How to Get a Color Code From a Screenshot on Windows

To get a color code from a screenshot on Windows, open the screenshot at 100% zoom, press Win+Shift+C to start PowerToys Color Picker, and click the pixel you want. The color is copied to the clipboard as a HEX code by default, ready to paste into CSS, Figma or a note. PowerToys is a free Microsoft download; if you'd rather not install it, sample the image with the eyedropper in Figma, Photoshop or another design app instead.

Method 1: PowerToys Color Picker (works on any screen)

1. Install Microsoft PowerToys and turn on Color Picker in PowerToys Settings.
2. Open the screenshot in Photos, Paint or a browser, and set the zoom to 100% or larger.
3. Press Win+Shift+C.
4. Move the pointer over the color. To see the pixels in detail, scroll up to zoom in; the view freezes so you can aim precisely.
5. Left-click. Color Picker copies the color to the clipboard, saves it to its color history and opens the editor.
6. Paste the code with Ctrl+V wherever you need it.

The editor keeps up to 20 picked colors and lets you copy any of them again in the formats you've enabled, such as HEX, RGB or HSL. To change what's copied straight after a pick, set Default color format in PowerToys Settings.

Three limitations from Microsoft's documentation are worth knowing:

• Color Picker doesn't support Wide Color Gamut (WCG) or High Dynamic Range (HDR) color formats, so samples taken with HDR on may not match what you'd use in CSS.
• If the app you're looking at runs as administrator, the shortcut won't work unless PowerToys is also running as administrator.
• It can't display on top of the Start menu or Action Center, though you can still pick a color there.

Method 2: Snipping Tool Color picker (Copilot+ PCs)

On a Copilot+ PC or Windows 11 AI+ PC, Snipping Tool has a Color picker: select it, click a color on screen, and the value is copied to the clipboard. Microsoft lists it as a feature for those PCs only, so on other Windows 11 PCs use PowerToys or a design app.

Method 3: Your design app's eyedropper

If the screenshot is already in a design file, sample it there.

Figma

1. Paste or place the screenshot on the canvas.
2. Press Esc to deselect everything, then press I to toggle the eyedropper.
3. Press Tab to switch the readout to Hex if needed.
4. Click the color to copy its value to the clipboard.

On Windows, Figma's eyedropper only samples inside the canvas. It can't pick colors from other windows, so bring the screenshot into the file first. Pasting a screenshot into Figma without quality loss covers getting it in at full resolution.

Photoshop

Place the screenshot (File > Place Embedded), sample it with the Eyedropper tool, then click the foreground color swatch. The Color Picker dialog shows the hex value, ready to copy. If the document isn't in sRGB, the value may differ from what a browser shows.

Method 4: ShareX

If you already use ShareX, its productivity tools include Screen color picker and Color picker, so you don't need a second app to sample a screenshot.

How to pick the right pixel

Most "wrong color" results come from sampling the wrong pixel or a degraded copy:

• Sample the middle of a shape. Edges of buttons, text and icons are anti-aliased, so they're a blend of the color and its background.
• View the image at 100% or more. When an image viewer shrinks a screenshot to fit the window, neighbouring pixels are blended together.
• Use the original PNG. A screenshot downloaded from Slack, Teams or Discord, or a frame from a video call, may have been compressed, which can shift colors slightly. With auto-save on, the original is in Pictures > Screenshots.
• Watch for HDR. Screenshots taken with HDR turned on may not show the colors you'd use on the web. Do HDR screenshots survive the clipboard? explains why.
• Pick from the live page when you can. If the website or app is still open, sampling it directly avoids every screenshot-related problem.

Why you can't pick a color from Win+V

Clipboard history shows small thumbnails of copied images, and it has no eyedropper. Sampling a thumbnail would give a blended, scaled-down color anyway. Paste the screenshot into an app or open the saved file, then pick from that.

The hex code you copy is text, so clipboard history keeps it like any other copy, and you can paste it again from Win+V.

Keep the colors you pick

A hex code on the clipboard is gone after your next copy. Put the colors somewhere lasting straight away:

• a design tokens file or stylesheet in the project,
• Figma color styles or variables, or
• a short palette note next to the screenshot.

How to grab a color hex and keep it compares those options, and hex lists vs visual swatches covers storing a whole palette.

If you pick a lot of colors, a clipboard manager that recognises them helps. Edge Drop, made by the team behind this site, has a Colors filter that shows only copied hex, rgb() and hsl() values, and keeps them after a restart; see how to filter text, links, images and files in Edge Drop.

FAQ

Is there a built-in color picker in Windows 11?

Not on every PC. Snipping Tool's Color picker is limited to Copilot+ PCs and Windows 11 AI+ PCs. On other PCs, PowerToys Color Picker is Microsoft's free option.

What's the PowerToys Color Picker shortcut?

Win+Shift+C by default. You can change it under Activation shortcut in PowerToys Settings.

Can you get RGB or HSL instead of HEX?

Yes. In PowerToys Color Picker, the editor lists other formats you can copy, and Default color format in settings changes what's copied by default. In Figma, press Tab with the eyedropper active to switch formats.

Why doesn't the color match the website's CSS?

You probably sampled an anti-aliased edge, a compressed copy, or a screenshot taken with HDR on. Sample the center of the shape in the original PNG, or check the value in the browser's developer tools.

Related reading

• How to Copy a Hex Color Code on Windows (and Save It)
• Hex List or Swatches? How to Store a Color Palette
• HDR Screenshots Look Washed Out on Windows 11? How to Fix It
• How to Paste a Screenshot Into Figma Without Quality Loss

Sources

• Color Picker utility in PowerToys (Microsoft Learn) — Win+Shift+C, mouse actions, scroll to zoom, 20-color history, default HEX format and limitations.
• Use Snipping Tool to capture screenshots (Microsoft Support) — Color picker on Copilot+ PCs and Windows 11 AI+ PCs.
• Sample colors with the eyedropper tool (Figma Help) — I shortcut, Tab for Hex, click to copy, no sampling outside the canvas on Windows.
• ShareX — Color picker and Screen color picker tools.
• Add a picture as a layer (Adobe) — File > Place Embedded.

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