Stream Screenshot: Capture the Exact Frame, Every Time
The perfect moment on a live stream is one frame, and it is gone in a fraction of a second. The Screenshot button adds a one-click capture to the Twitch, YouTube, and Kick player. Take a single shot, or use Burst mode to spray rapid-fire frames around the moment and pick the exact best one - all at full stream resolution.
The perfect frame lasts a fraction of a second
A streamer hits the clutch, makes the face, lands the perfect pose, drops the meme-worthy reaction. You want that frame - for a clip thumbnail, an emote submission, a reaction image, a highlight. The problem: the exact frame you want exists for about a thirtieth of a second, and the browser's normal screenshot tools capture the whole page, at the wrong resolution, with the player UI in the way.
The Screenshot button captures the stream itself - just the video, at the same resolution the stream is running at, with no player chrome in the frame. And if a single click is not precise enough to land the one frame you want, Burst mode captures a rapid-fire sequence so you can pick the exact best one afterward.
How the Screenshot button works
Once the Screenshot button is enabled, a camera icon appears in the player controls on Twitch, YouTube, and Kick. Click it and a small Screenshot panel opens with two capture modes - Single and Burst - and a format toggle for PNG or WebP.
In Single mode, one click captures the current frame. You get a preview, and you save it if you like it. Everything is captured at the same resolution as the stream, so a 1080p stream gives you a 1080p image - not a downscaled browser screenshot.
Burst mode: rapid-fire frames, pick the best one
Burst mode is the part that makes this more than a basic screenshot button. Instead of one frame, it captures a rapid sequence around the moment, so the single perfect frame is somewhere in the set and you just pick it out afterward. There are two ways to control how the burst runs, chosen with the Capture by toggle:
- Capture by Frames - set a number of frames (for example 10) and an interval between them in milliseconds (down to 20ms). The burst grabs exactly that many frames at that spacing.
- Capture by Duration - set a duration in milliseconds (for example 3000ms, which is 3 seconds) and an interval, and the burst captures frames across that whole window. The panel shows a live estimate of how many frames that will produce (for example, around 151 frames).
The interval going down to 20ms is the key number: at 20ms spacing you are capturing roughly fifty frames a second, which means even a single-frame reaction lands somewhere in the burst. Set a tight interval, fire the burst, and the exact frame you wanted is in there.
PNG or WebP, preview or direct download
Two output choices round the feature out. The format toggle switches between PNG (lossless, biggest files, best for editing) and WebP (much smaller files at near-identical quality, best for sharing and for emote or badge submissions with size limits).
The Download as files (skip preview) toggle controls the workflow. Off (the default), you get a preview of the captured frames and save only the ones you like - ideal for a burst where you want one good frame. On, the captures download straight to your downloads folder with no preview step - faster when you want to keep everything and sort later. A burst always saves as a single .zip file so you are not left with a hundred loose images.
Built for mods, editors, and content creators
Three groups get the most out of this. Editors pulling clip thumbnails want the single sharpest frame of a reaction, and Burst mode is how you find it. Mods and community managers sourcing emote and badge art need clean, full-resolution frames in a submission-friendly format, which is what the PNG/WebP toggle is for. Content creators building reaction images, highlight reels, and social posts want frames captured fast without breaking their viewing flow.
For all three, the workflow beats the alternatives: no OS-level screenshot tool that grabs the whole screen at the wrong resolution, no pausing and scrubbing frame by frame, no screen-recording-then-extracting. Just a burst, a pick, and a save.
How to enable it
- Install Previews from the Chrome Web Store, Firefox Add-ons, or Edge Add-ons.
- Click the Previews icon in your browser's toolbar.
- In the settings panel for each platform you use (Twitch, YouTube, Kick), find Screenshot Stream Button. Toggle it on for each.
- Optional: set your default Screenshot Format (PNG or WebP) from the dropdown in settings.
- Refresh any open Twitch, YouTube, or Kick tab.
- The camera icon will be in the player controls. Click it, pick Single or Burst, and capture.
What else Previews can do for you
If you screenshot streams enough to want a real tool for it, you are probably the kind of viewer who wants the rest of the Previews toolkit too:
- Twitch Clip Downloader - one-click MP4 downloads on every Twitch clip page. Screenshot the thumbnail frame, download the clip, done.
- Fast-Forward to Live - plus keyboard seeking, so you can step back to the exact moment you want to screenshot.
- Multi-Stream & Multi-Chat - watch multiple streams at once. The Screenshot button works in every Multi-Stream embed (when Advanced Video Embeds is on).
- Picture-in-Picture - pop a stream into a floating window while you work.
- Plus FlashBang Defender, voice typing, hover previews for clips and directories, predictions sniper, and more.
Frequently asked questions
How do I screenshot a Twitch stream?
Install Previews and enable the Screenshot Stream Button in the Twitch settings panel. A camera icon appears in the Twitch player controls. Click it, choose Single or Burst, and capture. The screenshot is taken at the same resolution as the stream, with no player UI in the frame - cleaner than an OS-level screenshot of the whole page.
What is Burst mode?
Burst mode captures a rapid sequence of frames instead of one, so the single perfect frame is somewhere in the set and you pick it afterward. You control it two ways: Capture by Frames (a set number of frames at a set interval) or Capture by Duration (capture across a time window, with a live frame-count estimate). The interval goes down to 20ms between frames, so even a single-frame reaction gets caught.
What resolution are the screenshots?
The same resolution as the stream you are watching. If you are watching a 1080p stream, you get a 1080p image. This is the big difference from a normal browser or OS screenshot, which captures your screen at whatever size the player happens to be on your monitor - usually smaller and with the player controls in the shot.
Should I use PNG or WebP?
PNG is lossless with the biggest files - best when you are going to edit the frame heavily. WebP is much smaller at near-identical quality - best for sharing, for posting, and for emote or badge submissions that have file-size limits. You can set a default format in settings and switch it per-capture in the Screenshot panel.
How do burst screenshots get saved?
A burst always saves as a single .zip file, so you are not left with dozens of loose images cluttering your downloads. By default you get a preview first and save only the frames you like. If you turn on Download as files (skip preview), the burst downloads straight to your downloads folder as a zip without the preview step.
Does this work on YouTube and Kick?
Yes. The Screenshot Stream Button has its own toggle for each platform in Previews settings, so you can enable it on Twitch, YouTube, Kick, or any combination. Single mode, Burst mode, the PNG/WebP toggle, and the stream-resolution capture all work the same way on all three.