Markwright is a powerful yet lightweight (under 2 Mb .exe, around 6 Mb RAM) screen annotation tool for technical presenters and content creators, that’s modern, has zero dependencies, does not require registration, has no tracking or telemetry, works completely offline, and allows you to own it. Forever. Markwright is designed to be fast, both physically and ergonomically, can be controlled both from mouse and keyboard.
Markwright was created when I was using the most awesome screen annotation tool ZoomIt and missing a few minor features that I wanted, like custom pen colors and a few small extra tools. In the beginning of 2026, I have fully switched to Markwright for all my needs and have also decided to share it with the public, in case anyone else needs it too.
I’m a software engineer, performance and efficiency freak by trade, and no parts of this application were created using AI (or “vibe coded”).
Some features
- Less than 2 Mb .exe file size, around 6 Mb RAM and 0% CPU usage when inactive.
- Annotation tools: arrow, rectangle, circle, laser pointer, highlighter, focus rectangle with zoom.
- Snap to other shape coordinates, for easy alignment.
- Animated tool entrace and exit (configurable).
- Customisable pen colours and thickness.
- Copy annotated image to clipboard.
- Copy annotated region selection to clipboard.
Installing
There is no installer as Markwright is designed to be portable. Simply download the latest version from the releases section, unzip and run mw.exe. It will place Markwright in the system notification area.
Alternatively, you can also install with WinGet by running the following command in PowerShell:
winget install aloneguid.markwright
Winget releases might be a bit behind the latest release, as I need to manually submit the package to the winget repository and wait for it to be built, scanned for viruses, and approved, which can take a few days.
Using
After launching mw.exe (see Installing), it will place itself into the system notification area. You can then invoke annotation mode by either clicking the notification area icon, or by pressing the hotkey (default is Ctrl+1, can be changed in settings). To exit annotation mode, simply press the hotkey again, or Esc key.
Selecting and configuring a tool
When you are in annotation mode, you can select a tool by either click the tool icon in the small toolbox window, or by pressing the hotkey for that tool on the keyboard. Hover over the tool icons to see the hotkeys (A for Arrow, R for Rectangle, and so on). Then simply position the mouse where selected tool begins, click and hold the left mouse button, drag to the desired position, and release the mouse button to finish.
If a tool has configurable options, like pen thickness, it will be shown directly below the tool icons in the toolbox window. For example, if you select the Arrow tool, you can then select the pen thickness and maximum length of the arrow. It does not matter whether you draw the tool first and then change the options, or change the options first and then draw the tool, as the options will be applied to all tools of that type as you change them.
Mini toolbar at the bottom of the toolbox also shows some quick settings, and allows you to open a bigger settings windows with slightly more settings. All of the settings are explained on hover, so feel free to explore them and find the ones that work best for you.
Feel free to leave comments at the bottom of this page if you have any questions, suggestions, or just want to share your experience with Markwright. I would love to hear from you!
Settings
Click the gear icon in the mini toolbar at the bottom of the toolbox to open the settings window. Here you can change various settings, such as hotkeys, pen colors, animation duration, and more. All settings are explained on hover, so feel free to explore them and find the ones that work best for you.
FAQ
- Q: Is it free?
- A: Yes, Markwright is completely free to use. You can download it from the release history section and use it without any cost. You are welcome to donate if you like the tool and want to support its development, but it is not required:
Q: Is it safe?
A: Yes, Markwright is completely safe to use. It does not contain any malware, spyware, or any other malicious software. It does not collect any data from you, and it does not require any permissions that could compromise your security or privacy.
Q: Is it open-source?
A: No, Markwright is not completely open-source. However, you are free to use Markwright for your own purposes, personal or commercial, without any restrictions. It is built on the same technology as Browser Tamer and UI framework is open-source. It might be open-sourced in the future.
Release history
1.1.0 | Mar 12, 2026 | download
- focus: zap all shapes when starting focus.
- new: use mouse wheel, middle and right mouse buttons to perform various actions.
1.0.0 | Feb 27, 2026 | download
The first public release I have decided to share with the public. See if anyone needs this util too.