Troubleshooting

Captures fail although Screen Recording is on

macOS sometimes keeps a stale answer for a running app.

1. Quit Bigshot and open it again. The Setup Guide's permission page offers Quit & Reopen for this.
2. If it still fails, open System Settings › Privacy & Security › Screen Recording, remove Bigshot with −, add it again, and reopen Bigshot.

A build signed with a different certificate counts as a different app, so updating from an older unsigned build asks for the permission again.

A shortcut does nothing

Another app may be taking it. Open Settings › Shortcuts, press Start listening, and press the shortcut. If it does not check off, rebind it. ⌃⌥ shortcuts also clash with VoiceOver.

⇧⌘3 or ⇧⌘4 still opens the macOS screenshot tool

Turn the system shortcuts off in System Settings › Keyboard › Keyboard Shortcuts › Screenshots. Bigshot cannot take them while macOS has them.

Window capture took the wrong window

Window takes the frontmost window of another app. Click the window you want first, then press ⌃⌥W. Bigshot's own windows are never captured this way; use Area for those.

The island is in my screenshot

Captures started by a shortcut or the menu bar leave the island where it is. Let it collapse to the notch first, or start the capture from the island.

Captures go to the Desktop instead of my Project

• Check the Active Project in the menu bar or the island's Project pill.
• Projects need a Licence. Without one, every capture goes to the Desktop.

An agent cannot see my screenshots

• The Project's Sharing must be Automatic or Review first. Off empties the index.
• In Review first mode, approve each capture with Share now.
• Check .screenshots/index.json exists in the workspace, and that CLAUDE.md or AGENTS.md has the Bigshot block. Edit the Project and re-run the plan to add it.
• A capture marked Sharing failed can be retried from Screenshot Context… or Retry context in Settings › Projects.

Hooks do not run

• Check the menu bar: Resume Hooks means they are paused.
• Check the Hook is enabled and its connection shows Connected, or has a saved key.
• If the Project has ever had sharing on, only tagged, shared captures run Hooks. Tag the capture and use Share now.
• Open View Hook Runs… on the capture for the error and the log.

A capture disappeared

Look in the Trash. Automatic cleanup moves captures there once they pass the Keep screenshots window. Turn on Keep for any capture that should stay.

macOS refuses to open an older build

Builds before notarization were stopped with "Apple could not verify Bigshot is free of malware". Click Done, not Move to Bin, then run:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine ~/Downloads/Bigshot-*.dmg

Or click Open Anyway at the bottom of System Settings › Privacy & Security. Current releases are notarized and open normally.

The old icon still shows after an update

Delete /Applications/Bigshot.app before copying the new version in. macOS caches icons by path.