Guide
Switch from ShareX to Aktar
ShareX is a capable Windows tool, and many people use it to upload to their own Amazon S3, Cloudflare R2 or Backblaze B2 bucket. Aktar does that upload part, on Windows and also on the Mac, iPhone, iPad and Android. Import from ShareX reads ShareX's settings and turns its uploaders into Aktar destinations, so your bucket, your domain and the links you've already shared stay as they are.
Who this is for
You upload to your own bucket
Your ShareX uploads go to Amazon S3, Cloudflare R2, Backblaze B2 or another S3-compatible service, often behind your own domain. Aktar keeps that setup: the files stay where they are and so do their links.
You want it on more than Windows
ShareX runs on Windows. Aktar runs on Windows, the Mac, iPhone, iPad and Android, plus a CLI, Raycast and Obsidian, all uploading to the same bucket.
You mostly need the link
A shortcut, a file on your clipboard, a link back. Aktar is built around that one step: any file type, not only screenshots.
What carries over
Import from ShareX reads ShareX's uploader settings (UploadersConfig.json), and on Windows its upload history too. Before anything is saved, it shows what it found, with a checkbox for each item.
| On Windows | On the Mac | |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon S3 uploader | Becomes a destination, with the provider picked from the endpoint: Amazon S3, Cloudflare R2, Backblaze B2, DigitalOcean Spaces or any other S3-compatible service | The same |
| Backblaze B2 uploader | Becomes a Backblaze B2 destination. Aktar asks Backblaze for the bucket's S3 endpoint with your key | The same, once you've typed in the key. If the endpoint can't be found, the review asks for it |
| Secret keys | Read from ShareX's settings | Typed in: ShareX encrypts them with Windows' own data protection, which only that Windows account can unlock |
| Path (object prefix) | Converted: %y, %mo, %d, %guid and the random tokens have Aktar equivalents. Anything else falls back to Aktar's default path, and the review says what was dropped | The same |
| Custom domain | Becomes the Public Base URL, so new links look like the old ones | The same |
| URL shorteners (custom uploaders) | Imported as short link settings for a destination you pick, as with a .sxcu file | The same |
| Upload history | Uploads to the buckets you import appear in Aktar's history, with their original links | Not imported: ShareX's history stays on the PC |
Skipped, with the reason shown: FTP and SFTP, Imgur, Google Drive, Dropbox and other hosts, custom uploaders that upload files to an HTTP endpoint, and history entries from those. Hotkeys, workflows and after-capture tasks don't carry over either: Aktar has its own shortcuts, set up once.
What's different
Aktar is an uploader, not a capture and annotation suite. For screenshots it opens the system's own tool: on Windows, the snipping bar that Win+Shift+S opens; on the Mac, macOS's screenshot tool, where you select an area or press Space to pick a window. The screenshot is uploaded and its link copied. There's no editor, no effects and no screen recorder.
It only uploads to storage you own. Amazon S3, Cloudflare R2, Backblaze B2, DigitalOcean Spaces, MinIO and any other S3-compatible service. There's no Aktar server and no account: your keys stay in Windows Credential Manager or the macOS Keychain, and every link points at your bucket or your domain.
Any file is an upload. A file or an image on the clipboard, copied text, a file dropped on Aktar, a watched folder. The link is copied as soon as Aktar knows where the file goes, before the upload is done, and an upload without a connection waits instead of failing.
Switch on Windows
- 1
Install Aktar
Get it from the Microsoft Store, or as
Aktar-Setup.exefrom GitHub (how the two differ). ShareX can stay installed: the import only reads its files and changes nothing there. - 2
Open Import from ShareX
In Aktar's Settings, open Destinations and choose Import from ShareX. If you have no destination yet, Aktar also offers it in the panel the first time it starts.
Aktar finds ShareX's settings on its own: in
Documents\ShareX, in a folder you picked in ShareX, or next to a portable ShareX. If they're somewhere else, choose theUploadersConfig.jsonfile, or a ShareX backup (.sxb). - 3
Review what was found
Each uploader is listed with its provider, bucket, public address and path, checked by default. URL shorteners, the number of history entries and anything skipped are listed too, each with its reason. A destination that's already in Aktar, with the same endpoint, bucket and key, is left out, so running the import twice is harmless.
- 4
Import
Aktar saves the destinations, puts the keys in Windows Credential Manager and runs Test Connection on each one right away, so you know at once if one needs a look. The first one becomes your default destination if you didn't have one.
- 5
Set your shortcuts
In Settings › General › Keyboard shortcuts, give Capture and upload and Paste & upload from anywhere the keys you're used to, and if you like, the ones that paste the link where you're typing. If ShareX keeps running, change or turn off its hotkeys first, so the two apps don't both answer the same keys.
- 6
Check your history
Your ShareX uploads to the imported buckets are now in Aktar's history, with the links you shared. Nothing in the bucket was moved or renamed.
