Ubuntu 26.04 Dual Monitors: Flameshot Only Captures the Secondary Screen? Upgrade to 14.0 to Fix Wayland Screenshots

In June of this year, I wrote an article about screenshot solutions for Ubuntu 26.04: “Bidding Farewell to WeChat Window Restrictions: Binding Global Alt+A for Screenshots with Flameshot on Ubuntu 26.04”.

At that time, I was primarily solving a pain point with the Linux WeChat screenshot shortcut: Alt+A only works when the WeChat window is on top and has focus.

To be able to take screenshots directly from any window, I later switched to Flameshot and set Alt+A as the system-wide global screenshot shortcut.

I have been using this setup ever since, but it always left a rather serious issue in a dual-monitor environment:

Flameshot could basically only take screenshots normally on the secondary monitor; the primary monitor was never usable.

I had actually wanted to fix this issue for a long time, but just never found the time. Since taking screenshots is a fundamental feature I use very frequently every day, today I finally decided to dedicate time to thoroughly resolve it.

The final solution was:

Uninstall Flameshot 13.3.0 from the Ubuntu software repositories and switch to Flameshot 14.0.0 provided by Flathub / Flatpak.

After continuous testing, the primary monitor, secondary monitor, and the Alt+A global shortcut can all now work stably.

1. Issue: Only able to capture the secondary monitor in a dual-monitor setup

My current environment is:

• Ubuntu 26.04
• GNOME
• Wayland
• Dual monitors
• Original Flameshot version: 13.3.0
• Global screenshot shortcut: Alt+A

During actual long-term use, Flameshot could basically take screenshots normally on the secondary monitor, but the primary monitor always had issues.

Sometimes it would prompt:

Flameshot lost screen focus. You need to click the screen once to use keyboard shortcuts normally.

And during further troubleshooting today, the primary monitor also showed:

Flameshot Error
Unable to capture screen

This meant the problem was no longer simply a “shortcut occasionally failing,” but rather that Flameshot’s screenshot handling of different monitors was inherently unstable in the current Wayland + dual-monitor environment.

Since taking screenshots is a feature I use frequently every day, if I can only rely on the secondary monitor, then no matter how powerful the software itself is, it is hard to call it truly usable.

Therefore, this time I decided not to work around it anymore, but to solve it completely.

2. During today’s troubleshooting, the primary monitor briefly recovered, but was unstable

When I first started troubleshooting today, I tried many approaches, including:

• Forcing Flameshot to run via XWayland / XCB;
• Switching back to native Wayland;
• Restarting Flameshot;
• Restarting xdg-desktop-portal;
• Resetting GNOME’s saved screenshot permissions;
• Checking the Qt Wayland backend actually loaded by Flameshot;
• Triggering the screenshot from the tray icon.

During this process, a phenomenon occurred that could easily mislead judgment:

The primary monitor could suddenly take screenshots normally for a while.

But this was not the normal state during my previous long-term use.

I am more inclined to believe that this was because certain environment switches, process restarts, or portal-related commands executed that day temporarily changed Flameshot’s running state.

Because after continuing to test, the primary monitor soon became abnormal again, sometimes even directly prompting “Unable to capture screen”.

So this state of “occasionally recovering once” obviously cannot be considered a solution.

For a high-frequency tool like screenshotting, what I need is not:

Occasionally working.

But rather:

Being able to take stable screenshots every time the shortcut is pressed.

Therefore, I did not continue messing around with these temporary workarounds later on, but started checking Flameshot’s version itself.

3. Ubuntu 26.04 repositories still only have Flameshot 13.3.0

First, check the currently installed version:

flameshot --version

flameshot --version

I was using:

Flameshot v13.3.0

Flameshot v13.3.0

Further execute:

apt policy flameshot

apt policy flameshot

You can see:

Installed: 13.3.0+git20251204-1
Candidate: 13.3.0+git20251204-1

Installed: 13.3.0+git20251204-1
Candidate: 13.3.0+git20251204-1

That is to say, Flameshot in the current Ubuntu 26.04 repositories is still stuck at 13.3.0.

Even if you execute:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

It cannot be directly upgraded to Flameshot 14.0.

At this point, the problem was quite clear:

Continuing to use the APT installation method, at least currently, cannot get Flameshot 14.0.

And Flameshot 14.0 has made significant adjustments to the multi-monitor screenshot process, so I decided to prioritize testing the new version instead of continuing to patch the current 13.3.0.

4. Testing Flameshot 14.0 first: Dual monitors finally recognized correctly

To minimize impact on the existing installation at first, I temporarily tested the Flameshot 14.0 AppImage.

After launching it, during the first screenshot, Ubuntu normally popped up a screen capture permission request.

