Lens is a Chrome extension that captures a region of any tab as a PNG, a JPEG, a high-quality animated GIF or an MP4, then files it into a folder on your own machine along with a metadata timeline. It also turns a flow you click through into a step-by-step guide. Nothing is uploaded — see Privacy.
Lens works completely offline, and there is no subscription. No account, no sign-in and no licence check: install it and every feature on these pages works with the network switched off. The only thing that ever touches the network is a cloud AI provider you connect yourself, which is off on install and optional.
1. Install and pin
- Install Lens from the Chrome Web Store or load the unpacked folder via chrome://extensions with Developer mode on.
- Pin it to the toolbar click the puzzle-piece icon in Chrome's toolbar and press the pin next to Lens. The toolbar icon is where recording status and capture errors are reported.
- Open the popup click the Lens icon. This is where you pick the active project and start a capture.
2. What is in the popup
Top to bottom: the header, the project, the capture actions, and this project's recent captures.
| Where | What it is |
|---|---|
| Header, right | The arrow opens the full dashboard in a tab. ? holds Docs, Support and Security. The gear goes straight to the dashboard's Settings |
| Project | The dropdown switches project; the row under it names the linked folder, with Link, Change or Reconnect beside it |
| Capture region | The full-width button, because it is the one most people reach for |
| Steps, GIF, Full tab | The row of three under it. Each shows its own keyboard shortcut |
| Interactive walkthrough | A switch. On, a walkthrough also records which control each step points at, so it can be played back against the live page. Off records the screenshots and the words only |
| Timeline | This project's captures, newest first. See Timeline and dashboard |
| Footer | License states the built-in free licence, which covers every feature and needs no key. Privacy opens the policy |
3. Link a project folder
A project is a name plus one folder on your computer. Captures for the active project are written straight into that folder, next to a project_metadata.json file that records what was captured, from which page, and when.
- Open the popup and press New project or press Link on the default project to give the existing one a folder.
- Name the project for example, the documentation set or release you are capturing for.
- Choose a folder Chrome asks you to pick it and to grant read/write access. Lens can only ever see the folder you pick.
Without a linked folder Lens still works — captures fall back to your Downloads folder, under Lens-Captures/. The popup says which mode you are in.
4. Take your first capture
- Press Capture region or use the keyboard shortcut. The page dims and the cursor becomes a crosshair.
- Drag a rectangle over the area you want. Drag the handles to resize, or drag from the middle to move it.
- Press Capture Image the save screen opens with your capture loaded, its tools down the left and the file name on the right.
- Annotate if you want to, then name it and save the file lands in the project folder and appears in the popup timeline.
5. Where to go next
- Capturing a region — selection, annotation and saving in detail.
- Recording GIF and MP4 — the recorder, its controls and the two output formats.
- Step-by-step guides — click through a flow once and get a documented walkthrough out of it.
- Projects and folders — multiple projects, switching, and reconnecting folder access.
- Settings — every preference and what it changes.