Windows might not seem at first to be quite as diverse as a Mac, when it comes to in-built screenshot capabilities, but scratch the surface and you’ll find plenty to love about the two main screenshot functions of Windows 10 and Windows 11.
To learn how to take a screenshot on Windows, simply follow our step-by-step guides below. For all other information, or if you have any further questions regarding the subject, please refer to our FAQ section at the end of this article.
Note: These tutorials apply only to Windows 10 and Windows 11. For earlier versions of Windows, refer to an older ‘How To’ guide.
Table of Contents
How to take a screenshot on Windows (PrtSc Method)
- Ensure that you have displayed on-screen the element(s) you wish to capture in a screenshot on your Windows computer.
- On your keyboard, locate and press the PRINT SCREEN key (usually displayed as ‘PrtSc’, ‘prt sc’, or ‘PrtScr’ or a variation on any of these – located to the right of the FUNCTION keys)
- Tip: You can also press the WINDOWS LOGO key (bottom-right of your keyboard) at the same time as PrtScr. Doing so, your screen will dim for a half-second to indicate the successful capture of a screenshot. Either method works.
- Tip: You can also press the WINDOWS LOGO key (bottom-right of your keyboard) at the same time as PrtScr. Doing so, your screen will dim for a half-second to indicate the successful capture of a screenshot. Either method works.
- Your computer has now taken a full-screen screenshot and saved it to the ‘Screenshots’ folder in ‘My Pictures’
- Tip: To edit the screenshot, open it up in a new window by double-clicking it in the ‘Screenshots’ folder and selecting the crop tool, or ‘Edit & Create’, then saving it once you’re done
- Tip: To edit the screenshot, open it up in a new window by double-clicking it in the ‘Screenshots’ folder and selecting the crop tool, or ‘Edit & Create’, then saving it once you’re done
How to take a screenshot on Windows (Snip & Sketch Method)
- Ensure that you have displayed on-screen the element(s) you wish to capture in a screenshot on your Windows computer.
- On your keyboard, press WINDOWS LOGO + SHIFT + S – this will open the ‘Snip & Sketch’ app
- Along the top of your screen you’ll now be presented with a toolbar and four different options for taking a screenshot:
- Rectangular Snip: For taking a screenshot of a rectangular portion of the screen
- Freeform Snip: For drawing free-hand the screenshot area
- Window Snip: For taking a screenshot of only a specific window (make sure you have the window open before selecting this option)
- Fullscreen Snip: For taking a screenshot of the entire screen and everything displayed on it (clicking this will automatically take the screenshot)
- Select one of the above options by left-clicking the appropriate icon
- Rectangular Snip: Left-click on the screen where you wish one point of the rectangular screenshot area to be, and then drag the rectangular frame to highlight the area of the screen you wish to capture. Release the click to capture the screenshot.
- Freeform Snip: Left-click on the screen where you wish the central point of the freeform screenshot area to be, then drag to highlight the area(s) of the screen you wish to screenshot. Release the click to capture the screenshot.
- Window Snip: Left-click the window you wish to capture on screen to screenshot only this window.
- Fullscreen Snip: Left-click the ‘fullscreen snip’ icon to take a full-screen screenshot.
- Rectangular Snip: Left-click on the screen where you wish one point of the rectangular screenshot area to be, and then drag the rectangular frame to highlight the area of the screen you wish to capture. Release the click to capture the screenshot.
- Your screenshot has been taken, but not yet saved. To save it, first left-click the pop-up thumbnail of the freshly captured screenshot in the bottom-right of the screen when it appears
- In the new window, edit your screenshot as you like (annotate it, highlight it, write over it, crop it), and then left-click the ‘Save’ icon
- Choose a File Name and Destination Folder in the next window, and left-click ‘Save’ again to finalise the saving of your captured and edited screenshot.
And there you have it! Two methods for taking a screenshot on Windows. Both work wonderfully, but have different pros and cons. Play around with them, or check out our FAQ section for more advice on which to use and when.
FAQs
Why would I want to take a screenshot on Windows?
A screenshot is a captured image of the entirety, or a specifically selected part, of your computer screen. Screenshots are useful for an unimaginably long list of reasons.
They can be useful for entertainment’s sake: taking a screenshot of a funny face your friend is pulling over Zoom; or for professional purposes: screenshotting a web page you have been employed to edit, so that you can make annotations on the capture.
Screenshots are used by film critics to capture a moment from a movie they wish to preserve, and by those who like to keep recorded evidence of emails, receipts, and invoices from companies and colleagues.
Whatever your reasons for being here, it’s our job to teach you how to take a screenshot on Windows using a variety of methods. Simply follow our step-by-step tutorials above to learn how!
Do the screenshot techniques for Macs also work on Windows?
Yes and no. The keyboard shortcuts are, unsurprisingly, entirely different for screenshotting on Windows when compared to taking a screenshot on a Mac. And yet, at the same time, the various types of screenshot you can take (full-screen, specific window, cropped area) are very much the same.
To learn how to record a screenshot on Windows, follow our tutorials above. To learn how to crop and take a screenshot on a Mac, check out our article on the subject!
It does both! When you press PRINT SCREEN (which usually looks like PrtScr or PrtSc on your keyboard), Windows takes a full-screen screenshot, capturing everything displayed on-screen at the moment you press the key.
This screenshot is then automatically saved to the Default Folder for screenshots, which is called ‘Screenshots’ and is found in your ‘Pictures’ folder in your ‘Documents’. However, the screenshot is also copied to the clipboard. This gives you heaps of additional functionality. It means that you can instantly ‘paste’ the screenshot into any document you might be working on, or into another program, such as Paint, from where you can further edit it.
Having said this, you can always press PrtScr at the same time as the WINDOWS LOGO key (bottom-right of the keyboard). Doing so, your screen will dim for a half-second to indicate a successful screenshot capture.
Which is the best method of taking a screenshot on Windows?
The answer to this is, of course, entirely subjective. Depending on what you need from your screenshots, as well as your preferred working method(s), either method might suit you best. There are two methods for taking a screenshot on Windows, of course: the PrtScr method, and the ‘Snip & Sketch’ method.
Whilst ‘Snip & Sketch’ allows you to customize the area of the screen you wish to screenshot with far greater variation than does the PrtScr method, Snip & Sketch does not automatically save your screenshots. You have to do that part manually.
On the other hand, whilst the PrtScr method automatically saves all screenshots, ensuring you don’t lose a single one, there is no way to crop the screenshot there and then. Instead, PrtScr simply screenshots your full screen, meaning that to crop and/or annotate it, you’ll have to do so later using a separate program.
We say: have fun playing around with the various options and working out which one works best for you!
