I Thought ChatGPT Was Hijacking My Alt Key
I was working on my computer when I pressed Alt. A screenshot appeared, ChatGPT opened, and the image showed up in a new chat.
My first thought was that I’d accidentally turned on some keyboard shortcut. Then I wondered if something was wrong with my keyboard. It turned out to be a ChatGPT feature I hadn’t known about.
It’s called Appshots. On Windows, pressing both Alt keys at the same time (or even just one key) captures the frontmost app and opens the screenshot in ChatGPT. The image can include available text from the window too, including text outside the visible area. The idea is to give ChatGPT context about what you’re looking at so you can ask for help. You can read more about it in OpenAI’s Appshots guide.
That’s useful when you mean to do it. When you don’t, it feels like your computer just took a screenshot and sent it somewhere on its own.
Why it opened a new chat
Appshots attaches the capture to a ChatGPT conversation. By default, it starts a new chat unless you’ve interacted with another chat recently. You can change that destination in the same settings area. OpenAI explains how Appshots destinations work.
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So if ChatGPT suddenly opens with a screenshot attached, it may not be a system problem or a keyboard malfunction. You may have pressed both Alt keys together without realizing it.
How to turn it off
In the ChatGPT desktop app:
- Open Settings.
- Select Appshots under Integrations.
- Under Hotkey, choose None.
That removes the shortcut. If you still want to use Appshots, choose a different hotkey that you’re less likely to press by accident.
The setting is easy to miss because the shortcut uses keys most of us already press without thinking. But once you know where it comes from, you can decide whether you want to keep it or ditch it.
Hope this helps!
