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Run as service

Shutter is designed as an interactive application which normally runs in the background of a user session rather than as a service. Services differ from normal applications from the programming point of view and have to be developed differently. However, it is still possible to run Shutter as a service using specialized tools listed below.

Running Shutter as a service is not officially supported, and there are various known limitations to functionality, including certain events and actions failing to work, e.g. Lock workstation, Alarm, Screenshot, and several other features.

Third party tools

Some third party tools can facilitate the running of any application as a service:

You can find more options online, for example: https://alternativeto.net/feature/run-program-as-service/

Windows Resource Kit

Windows Resource Kit provides two utilities that allow you to create a user-defined service for Windows applications. Instrsrv.exe installs and removes system services and Srvany.exe allows any application to run as a service.

See the official article on how to create a user-defined service: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-client/setup-upgrade-and-drivers/create-user-defined-service

This method is not recommended for novice users.