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iammukeshm/hexgrab

A tiny Windows color picker: press Win+Shift+H, click any on-screen pixel, and its HEX code is copied to the clipboard.

Open-source alternative to:PowerToys Color Picker

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Last commit
26 days ago

What is it?

hexgrab is a small color picker for Windows, written in C# on .NET 10 and WPF with no NuGet dependencies. Pressing Win+Shift+H starts picking: a label follows the cursor and shows the color under it, and a click or Enter copies the HEX value to the clipboard, while Esc or a right click cancels.

The project was built as a learning exercise. The author used REA (Reverse Engineer Anything) to study the shipped binaries of Microsoft PowerToys' Color Picker, then wrote an independent minimal implementation and checked the findings against PowerToys' public source. The codebase is under 750 lines including comments, and the repository includes an end-to-end PowerShell test that drives the real hotkey, clicks and keys.

The app uses low-level mouse and keyboard hooks that are installed only while picking, and it polls the screen at the display refresh rate so colors update even when the cursor is still. It currently supports HEX output only and has been tested on a single monitor at 125% scale.

Key features

  • 01Global hotkey Win+Shift+H starts picking from anywhere.
  • 02Live color preview follows the cursor and flips near monitor edges.
  • 03Copies the HEX value to the clipboard and retries if the clipboard is busy.
  • 04Per-Monitor V2 DPI awareness for physical-pixel accuracy.
  • 05Ships as a self-contained exe or a small build that needs the .NET 10 Desktop Runtime.

Use cases

  • Grabbing a brand or UI color from any on-screen element.
  • Checking the exact HEX value of a pixel in a video or animation frame.
  • Quickly sampling colors while designing or reviewing interfaces on Windows.

Quick start

  1. 1

    Build and run from source (needs .NET 10 SDK on Windows)

    dotnet run --project src/Hexgrab/Hexgrab.csproj
  2. 2

    Download an exe from the latest release page

Things to know

  • Windows 10 or 11 only, x64.
  • The release exe is not code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen will warn on first run.
  • Multi-monitor setups with mixed scale factors are not yet tested on real hardware.
  • HEX output only; no RGB/HSL formats, history or settings.

In collections

Windows apps and utilitiesDesktop GUI apps & toolkits

Topics

#color-picker#windows#csharp#dotnet#wpf#desktop-app#rea#reverse-engineering

FAQ

What is hexgrab?
A tiny Windows color picker: press Win+Shift+H, click any on-screen pixel, and its HEX code is copied to the clipboard. hexgrab is a small color picker for Windows, written in C# on .NET 10 and WPF with no NuGet dependencies. Pressing Win+Shift+H starts picking: a label follows the cursor and shows the color under it, and a click or Enter copies the HEX value to the clipboard, while Esc or a right click cancels.
Is hexgrab free to use? What license does it have?
hexgrab is open source under the MIT license. Check the license terms before using it in commercial products.
Is hexgrab still maintained?
Actively maintained. The last commit to hexgrab was on Oct 12, 2026.
What can I use hexgrab for?
Grabbing a brand or UI color from any on-screen element. Checking the exact HEX value of a pixel in a video or animation frame. Quickly sampling colors while designing or reviewing interfaces on Windows.
How do I install hexgrab?
Build and run from source (needs .NET 10 SDK on Windows): dotnet run --project src/Hexgrab/Hexgrab.csproj Download an exe from the latest release page
Where can I get hexgrab?
The source code and installation instructions are on GitHub: https://github.com/iammukeshm/hexgrab

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