.
Install MSS and capture a monitor
Install the library in the Python environment that will run your script:
python -m pip install mssThe current documented entry point is MSS. Use it as a context manager so MSS can manage its capture resources:
from mss import MSS
with MSS() as sct:
screenshot = sct.grab(sct.primary_monitor)
print(screenshot.size)grab() returns an MSS ScreenShot object. The example captures the primary monitor; use the returned object when you need its pixels or want to convert or save it yourself.
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Save a full-monitor screenshot as PNG
For a straightforward monitor capture written to a PNG file, use the documented shot() helper:
from mss import MSS
with MSS() as sct:
filename = sct.shot()
print(f"Saved screenshot to {filename}")shot() returns the saved filename. To use the more general file-saving helper for monitor output, MSS also documents save(). If you need a specific crop or further image processing, use grab() instead.
Choose the right monitor
MSS exposes monitor geometry through sct.monitors. Index 0 describes the combined virtual screen spanning all displays; it is not the first physical monitor. Physical monitor entries start at index 1. The current API also provides sct.primary_monitor.
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from mss import MSS
with MSS() as sct:
for index, monitor in enumerate(sct.monitors):
print(index, monitor.left, monitor.top,
monitor.width, monitor.height)
# Capture the first physical monitor:
image = sct.grab(sct.monitors[1])Use primary_monitor when you specifically want the primary display. Choose a numbered physical monitor when you need another display. To capture the whole multi-monitor desktop, select sct.monitors[0].
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Capture only a region of the screen
A region uses screen coordinates: its left and top offsets, then its width and height. The documented Region form makes those values explicit:
import mss.tools
from mss import MSS
from mss.models import Region
region = Region(left=160, top=160, width=320, height=240)
with MSS() as sct:
image = sct.grab(region)
mss.tools.to_png(image.rgb, image.size, output="region.png")The code writes a PNG named region.png. The example coordinates are relative to the virtual screen’s origin. If the target is on a monitor whose origin is not (0, 0), include that monitor’s left and top offsets when calculating the crop position.
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grab() also accepts a four-value PIL-style box in the order (left, top, right, bottom). Do not confuse that coordinate-bound form with Region, which takes width and height.
Calculate a crop relative to a chosen monitor
For a crop positioned relative to a specific monitor, add the crop’s local offsets to that monitor’s screen origin:
from mss import MSS
from mss.models import Region
with MSS() as sct:
monitor = sct.monitors[1]
region = Region(
left=monitor.left + 100,
top=monitor.top + 80,
width=400,
height=300,
)
image = sct.grab(region)This keeps the crop anchored to the selected display even when that monitor sits to the left of, above, or otherwise offset from the virtual desktop origin.
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Work with screenshot pixels or Pillow
If you need a Pillow image for processing, call to_pil() on the MSS screenshot object:
from mss import MSS
with MSS() as sct:
screenshot = sct.grab(sct.primary_monitor)
pil_image = screenshot.to_pil()
pil_image.save("screen.png")For lower-level work, the screenshot object exposes pixel data, including its RGB bytes and dimensions. MSS documents direct screenshot-buffer integration with compatible libraries such as NumPy and OpenCV; using the buffer protocol can avoid some copying. That matters when the next operation is analysis rather than simply writing a PNG.
Platform and API considerations
Current API versus older examples
Prefer from mss import MSS and the MSS() context manager shown above. The older mss.mss() entry point remains available for compatibility but is deprecated. Current examples use monitor objects with attributes such as left, top, width, and height; older code may use a compatibility behavior that treats monitor data differently.
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Linux display environments
On Linux, MSS documents xshmgetimage as its default backend and says it falls back to xgetimage when MIT-SHM is unavailable, such as in some remote SSH display situations. The documentation also describes xgetimage as a compatibility option and xlib as a legacy backend. This does not establish that every headless or Wayland environment will work without additional display configuration; check MSS requirements against the display server and session where the script will run.
Troubleshooting
- The wrong screen or too much content appears: Check whether you selected
monitors[0], which spans the entire virtual desktop. Use index1or higher for an individual physical monitor, orprimary_monitorfor the primary display. - A crop lands in the wrong place: Use the chosen monitor’s
leftandtopoffsets in the crop coordinates. Multi-monitor layouts can have negative or nonzero origins. - The saved file is not the intended crop: Confirm that a
Regionusesleft,top,width, andheight. A PIL-style box instead usesleft,top,right, andbottom. - Capture fails in a remote or Linux session: Verify that the Python process has access to a live display and that the session’s display server is supported and configured. Backend fallback behavior does not guarantee operation in every headless or Wayland setup.
- An older tutorial’s import or monitor access differs: Follow the current
MSSclass and monitor-attribute examples. Treatmss.mss()as deprecated compatibility syntax rather than the preferred interface.
Alternative: Pillow ImageGrab
Pillow’s ImageGrab.grab() is a reasonable alternative when you want a Pillow image directly and do not need MSS’s monitor-enumeration workflow. Its official documentation describes bbox support, RGB output on most platforms and RGBA on macOS, plus Retina scaling options on macOS. On Linux, it may use screenshot-tool fallbacks when the default X11 display does not return an image. Choose based on the image representation you need, multi-monitor requirements, and the actual OS and display server; neither interface is established as universally better by these documented behaviors.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Does MSS save screenshots as JPEG or WebP with `shot()`?
The documented `shot()` workflow in this guide is for PNG output. For another format, use an image-processing library to convert the captured image.
Can MSS capture a screenshot without saving it to disk?
Yes. Use `grab()` and keep the returned `ScreenShot` object in memory; save it only if your workflow needs a file.
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