# Pillow Documentation
# Source: https://pillow.readthedocs.io/en/latest/reference/ImageGrab.html
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      * [Image file formats](../handbook/image-file-formats.html)
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      * [Writing your own image plugin](../handbook/writing-your-own-image-plugin.html)
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  * [Reference](index.html)
    * [`Image` module](Image.html)
    * [`ImageChops` (“channel operations”) module](ImageChops.html)
    * [`ImageCms` module](ImageCms.html)
    * [`ImageColor` module](ImageColor.html)
    * [`ImageDraw` module](ImageDraw.html)
    * [`ImageEnhance` module](ImageEnhance.html)
    * [`ImageFile` module](ImageFile.html)
    * [`ImageFilter` module](ImageFilter.html)
    * [`ImageFont` module](ImageFont.html)
    * `ImageGrab` module
    * [`ImageMath` module](ImageMath.html)
    * [`ImageMorph` module](ImageMorph.html)
    * [`ImageOps` module](ImageOps.html)
    * [`ImagePalette` module](ImagePalette.html)
    * [`ImagePath` module](ImagePath.html)
    * [`ImageQt` module](ImageQt.html)
    * [`ImageSequence` module](ImageSequence.html)
    * [`ImageShow` module](ImageShow.html)
    * [`ImageStat` module](ImageStat.html)
    * [`ImageText` module](ImageText.html)
    * [`ImageTk` module](ImageTk.html)
    * [`ImageTransform` module](ImageTransform.html)
    * [`ImageWin` module (Windows-only)](ImageWin.html)
    * [`ExifTags` module](ExifTags.html)
    * [`TiffTags` module](TiffTags.html)
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[ View this page ](../_sources/reference/ImageGrab.rst.txt "View this page")

# `ImageGrab` module¶

The `ImageGrab` module can be used to copy the contents of the screen or the
clipboard to a PIL image memory.

Added in version 1.1.3.

PIL.ImageGrab.grab(_bbox =None_, _include_layered_windows =False_,
_all_screens =False_, _xdisplay =None_, _window
=None_)[[source]](../_modules/PIL/ImageGrab.html#grab)¶

    

Take a snapshot of the screen. The pixels inside the bounding box are returned
as an “RGBA” on macOS, or an “RGB” image otherwise. If the bounding box is
omitted, the entire screen is copied, and on macOS, it will be at 2x if on a
Retina screen.

On Linux, if `xdisplay` is `None` and the default X11 display does not return
a snapshot of the screen, `gnome-screenshot`, `grim` or `spectacle` will be
used as a fallback if they are installed. To disable this behaviour, pass
`xdisplay=""` instead.

Added in version 1.1.3: Windows support

Added in version 3.0.0: macOS support

Added in version 7.1.0: Linux support

Parameters:

    

  * **bbox** – What region to copy. Default is the entire screen. On macOS, this is not increased to 2x for Retina screens, so the full width of a Retina screen would be 1440, not 2880. On Windows, the top-left point may be negative if `all_screens=True` is used.

  * **include_layered_windows** – 

Includes layered windows. Windows OS only.

Added in version 6.1.0.

  * **all_screens** – 

Capture all monitors. Windows OS only.

Added in version 6.2.0.

  * **xdisplay** – 

X11 Display address. Pass
[`None`](https://docs.python.org/3/library/constants.html#None "\(in Python
v3.14\)") to grab the default system screen. Pass `""` to grab the default X11
screen on Windows or macOS.

You can check X11 support using
[`PIL.features.check_feature()`](features.html#PIL.features.check_feature
"PIL.features.check_feature") with `feature="xcb"`.

Added in version 7.1.0.

  * **window** – 

Capture a single window. On Windows, this is a HWND. On macOS, this is a
CGWindowID.

Added in version 11.2.1: Windows support

Added in version 12.1.0: macOS support

Returns:

    

An image

PIL.ImageGrab.grabclipboard()[[source]](../_modules/PIL/ImageGrab.html#grabclipboard)¶

    

Take a snapshot of the clipboard image, if any.

On Linux, `wl-paste` or `xclip` is required.

Added in version 1.1.4: Windows support

Added in version 3.3.0: macOS support

Added in version 9.4.0: Linux support

Returns:

    

On Windows, an image, a list of filenames, or None if the clipboard does not
contain image data or filenames. Note that if a list is returned, the
filenames may not represent image files.

On Mac, an image, or None if the clipboard does not contain image data.

On Linux, an image.

[ Next `ImageMath` module ](ImageMath.html) [ Previous `ImageFont` module
](ImageFont.html)

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On this page

  * `ImageGrab` module
    * `grab()`
    * `grabclipboard()`