WSL Screen Snipper

Seamlessly bridge Windows screenshots into your WSL VS Code workflow. Take a screenshot on Windows, and the file path is automatically copied to your clipboard — ready to Ctrl+V into the terminal.

How It Works

Take a screenshot on Windows (Win+Shift+S, Print Screen, or any tool that saves to the Screenshots folder)
Extension detects the new file and copies it to a local WSL temp directory
The WSL path is written to your clipboard
A notification confirms it's ready — Ctrl+V to paste the path

Features

Auto-detection — monitors the Windows Screenshots folder using both fs.watch and lightweight polling (single readdir, no per-file stat calls)
Clipboard integration — WSL file path is placed in your clipboard via vscode.env.clipboard.writeText
Live settings — configuration changes apply immediately, no reload required
Smart cleanup — on VS Code exit, only screenshots older than today are removed; today's files are kept
Git-friendly — optional .gitignore entry for the temp directory

Installation

git clone https://github.com/OFurtun/WSL-Screen-Snipper.git
cd WSL-Screen-Snipper
npm install
npm run install-ext

Then reload the VS Code window.

Update

npm run install-ext

Uninstall

npm run uninstall-ext

Setup

Set your Windows username in VS Code settings:

WSL Screen Snipper > Windows Username

This locates screenshots at /mnt/c/Users/{username}/Pictures/Screenshots. Alternatively, use Custom Windows Path to point to any directory.

Settings

Setting	Description	Default
`windowsUsername`	Windows username for Screenshots path	(empty)
`customWindowsPath`	Custom path to Windows Screenshots folder	(empty)
`tempFolderName`	Temp folder name (creates `.{name}` in workspace root)	`Temp-Session-Snips`
`customTempPath`	Custom absolute temp directory path	(empty)
`autoCleanup`	Remove old screenshots (not today's) on VS Code exit	`true`
`addToGitignore`	Add temp folder to `.gitignore`	`false`
`pollingInterval`	Screenshot detection interval in ms (100–5000)	`500`

All settings take effect immediately — no reload needed.

Commands

Save Clipboard Image — manually grab the most recent screenshot
WSL Screen Snipper: Revert to Default Settings — reset all settings

Troubleshooting

Screenshots not detected?

Verify your Windows username setting matches your actual Windows username
Check that /mnt/c/Users/{username}/Pictures/Screenshots exists
Try using Custom Windows Path if the default path doesn't work

Temp directory not created?

Ensure a workspace folder is open when using Temp Folder Name
Use Custom Temp Path for non-workspace scenarios

Clipboard takes a few seconds?

This is an inherent WSL2-to-Windows interop cost (~5s). The notification only appears after the clipboard is populated, so when you see it, Ctrl+V is ready.

Requirements

Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 (WSL2)
VS Code with Remote - WSL extension
Windows Screenshots folder accessible via /mnt/c/
vsce (npm install -g @vscode/vsce) for packaging

License

MIT License — see LICENSE file for details.