After allowing it, Flameshot 14.0 showed an interface noticeably different from the old version:

It could correctly identify my two monitors:

• Monitor 1: HDMI-2: External monitor
• Monitor 2: eDP-1: ThinkPad built-in screen

The screenshot process also became:

Trigger screenshot → Select monitor → Frame screenshot area

Although there was an extra step of selecting a monitor compared to before, at least the dual monitors were finally explicitly distinguished.

And:

The primary monitor could finally take screenshots normally.

This step basically proved that the direction of upgrading to Flameshot 14.0 was correct.

However, AppImage ultimately did not become my official solution.

5. Why I didn’t continue using AppImage

AppImage 14.0 performed very well during the first test:

• Could launch;
• Could request screenshot permissions normally;
• Could identify both monitors;
• Could take screenshots on both the primary and secondary monitors.

But after continuing to run it, quite a few compatibility errors started appearing in the terminal, such as:

Failed to load libssl/libcrypto
Failed to load module: libgvfsdbus.so
TLS initialization failed

Failed to load libssl/libcrypto
Failed to load module: libgvfsdbus.so
TLS initialization failed

Subsequently, process anomalies occurred, and Ubuntu’s Apport also started intervening to collect crash information.

In other words, although AppImage successfully proved:

Flameshot 14.0 can indeed solve my dual-monitor screenshot problem.

It itself brought new compatibility and stability issues to my Ubuntu 26.04 environment.

And my goal in handling this screenshot issue this time was originally to get a long-term stable solution that can be used directly every day.

So AppImage was ultimately ruled out.

6. Installing the Flathub / Flatpak version via GNOME Software

I had previously installed and configured GNOME Software, Flatpak, and Flathub in “Ubuntu 26.04 Software Installation and Maintenance Best Practices: Taking WeChat as an Example”.

Therefore, this time I didn’t need to install Flameshot through a long string of terminal commands; I could just use the graphical interface to complete it.

Here I will also briefly explain a few easily confused concepts:

• GNOME Software: A software management application;
• Flatpak: A Linux application distribution and runtime method;
• Flathub: The main software repository providing Flatpak applications.

They are not the same thing.

Search in GNOME Software for:

Flameshot

Flameshot

After entering the details page, clicking the software source in the upper right corner shows that the same Flameshot has multiple sources.

These include:

• Flathub / Flatpak
• Ubuntu / DEB
• Ubuntu / Snap

I was originally using:

Ubuntu / DEB

Which is the Flameshot 13.3.0 confirmed earlier.

7. Uninstall the old version first, then install the Flathub version

Theoretically, DEB and Flatpak can coexist.

But screenshot software is a rather special type of application, involving:

• Global shortcuts;
• Screenshot permissions;
• D-Bus;
• Tray icon;
• Background process.

If two sets of Flameshot run in the system at the same time, it will instead easily increase troubleshooting complexity.

And since Ubuntu itself has a built-in screenshot tool that can serve as a temporary backup, this time I did not choose coexistence, but rather directly uninstalled the old Ubuntu / DEB version first.

Then, in GNOME Software, I switched the software source to:

Flathub / Flatpak

Click “Install”.

After installation is complete, you can see that it has clearly switched to the Flathub version.

The actual installed version is:

Flameshot 14.0.0

Flameshot 14.0.0

8. Flatpak version passed continuous testing, ultimately decided to keep it

This part is actually the key to my final choice of Flatpak.

I didn’t choose it because:

“Flatpak can install 14.0, so I’ll use Flatpak.”

But rather, after actually testing different solutions, I finally found:

Ubuntu / APT version 13.3.0

Long-standing dual-monitor issues:

• Secondary monitor basically normal;
• Primary monitor unable to take stable screenshots;
• Occasionally recovering after temporary environment adjustments, but unable to maintain long-term.

AppImage version 14.0

Dual-monitor functionality has been restored:

• Primary monitor normal;
• Secondary monitor normal;
• Can correctly select monitors.

But subsequently appeared:

• Qt / SSL related compatibility errors;
• GVFS module loading anomalies;
• Process anomalies and crashes.

So it is not suitable as a daily solution.

Flathub / Flatpak version 14.0.0

After installation, I continuously tested:

• Primary monitor screenshot;
• Secondary monitor screenshot;
• Back to primary monitor screenshot;
• Multiple consecutive screenshots;
• Subsequently binding Alt+A;
• Continuously switching monitors for screenshots again.

All normal.

No more occurrences of:

• Primary monitor unable to capture;
• Only able to capture secondary monitor;
• Failing on the second screenshot;
• Those anomalous crashes from AppImage.

Therefore, what ultimately made me decide to use Flatpak was actually:

Flameshot 14.0’s dual-monitor support has resolved the issue, and the Flathub / Flatpak version performed the most stably in my Ubuntu 26.04 environment after continuous testing.

This is the main reason for finally choosing it as a long-term solution.

9. Dual-monitor screenshot method in Flameshot 14.0

After installation, every time a screenshot is triggered, Flameshot 14.0 will first show the monitor selection interface.

