# How to add numbered steps to a screenshot

> Neither Mac Markup nor Snipping Tool has a numbering tool. Build numbers from shapes and text, or use a counter tool that numbers 1, 2, 3 as you click.

To add numbered steps to a screenshot, put a numbered circle next to each thing the reader has to click, in order, and refer to those numbers in your text. **Neither operating system has a numbering tool built in.** On a Mac you can build each marker by hand in Markup (an oval plus a text box with the number typed in); on Windows, Snipping Tool's editor has a pen, a highlighter and shapes but no numbers, so you'd send the image to Paint and type them there. A screenshot app with a counter tool does it in one click per step: in hypershot, press **C** and click where step one goes, then step two, and the numbers count up on their own.

## The built-in way

**On a Mac**, use Markup, which opens when you click the thumbnail after a screenshot, or in Preview:

1. From **Shapes**, add an oval, and give it a fill color with **Fill Color**.
2. Click the **Text** tool, type **1**, and drag the text box onto the oval.
3. Hold **⌥** and drag the oval and the number to duplicate them, then change the copy's number to **2**. Repeat for each step.

It works, and with care it looks tidy. The limits: every number is typed by hand, the circle and the number are two separate objects you move one at a time, and in Preview, once you save the image the annotations can't be moved or edited anymore.

**On Windows**, Snipping Tool's editor offers a pen, a highlighter, shapes, emoji and crop, and no text or numbering tool in its stable release (a text tool has been in testing with Windows Insiders since late 2025). The route is **Edit with Paint**: draw a circle with the shape tool, then add the number with the text tool, step by step. Paint commits each shape and text box to the image once you click away, so a misplaced number means undo or redraw.

Either way, renumbering after you add a step in the middle means retyping every number after it.

## With hypershot

The [Counter tool](/docs/hypershot/tools/counter/) exists for exactly this.

1. Capture the screen you're explaining: `⌘⇧2` on macOS or `Ctrl+Shift+3` on Windows for part of it, `⌘⇧W` on macOS or `Ctrl+Shift+W` on Windows for one window.
2. In the editor, press **C**.
3. Click on the first thing the reader should do. A **1** appears.
4. Click on the next one. It's a **2**. Keep going; the count goes up by itself.
5. Switch tools when you're done, or press **A** and add an arrow where a number alone isn't clear enough.

*Click, click, click: the counter numbers each step for you.*

What you can tweak, from the tool options:

- **Style**: **Sticker** (a filled circle with a shadow, the default and the most visible on a busy screenshot), **Filled**, or **Open** (an outline).
- **Color**: any color. The number inside picks its own color for contrast, so a black counter gets a white number and a white one gets a black number.
- **Size**: 10 to 999 px across.
- **Shadow**: on or off.

Each counter is one object, number and circle together, so you drag it in one move. And everything stays editable: the capture is saved as a `.hypercapture` file, so you can reopen the tutorial next month and move step 3.

One honest catch: deleting a counter doesn't renumber the others. If you need to insert a step, delete the counters from that point on and click them back in order.

## Tips for tutorial screenshots

- **Number actions, not things.** A number means "do this, in this order." For pointing out parts that have no order, a label with the [Text tool](/docs/hypershot/tools/text/) reads better.
- **Keep it under seven or so.** Past that, split it into two screenshots. One per stage of the task is easier to follow than one crowded image.
- **Same size, same color.** Consistent counters read as a sequence. Mixed sizes read as importance.
- **Match the numbers in your text.** "1. Open Settings, 2. Choose Account, 3. Click Save" under the image lets someone follow along without squinting.
- **Spotlight the area if the screen is busy.** The [Spotlight tool](/docs/hypershot/tools/spotlight/) (**S**) dims everything outside the region the steps happen in. More on that in [how to highlight part of a screenshot](/blog/highlight-part-of-screenshot/).

For the rest of the annotation set (arrows, highlights, redaction), see [how to annotate a screenshot](/blog/annotate-a-screenshot/). If the numbered steps are reproduction steps for a bug, [how to write a bug report that gets fixed](/blog/bug-report-that-gets-fixed/) covers what else to include.

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From https://hypernuclear.com/blog/numbered-steps-on-screenshot/