A screenshot caption has about half a second to land. Treat it like a headline, not a sentence. These rules keep captions working at the size and speed people actually read them.
Lead with the benefit, not the feature
People install outcomes, not mechanisms. "Track every account in one place" beats "Multi-account dashboard." Say what the person gets, and let the screen behind it show how.
Cut every word that is not pulling weight
- Drop articles and filler where the meaning survives without them.
- One idea per caption; if there are two, you have two captions.
- Front-load the strongest word so it lands even if the rest is skimmed.
Make it legible before you make it clever
A witty line that no one can read at thumbnail size converts worse than a plain one they can. Set type large, keep high contrast against the background, and test how it looks small before you fall in love with it.
Edit captions in a live canvas and preview them at real device sizes. Start free.