So he sighed, and tried the honest path.
That worked for 80% of his tasks.
Later, he found (open source, instant annotations), ShareX (overkill but powerful, free forever), and even Snipping Tool + Paint 3D for basic arrows. free snagit version
He discovered (formerly Jing) — a lightweight, forever-free tool from the same company. No video editing, no fancy effects, but it did screenshots, basic annotation (arrows, text, highlights), and short screencasts (up to 5 minutes). He could paste results straight into Google Docs. So he sighed, and tried the honest path