---
title: "Getting started"
description: "The first launch opens the Setup Guide. Its seven steps are listed down the side of the window, and each one is ticked off when Bigshot sees it done. Getting started walks through the same steps with pictures."
url: https://www.bigshot.pics/docs/getting-started
---
# Getting started

## Install

1. Download Bigshot from bigshot.pics and open `Bigshot-<version>.dmg`.
2. Drag Bigshot into Applications.
3. Open it. Bigshot has no Dock icon. It appears in the menu bar and under
   the notch.

## The Setup Guide

The first launch opens the Setup Guide. Its seven steps are listed down the
side of the window, and each one is ticked off when Bigshot sees it done.
[Getting started](https://www.bigshot.pics/getting-started) walks through the same steps with
pictures.

1. **Welcome**: Capture, Code Lens and Inline Agent.
2. **Screen Recording** (required). Open System Settings from the guide and
   switch Bigshot on in the Screen Recording list under Privacy & Security.
   The step is ticked the moment you do. If macOS still reports it as off,
   choose **Quit & Reopen**; the guide opens again on the next step.
3. **Screenshot keys**: use ⇧⌘3 and ⇧⌘4, and Bigshot turns the macOS
   screenshot keys off for you (⇧⌘5 stays with macOS), or keep the macOS
   tool and use Bigshot's own keys, such as ⌃⌥A. Press the key to see that
   Bigshot hears it; nothing is captured on this page. If macOS keeps the
   keys, **Open Keyboard Settings** and untick them under Keyboard Shortcuts ›
   Screenshots.
4. **First screenshot**: press the key, or **Capture an Area**, and drag.
   The guide shows the screenshot and where it went.
5. **The island**: hover the notch, hold the camera, and click the notch.
   Each is ticked as you do it. **Show Me** has the island act it out.
6. **Preferences**: open at login, the preview after each capture, the
   default capture mode, and how long to keep screenshots.
7. **Where Bigshot lives**: Bigshot has no Dock icon and no window. For a few
   seconds the screen dims around the island and the menu-bar icon.
   **Show Me on Screen** does it again.

**Skip for Now** on the Screen Recording step leaves capture unavailable; the
island asks again the first time you capture. Reopen the guide any time from
**Setup Guide…** in the menu bar, or from Settings › General.

## Can't find Bigshot?

Bigshot runs in the background. Look for the island at the top middle of the
screen, in the notch if your Mac has one, and for its icon in the menu bar.
If the icon is missing, a full menu bar may be hiding it behind the notch, or
it may be switched off under System Settings › Menu Bar › Allow in the Menu
Bar. The island and the shortcuts still work either way.

## Your first capture

1. Press **⇧⌘4** (or **⌃⌥A** if you kept the macOS keys) and drag over part
   of the screen.
2. The capture is saved to the Desktop, copied to the clipboard, and shown
   as a preview in the bottom-right corner.
3. Paste it anywhere with ⌘V, or drag the preview into an app.
4. Hover the notch. The capture is in Peek View. Click it to open the editor.

## Where to go next

- [Capture modes](https://www.bigshot.pics/docs/capture-modes): Display, Window, Area, Smart and Frame
- [The island](https://www.bigshot.pics/docs/island): Peek View, Expanded View and the pod
- [The Capture Editor](https://www.bigshot.pics/docs/editor): annotate, redact, measure, pick colours
- [Projects](https://www.bigshot.pics/docs/projects): save into a repository and let agents read your
  screenshots
- [Workflows](https://www.bigshot.pics/docs/workflows): step-by-step recipes