What CrispGuard is
What is CrispGuard? How a screen privacy extension differs from a tool you switch on before you share
CrispGuard is an instant protective layer for the browser: one keystroke covers the keywords, images or page areas you would rather not show, and the rest of the page stays readable and clickable. “Instant” means you never enter a sharing mode first. “Layer” means it changes what is drawn, not the page.
What a page-level mask cannot stop — a system screenshot, a phone camera — is covered in the note on where the masking happens.
What does CrispGuard do, in one sentence and three actions?
It covers the part of a page you would rather not show, through three actions: a keyword, an image, an area. Each one draws a solid bar, a blur or a faint veil on top of the page, and none of them edits the page underneath.
Its own one-liner is “Hide what the person behind you shouldn’t read.” Three actions carry that out.
Keyword masking. Type a word and every occurrence on the page is covered at once — a solid bar, a colour or an emoji — in paragraphs, table cells, list items and input fields. Nothing is highlighted first: a word that appears twelve times is covered twelve times. Smart detection (PRO) extends the same action to phone numbers, emails, ID numbers, bank cards and amounts.
Image masking. Photos and thumbnails are replaced by a placeholder block, in seven styles. “By rule” mode (PRO) learns a class of images — pick one for an exact match, pick several and the common URL prefix is extracted — so the next page in the same gallery arrives covered.
Area masking. Drag a rectangle over any part of a page and blur it, mosaic it, fill it with a solid colour or hide it completely; the block stays where you put it while the page scrolls.
One rule sits under all three: CrispGuard will “change what is drawn on your screen, never the page itself”. Nothing is rewritten, so links still navigate, forms still submit, and uncovered text stays selectable. Spotlight, whole-page blur and a translucent veil apply the same rule to the viewport instead of to one element.
What does “instant” mean here — and how is it different from tools you switch on before sharing?
Instant does not describe speed. It means the mask needs no state: no sharing mode, no presentation mode, no preparation step. Protection is either already in place for a site or one keystroke away, while you keep working in the page.
Most screen-privacy habits are built around events: you are about to share, so you tidy the screen first. Instant belongs to the site, not to the occasion.
Protection that is already on. A domain can be set to open covered: its rules are applied as the page loads, so the first thing you see is the masked page, not one you have to fix. The free plan does this for one site; PRO removes the limit.
One keystroke, not one element at a time. The alternative is per-element work: click the field, confirm the blur, click the next field, and the effort grows with the number of things you hide. A keyword rule covers every occurrence of a word at once, and an area block covers a region rather than a list of elements, so the work scales with the page instead. That is a difference in the action, not a verdict: per-element control buys a per-element decision, which some documents need.
No interruption. The honest test is what happens when someone stops at your desk mid-task. You do not close the laptop or switch tabs; you press the shortcut, the amount is covered, and the sentence you were reading is still there.
How is a protective layer different from full-page blur, privacy films and pre-share tools?
The difference is scope and timing. A layer covers some of the content and leaves the rest usable, at the moment the screen is exposed. Whole-page blur, privacy films and pre-share checkers each trade something — usability, content choice or a preparation step — to buy their coverage.
The category exists because the exposure is ordinary: a 2026 survey in Spain found eight in ten people worried about someone reading their screen in public, and 66% had felt a stranger looking over their shoulder.
| Approach | What it does | What it doesn’t do | Best moment for it |
|---|---|---|---|
| CrispGuard — an instant protective layer | Covers the sensitive part of a page — keywords, images, areas — with an overlay, and leaves everything else readable and clickable; a site can open already covered | Does not encrypt the screen, stop a system screenshot or a recording, or replace a security product | The screen may be read by someone standing beside you, and you still need to use the page to get work done. |
| Pre-share checkers (ContextBlur and similar) | Before a share, a recording or a demo, you run its blur over the page and check what it caught | Does not remove the preparation step from the workflow, and does not cover the ordinary moments when nothing is being shared | You know a screen share starts in ten minutes, and you are willing to spend them tidying the page. |
| Whole-page blur and dim tools (Privacy Display and similar) | Blurs, dims or spotlights the entire page, keeping only the region around the cursor readable | Does not separate sensitive content from harmless content — the whole page becomes unreadable — and usually needs a manual toggle or a timer | You only need the page to be unreadable to anyone else, and you do not need to work in it at the same time. |
| A physical privacy filter | Narrows the viewing angle of the display itself, in hardware | Does not distinguish content, and does nothing about screen sharing, recording or a camera pointed at the screen; from close range or directly behind it can still be read | A fixed desk or a commute, where the physical surroundings are predictable and fine-grained control is not needed. |
CrispGuard is a visibility control at the page layer, not a security product. It does not replace a privacy filter, a system screenshot guard or a security review before you share your screen — it fills the gap those leave: the moment when your screen is being read by someone else and you still need to use the page.
Who uses it, and in which moments?
People whose screen is visible to strangers but who still have to work in it: an open-plan desk, a café table, a train seat, a sales demo. Every one has the same shape — someone else can read the screen, and stopping work to hide it is not an option.
- An open-plan desk. A payslip, a client list or a chat window is on screen and a colleague walks past. A keyword rule covers the amounts in one keystroke; the rest of the document stays readable.
- A café table or a train seat. You are working through an inbox and would rather the person at the next table did not read an email address or a total. With a per-site rule, the same page opens covered next time.
- A support call or a sales demo. You are sharing your screen and need the customer name and the revenue figure hidden while the interface stays clickable. Area blocks do that without turning the page into a blur.
- Someone walks up to your desk. Switching to a decoy page takes one action instead of closing the lid. The free plan includes the “Loading” scene; PRO adds more.
What these share is not a job title but a shape: the screen is exposed, and the page still has to work.
Frequently asked questions
Is CrispGuard free, and what does the free plan include?
Yes — the free plan has no time limit and needs no account. It covers keyword, image and area masking at their default settings (a black bar, a blur, a rectangle), spotlight as a circle, whole-page blur at low strength and the translucent veil at the high level, plus automatic protection on one site and the “Loading” decoy page. PRO opens the rest: every style, smart detection, unlimited sites, site lock and the camera sentry. Current plans and prices are on the pricing page.
How is CrispGuard different from ContextBlur?
They differ in when the mask is applied and what it covers. A ContextBlur-style tool is used before a share or a recording: you run its blur over the page first, and the result is ready for the session. CrispGuard works per site and per keyword, so a page can open already covered and one keystroke covers every occurrence of a word or a whole region, while the rest of the page stays usable. They fit different moments rather than competing on the same one.
Does CrispGuard replace a privacy filter?
No. A privacy filter narrows the viewing angle of the physical display, so it also covers other apps, notifications and video calls, and it needs no software. CrispGuard only changes pixels inside the browser, and only on the pages you configure. At a fixed desk a filter is the broader tool; for a page you still need to use while someone is nearby, it is the wrong shape.
Can I still use the page after masking it?
Yes. The page is not rewritten — covers are drawn on top of it, so links still navigate, forms still submit, and text outside the covers stays selectable and searchable. Area blocks stay in place as the page scrolls, and one keystroke or one button clears them.
Do I need an account, and does anything leave the browser?
No account is needed, for the free plan or for a PRO licence. Page content is read and covered inside your browser, and camera frames used by the sentry are analysed in memory and discarded. The network traffic its privacy policy describes is narrow: a licence check when you activate or re-check a PRO code, and optional anonymous feature counts that can be switched off in settings.