Chrome’s Privacy Update Hides PiP Videos from Screenshots
Readers help support Windows Report. We may get a commission if you buy through our links.
Read our disclosure page to find out how can you help Windows Report sustain the editorial team. Read more
Google is testing out a new feature in Chrome that excludes Picture-in-Picture (PiP) windows from browser-based screen captures.
Put simply, if you take a screenshot or record your screen using Chrome’s built-in tools, such as the screenshot feature or compatible third-party extensions, videos playing in a floating PiP window won’t show up in the capture. There’s a new experimental flag for this, which is off by default for now.
Why now? It could be a coincidence, but Microsoft’s Windows 11 Recall feature, which automatically takes screenshots in the background, has been dominating tech headlines and recently sparked controversy after being caught screenshotting passwords and credit card info.
Chrome’s Privacy Update Hides PiP Videos from Screenshots
For anyone interested in trying the feature early, Google has added a new flag to Chrome.
It’s called “Exclude Picture-in-Picture windows from screen capture,” and will show up in chrome://flags in the Canary version of Chrome a few days after the code change goes live.
The official description:
“When enabled, Picture-in-Picture windows will be excluded from screen captures.”
When this flag is turned on, PiP overlays won’t appear in screenshots taken by Chrome’s native screenshot tools or compatible extensions.
Multiple privacy-focused apps and browsers, including Signal, Brave, and AdGuard, now block Windows Recall from capturing their windows by default. Microsoft is also updating Recall to provide users with more options to block private content. Google’s new privacy feature in Chrome fits right into this trend.
The main thing Is That Screenshots are useful, but people want to decide what gets saved. Maybe you don’t want a private video call or personal video in a screenshot you send at work.
Both Google and Microsoft are making these changes because people want more control and fewer privacy slip-ups. Expect more tools like this as tech companies respond to calls for stronger privacy protections.
That’s not all. Chrome is also testing an automated Passkeys upgrade, a rollback option for tracking protection, and Gemini AI price estimation during Buy Now Pay Later payments.