My two monitors are respectively:

• Monitor 1: HDMI-2
• Monitor 2: eDP-1

After selecting the target monitor, you then frame the area.

So the entire screenshot process is:

Alt+A → Select monitor → Frame area → Complete screenshot

It does have one extra step compared to Flameshot 13.

However, considering that the primary monitor was completely unusable before, I can fully accept this extra step.

And there is another benefit:

Before taking a screenshot, you can be very clear about which screen you are capturing.

10. Resetting the Alt+A global screenshot shortcut

Ever since I started using WeChat for screenshots, I had already gotten used to:

Alt+A

Alt+A

So after changing the Flameshot version, I still kept this shortcut.

Open:

Settings → Keyboard → View and Customize Shortcuts → Custom Shortcuts

Then edit “Flameshot screenshot”.

The final configuration is:

• Name: Flameshot 截图
• Command: flatpak run org.flameshot.Flameshot gui
• Shortcut: Alt+A

Compared to my article in June this year, the main thing that actually changed here is the “Command”.

The previously APT / DEB installed Flameshot used:

flameshot gui

flameshot gui

Now the Flatpak version is changed to:

flatpak run org.flameshot.Flameshot gui

flatpak run org.flameshot.Flameshot gui

After saving, press in any window:

Alt+A

Alt+A

to directly bring up Flameshot 14.0.

11. Continuous verification again

After configuring the shortcut, I didn’t just test it once, but continued to verify repeatedly.

The test sequence included:

Primary monitor → Secondary monitor → Primary monitor

I also tested pressing multiple times consecutively:

Alt+A

Alt+A

Every time, the dual-monitor selection interface could appear normally.

The final result:

• Primary monitor: Normal
• Secondary monitor: Normal
• Primary monitor → Secondary monitor: Normal
• Secondary monitor → Primary monitor: Normal
• Multiple consecutive screenshots: Normal
• Alt+A global shortcut: Normal

At this point, this long-standing dual-monitor screenshot issue is finally truly resolved.

12. Why the recommendation is different from the previous article this time

In that Flameshot screenshot article in June this year, I explicitly recommended:

Installing Flameshot natively via APT.

At that time, I specifically mentioned wanting to avoid Flatpak sandbox bringing screenshot permission issues under Wayland.

But this time, my final choice has exactly changed.

The current actual situation is:

• Ubuntu / APT still only has Flameshot 13.3.0;
• 13.3.0 has long-standing issues in my dual-monitor Wayland environment;
• Flameshot 14.0 has significantly improved multi-monitor screenshots;
• AppImage 14.0, although solving the dual-monitor issue, has poor stability;
• Flathub / Flatpak already provides 14.0.0;
• The Flatpak version can normally request screenshot permissions;
• The Flatpak version performs stably after continuous dual-monitor testing.

So this time, I ultimately chose the Flatpak version that I hadn’t prioritized recommending before.

This is not because Flatpak is necessarily better than APT in all circumstances, nor does it mean that the choice in the previous article was necessarily wrong.

Rather, as:

• Ubuntu version;
• Flameshot version;
• Wayland support;
• Flatpak packaging situation;

continue to change, the actually most suitable installation method may also change accordingly.

For this kind of desktop software, I am now more inclined to:

Not just look at the installation format, but see whether the current version can work stably in your actual environment.

The decisive factor that truly made me switch from APT to Flatpak this time is ultimately actual stability.

13. Final usage solution

My final screenshot environment is currently:

• OS: Ubuntu 26.04
• Desktop: GNOME
• Display protocol: Wayland
• Monitors: Dual screen
• Screenshot tool: Flameshot 14.0.0
• Installation source: Flathub
• Installation method: Flatpak
• Global shortcut: Alt+A
• Shortcut command:

flatpak run org.flameshot.Flameshot gui

flatpak run org.flameshot.Flameshot gui

Now, whether I am working on the primary or secondary monitor, whenever I need a screenshot:

Press Alt+A → Select monitor → Frame screenshot area

and it’s done.

Although there is an extra monitor selection step compared to before, at least I finally no longer need to specifically move content to the secondary monitor for screenshots, nor do I have to endure the issue of the primary monitor occasionally working and occasionally completely failing.

For someone like me who frequently needs to take screenshots, write blogs, and document issues, this is a truly long-term usable screenshot solution.

If you are also using Ubuntu 26.04, Wayland, and dual monitors, and Flameshot has:

• Only able to capture one of the screens;
• Primary monitor unable to capture;
• flameshot gui behaving abnormally;
• Only briefly recovering after adjustments;

You can first check if you are still using Flameshot 13.x.

At least in my environment, switching from the Ubuntu / DEB Flameshot 13.3.0 to the Flathub / Flatpak Flameshot 14.0.0 is currently the most stable solution after actual continuous testing.