Very disturbing! Check your Chrome extensions.
1 Like
âIf youâre not paying for the product, you are the productâ . This VPN also has a premium (paid) version, I wonder if the premium version also creates and sends screenshots.
1 Like
Good question @Olobambolo! Also, I wonder what is the purpose of taking these screenshots? Was it a âsecurityâ feature they added that was supposed to help that went wrong, or was it done for some malicious purpose?
These free VPNs are definitely scary because what you say is true, people donât realize that they are the âproductâ.
Didnât you guys plan to add a feature that would block installation of extensions? Also, where are the other new features? I would still like to see protection against code injection and a network monitor/firewall.
1 Like
Yes, we want to add the ability to know about browser extensions being installed. In the case of the article I posted though, I think people installed this VPN on purpose and it wasnât a secret install.
Thanks for your feedback on code injection and network monitoring also.
OK I see, so the extension monitor would try to monitor secret installs. But to be fair, I wouldnât know how to implement such a feature, and not a lot of security tools are focused on this.
And I forgot that I also requested an ââout of the boxââ protection feature against infostealers. So basically, you guys could make a list of files/folders that are often targeted by infostealers. And access to these file/folders should only be allowed for trusted processes.
And another question, is the registry protection feature still active? Because I still see it being mentioned on your website, but I saw other people complain that this module had been removed, or am I misunderstanding?
BTW, now that I think about it, is there a way to block extensions from using certain browser APIs? So could SpyShelter then block the browser from making screenshots?
Nope⌠not in Windows 11 in any way I am aware of thatâs reliable and couldnât be easily disabled/broken in the future. We also wanted to do this but it seems if we did so any Windows update could disable our work instantly, wasting our time, and upsetting everyone who depended on our software. Therefore we use the system we use for screenshot protection that is reasonably reliable and is unlikely to be broken with Windows updates.
Hi,
we need to whait the abandon of hypervisor technology of intel,
cause it cost to high
after this,
microsoft will be condamn to abandon memory integrity or be bypassed
because memory intergity will not work anymore.
and all developper will have access to the kernel again
for the best and for the worst,
as always haha.
1 Like
To clarify, I wondered if it was possible to monitor browser APIs, so this is separate from the standard anti-screenshot (for all apps) function that you guys already offer.
For example, SpyShelter 12 was able to monitor/block keylogging via extensions in Firefox. And you forgot to answer my question about the registry monitor. 
Hello,
on Google Chrome itâs possible to block screen capture through Group Policy Editor or editing the Registry https://www.thewindowsclub.com/how-to-allow-or-block-screen-capture-on-google-chrome
I havenât tested it because sometimes I need to capture screenshot on this browser. As far as I know Google Chrome doesnât have a native screenshot capture feature like Firefox or Microsoft Edge so I must use a dedicate extension. I donât know if the solution on The Windows Club website blocks screenshot capture from this extension or others similar ones.
About Registry editor method (Step 4) the correct key is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE> SOFTWARE> POLICIES
ScreenCaptureAllowed key (step 10) have to keep it at zero value to disable screen capture on Chrome
1 Like
I just tested the Registry edit method and restarted the computer but unfortunately it doesnât work like I expected because the extension I use to capture Google Chrome screenshots still works.
Maybe the method works only when some websites use the getDisplayMedia() or the Desktop Capture extension API to capture the screen as it is written at the beginning of The Windows Club webpage.
Iâve just found another similar article Stop Google Chrome from Capturing My Screen [Solvedâ
]
1 Like
Have you seen that alert from Windows or Chrome on Windows about âChrome is capturing your screenâ? I have never seen that, and the article you linked to referred to Mac. Does it mean Chrome is capturing the screen for Windows users also, but we as Windows users are not even aware of it? I have never heard of Chrome just randomly capturing the screen? Itâs probably only related to a bad extension, like in the article I posted?
I have Windows 11 and I never got that notification but the article Stop Google Chrome from Capturing My Screen [Solvedâ ] also refers to Windows 10/11 users because itâs written:
Stop Google Chrome from Capturing My Screen
For Windows 10/11 users, Registry Editor is the easiest solution to stop Google Chrome from capturing your screen. Itâs because you donât need any third-party installation for Google Chrome for processing.
However the article doesnât explain what triggers the screen capture but anyway a notification popup should warn the user that the screen capture is occurring at that moment.
Furthermore Iâve found this article from Google Support webpage Google Chrome keeps capturing my screen - WHY? - Google Chrome Community
Also a Reddit post about Google Chrome on MacOS https://www.reddit.com/r/chrome/comments/15ltsej/how_to_disable_chrome_from_capturing_your_screen/
Lastly Iâve just found a recent article (Jun. 5, 2025) which explain the possible reasons of this behavior on MacOS Fix Google Chrome Screen Capture Alert: Effective Solutions.
Anyway to get back to the original thread title it seems like there is no way to prevent a browser extension from taking a screenshot of the browser screen.
I was hoping that the registry editing might work for this purpose but it didnât work because the Google Chrome extension I use to capture the browser screen still works without issues.
Probably only a software that monitors browser APIs, like user RasheedHolland explained in a previous post, could do that.
Iâm not 100% sure of this but from the image posted on Reddit the notification seems to come from MacOS, not from Google Chrome itself. Anyway both articles explaining the 2 methods (Group Policy Editor or Registry editing) to block screen capture on Google Chrome refers also to Windows 10/11 users but I donât know if Windows OS shows a similar notification. As I wrote before Iâve Windows 11 and I never seen it, maybe because on my system Google Chrome never was capturing its screen.
However, just for added security, Iâve edited the Windows 11 registry like explained on both websites. It doesnât work vs. Google Chrome extensions but it should prevent Google Chrome from capturing its screen for other reasons, I hope.
Wow, thatâs very disturbing if Chrome on Windows could begin recording your screen and there is no notification about it. I will look at making those Group Policy Editor/Registry changes ASAP. Or, avoid Chrome.
OK thanks for the info, didnât know about this registry setting, but apparently it doesnât really block screenshots. Also, since the developer wonât answer my question, is the registry monitor still present in SS 15, or has it been removed? 
Hello,
I think it was removed and not restored. The changelog SpyShelter Change List â SpyShelter Help mentions only the registry protection removal on version 15.3.0.898 (12/Mar/2025) and in subsequent updates it wasnât restored.
However the webpage How to protect the Windows Registry from malware still mentions SpyShelter registry protection so itâs not entirely clear. 
I hoped it could block screenshots in Google Chrome but unfortunately it didnât. I edited the Windows 11 registry in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome
After that I rebooted the PC but I can still take Google Chrome screenshots without issues, both with the screenshot extension I currently use, the Print key or a external app for taking screenshots (Greenshot) so itâs not clear what the registry edit really does.
1 Like
By typing chrome://policy in Google Chrome address bar shows the active policies
Here it is the explanation of ScreenCaptureAllowed policy Chrome Enterprise Policy List & Management | Documentation
Microsoft Edge too has a similar policy Microsoft Edge Browser Policy Documentation ScreenCaptureAllowed | Microsoft Learn
The explanation is a bit too technical for me, though