MacOS Python Window Capture Methods | Generated by AI

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Good question 👍 — pygetwindow is a lightweight wrapper, but there are several other Python libraries you can use on macOS to get the active window geometry for screenshots:

1. PyObjC + Quartz (native macOS API)

This is the most direct and reliable way on macOS, since Quartz gives you window info at the system level. Example:

python3 -m pip install pyobjc

import Quartz
from PIL import ImageGrab

# Get active window bounds
window_info = Quartz.CGWindowListCopyWindowInfo(
    Quartz.kCGWindowListOptionOnScreenOnly, Quartz.kCGNullWindowID
)

active_app = Quartz.CGWindowListCopyWindowInfo(
    Quartz.kCGWindowListOptionOnScreenOnly | Quartz.kCGWindowListOptionOnScreenAbove,
    Quartz.kCGNullWindowID,
)

if active_app:
    bounds = active_app[0]['kCGWindowBounds']
    x, y = int(bounds['X']), int(bounds['Y'])
    w, h = int(bounds['Width']), int(bounds['Height'])
    img = ImageGrab.grab(bbox=(x, y, x + w, y + h))
    img.save("active-window.png")
    print(f"Saved active-window.png size={img.size}")

This avoids depending on pygetwindow and talks directly to CoreGraphics.

2. AppKit (via PyObjC)

Also from PyObjC, but through AppKit:

from AppKit import NSWorkspace

ws = NSWorkspace.sharedWorkspace()
active_app = ws.frontmostApplication()
print("Active App:", active_app.localizedName())

You’d still need Quartz for coordinates, but AppKit gives you the foreground process more cleanly.

3. PyWinCtl

Cross-platform replacement for pygetwindow (Windows, macOS, Linux):

python3 -m pip install pywinctl

import pywinctl
from PIL import ImageGrab

active = pywinctl.getActiveWindow()
if active:
    x, y, w, h = active.left, active.top, active.width, active.height
    img = ImageGrab.grab(bbox=(x, y, x + w, y + h))
    img.save("active-window.png")
    print("Saved active-window.png")

This is probably the closest “drop-in” alternative to pygetwindow, but with more consistent macOS support.

4. PyAutoGUI

While PyAutoGUI itself doesn’t provide window handles, you can capture the full screen or define a region manually once you know coordinates (from Quartz/AppKit).

✅ If you want a pure cross-platform replacement for pygetwindow: use pywinctl. ✅ If you want native macOS precision and more control: use PyObjC + Quartz.

Do you want me to show you a ready-to-use script that only depends on PyObjC (Quartz) (no third-party wrappers), so you can ditch pygetwindow entirely?

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