Switch on the Mac
- 1
Copy ShareX's settings from your PC
On the PC, copy
UploadersConfig.jsonfrom ShareX's folder (usuallyDocuments\ShareX) to your Mac, or a ShareX backup (.sxb) that contains it. - 2
Install Aktar for Mac
Download Aktar or install it with Homebrew. It lives in the menu bar.
- 3
Open Import from ShareX
In Aktar's Settings, open Destinations, choose Import from ShareX… and pick the file.
- 4
Add the secret keys
The review shows what was found, as on Windows. ShareX encrypted the secret keys for your Windows account, so the Mac can't read them: paste each one from your provider's dashboard. Or, if you have the PC at hand, import on Windows and choose Share to Another Device there: your Mac scans a QR code and gets the destination with its keys.
- 5
Import and set your shortcuts
Aktar saves the destinations, puts the keys in the Keychain and runs Test Connection on each one. Then give Capture and upload and Paste & upload from anywhere a shortcut in Settings › General › Keyboard shortcuts. The first capture asks for Screen Recording, which macOS's screenshot tool needs.
On your iPhone, iPad or Android phone
There's no ShareX on phones to import from, and you don't need it: once a destination is on your Mac or PC, choose Share to Another Device on it, and scan the QR code with Import from Another Device in the Aktar app. The destination arrives with its keys, encrypted with a one-time transfer code.
ShareX's fields in Aktar
To set a destination up by hand, open ShareX's Amazon S3 settings next to Aktar's Add Destination form and copy the values across. Pick the provider first: Cloudflare R2 asks for the account ID, the first part of the endpoint's address. The setup guides cover each provider.
| ShareX (Amazon S3) | Aktar |
|---|---|
| Access key ID | Access Key ID |
| Secret access key | Secret Access Key |
| Endpoint | Endpoint (for Cloudflare R2: Account ID, from <account-id>.r2.cloudflarestorage.com) |
| Region | Region (auto for Cloudflare R2) |
| Bucket name | Bucket |
| Use custom domain | Public Base URL, for example files.example.com. Without a custom domain, ShareX's links use the endpoint and the bucket name; put the same address here |
Object prefix, for example ShareX/%y/%mo | Object Path: ShareX/{year}/{month}/{filename}.{ext}. %d is {day} and %guid is {uuid} |
| Use path style request | The MinIO provider, which uses path-style addresses |
| Storage class, public-read ACL | Not used. Make the files readable with the bucket's own settings, or keep the bucket private and copy temporary links |
ShareX features in Aktar
| In ShareX | In Aktar |
|---|---|
| Capture region and upload | Capture and upload: the system's screenshot tool, then the link |
| Upload from clipboard | Paste & upload from anywhere: files, images, copied text and links to files |
| Copy URL to clipboard after upload | Always on, and the link is copied before the upload is done |
| Watch folder | Watched folders, each with its own destination, path and rules |
| URL shorteners | Short links: Shlink, YOURLS, Kutt, Dub, Short.io, your own HTTP API or a .sxcu file, or short paths on your own domain |
| History | History, plus a browser for everything in the bucket, with thumbnails |
| After upload tasks | After Upload: a webhook or a script per destination; Use For sends each kind of file to its own destination |
| QR code | A QR code for any link |
| Image effects, watermarks | None. Image processing makes photos lighter and removes their location |
| Image editor and annotations | None. Mark up in the system's screenshot tool or your editor first |
| Screen recording and GIF | None. Record with the system's tool and let a watched folder upload the file |
| FTP, Imgur, Google Drive, Dropbox and other hosts | S3-compatible storage only |
What Aktar doesn't do
- It doesn't capture the screen on its own: it opens the system's screenshot tool, and has no scrolling capture.
- No image editor: no annotations, arrows, blur, effects or watermarks.
- No screen recording and no GIFs.
- No OCR, color picker, ruler or other screen tools.
- No FTP, SFTP, Imgur, Google Drive, Dropbox or custom uploaders that upload files to an HTTP endpoint: only S3-compatible storage.
- Import from ShareX doesn't bring hotkeys, workflows, after-capture tasks or image settings.
- On the Mac, the import can't read ShareX's encrypted keys or its history.
Questions
Do my existing ShareX links keep working?
Yes. They point at your bucket or your domain, not at ShareX or Aktar, and Aktar doesn't move, rename or delete anything in the bucket. On Windows, imported history entries keep their original links.
Can I keep using ShareX?
Yes. The import only reads ShareX's files and changes nothing in ShareX, and both apps can upload to the same bucket. Just don't give them the same shortcuts.
Where do my keys go?
Into Windows Credential Manager or the macOS Keychain, and from there only to your storage provider. Aktar has no server and no account. For a Backblaze B2 uploader, Aktar asks Backblaze's own API, with your key, which S3 endpoint the bucket uses.
What does it cost?
Aktar is free and open source. You pay your storage provider as you do now. Cloudflare R2's free tier covers 10 GB with no egress fees.