Take a screenshot with Print Screen (PrtScn)

The Print Screen key on your keyboard allows you to take a screenshot. Depending on the keyboard shortcut you use, you can save the screenshot as a PNG image file or copy it to your clipboard to paste into any application.

The prtscn key is usually found between the F12 key and the shortcut key. Scroll lock key on the top row of your keyboard. It can be labeled as “PrtScn”, “PrntScrn” or “Print Scr”. On full-size keyboards, look above the Insert key.

On laptop keyboards, the Print Screen key can be combined with another key, but it will be located in this general area of ​​the keyboard. You may need to press the "Function" or "Fn" key on your laptop when using the shortcuts shown here.

Save your screenshot as a file

Press Windows+Print Screen to save a screenshot as a file. In other words, hold down the Windows logo key and press the Print Screen key, which may be labeled as PrtScrn or PrtScn. (On a laptop keyboard, you may need to use Windows+Fn+PrtScn).

The screen dims for a moment, allowing visual confirmation. The screenshot appears as a PNG file in a folder named "Screenshots" in the "Pictures" folder of your user account. If you take multiple screenshots, each one will automatically be labeled with a number.

In other words, you will probably find your screenshot in the following location: C:UsersNAMEPicturesScreenshots

Save a screenshot to clipboard

To copy an image of your screen to your clipboard, just press the Print Screen key (or Fn+Print Screen on some laptops).

Windows saves an image of your screen to the clipboard. You can paste it into almost any application: An image editor, a word processor, or any other application that supports images. Just select Edit > Paste or press Ctrl+V to paste as you normally would.

Save a screenshot of a single window to your clipboard

To capture a screenshot of a single window instead of the entire screen, press Alt+ Print Screen. (On some laptops, you may need to press Alt+Fn+Print Screen instead).

Windows will save an image of the current window to your clipboard, so be sure to select the window you want to capture first. You can either click somewhere inside the window or use Alt+Tab to bring it into focus.

Use Snip & Sketch to take screenshots.

Windows 10 has a built-in Snip & Sketch which offers more powerful screen capture options. You can use it to take a screenshot of a specific region of your screen, capture a screenshot on time, or annotate your screenshots.

Take a screenshot of part of your screen

To quickly take a screenshot with Snip & Sketch, press Windows+Shift+S. Your screen will appear grayed out and your mouse will turn into a crosshair.

You will see a bar of several buttons near the top of your screen. Select the function you want. From left to right, here's what the buttons do:

Snip & Sketch will remember the last option used when you use the keyboard shortcut to open it.

Annotate or crop a screenshot

When you take a screenshot, you'll receive a notification that the screenshot has been copied to your clipboard. You can paste it into any other application that supports image files. (Use Edit > Paste or Ctrl+V to paste).

If the notification disappears before you can click it, you will find the notification in Windows 10 Action Center.

For more options, click on the notification. This will open the Snip & Sketch with options to write over, highlight, erase and crop areas of the image.

There is also a "Save" button, which will allow you to save your screenshot as an image file from here.

(Interface varies depending on window size. With a larger Snip & Sketch window, all options are on the top toolbar. If you resize the window and make it smaller , some of the options will move to a lower toolbar).

Take a delayed screenshot

In some cases, taking a delayed screenshot can help you capture a menu or other interface element that won't appear if you do not interact with him. Snip & Sketch can take a screenshot with a three or ten second delay.

To find this option, you will need to directly open the Snip & ; Sketch. Click the Start button (or press the Windows key), search for “Snip” and launch the “Snip & ; Sketch”.

To the right of the "New" button in the Snip & Sketch, click the down arrow and select "Snip in 3 seconds" or "Snip in 10 seconds".

Screenshot (or video) with Game Bar

Windows 10 includes a feature called Xbox Game Bar. Despite the name, it's more of a gaming-focused overlay with various functions. It is particularly useful for taking screenshots of PC games.

By default, Windows+Alt+Print Screen takes a screenshot of the current game or desktop application with the Game Bar. (On some laptops, you may need to press Windows+Alt+Fn+Print Screen).

You will see a "Screenshot saved" notification, and you can click this notification to see your Game Bar screenshots. You can also press Windows+G to open Game Bar.

To configure the game bar, go to Settings > Games > Xbox game bar. From here, you can enable or disable Game Bar functionality and customize the keyboard shortcuts that perform these actions. So, if nothing happens when you press these keys, check if this feature is enabled in Settings.

The screenshots you take with this tool are saved in the C:UsersNAMEVideosCaptures folder. (Yes, even screenshots are shared in the Videos folder).

The Game Bar also lets you record videos of your Windows 10 screen. You can even use it to record videos of your desktop or any other application. You can save more than games. The video file will be saved in the C:UsersNAMEVideosCaptures folder in H.264 MP4 format.

Take screenshots with Greenshot, a free app

Our favorite free screenshot tool for Windows - aside from the tools built into Windows 10 itself, which are extremely capable - is the next Greenshot. It's free and open-source, and it offers additional features like customizable keyboard shortcuts.

Greenshot runs in your system tray where it offers useful options such as "Capture window from list", which allows you to quickly take a screenshot of any currently running window. run from a context menu.

Take screenshots easily with SnagIt, a powerful tool

Windows 10 is full of useful screenshot features and Greenshot is a powerful tool, but each of the above methods has its own limits. If you do a lot of screenshots and want more flexibility and options, you might want something even more powerful.

If you don't mind spending a few bucks on a screenshot tool, Techsmith's SnagIt is an incredibly powerful screenshot app. It makes it easy to take screenshots and has features to target specific windows and capture full text from scrolling windows like web pages in your browser.

SnagIt can also record video from your screen, turn it into animated GIFs (if you want), add video from your webcam and audio from your microphone, and help you trim easily these video clips in order to include only what is important.

In addition, SnagIt can extract text from screenshots, annotate them, replace text in screenshots, and do just about anything you imagine a screenshot tool should be. able to do. It's a great app that we recommend, especially if you need to do a lot of screenshots.

TechSmith offers a free trial of SnagIt so you can see if it meets your needs before you… buy it. If you do a lot of screenshots, we think you'll have a hard time going back to the simpler tools built into Windows.