How to Take Screenshots on Windows

Taking screenshots on Windows computers is easy with the built-in tools provided by Microsoft. With just a few key presses, you can capture full screens, active windows, or custom selections.

Read on for a detailed guide on the various ways to take screenshots on any version of Windows.

The Print Screen Key for Full Screen Capture

The easiest way to take a full screenshot is by using the Print Screen key. To do this:

1. Make sure the window or screen you want to capture is in view.
2. Press the Print Screen key on your keyboard. It's usually located near the upper right side of the keyboard, either as a single key labeled 'Prt Scr', 'Print Scr', or 'Prt Sc', or grouped together with 'Pause/Break' and 'Scroll Lock' keys.
3. The entire contents of your screen will now be copied to your clipboard.
4. Open an image editing program like Paint and paste the screenshot by pressing Ctrl + V. You can then save the image as a file.

This will copy your entire display, including any multi-monitor setups. It's quick and straightforward, making it the best option when you need to snapshot everything visible on the screens.

Snipping Tool for Custom Selections

For taking more focused screenshots, use the Snipping Tool app that comes standard in newer Windows versions. It allows capturing irregular areas by drawing a free-form selection box.

Follow these steps to try it out:

1. Hit the Windows key and type 'Snipping Tool'. Select the app when it appears.
2. In the Snipping Tool window, click Mode and choose Free-form Snip.
3. The screen will fade, and your cursor changes to a crosshair. Click and drag to draw a rectangular region around the part of the screen to capture.
4. After selecting the area, the screenshot will appear in the Snipping Tool editor.
5. Click the Save icon to preserve it as an image file, or click Copy to copy it to the clipboard.

The Snipping Tool offers other modes like Rectangular Snip and Window Snip as well. It's perfect for snagging specific UI elements, controls, menu selections and more.

ALT + Print Screen for Active Window

Here is a handy shortcut to capture only the active foreground window, instead of everything on the screen:

1. Make sure the window you want to capture is in the foreground, fully exposed and active.
2. Hold down the ALT key and press Print Screen.
3. The screenshot is copied to the clipboard. Paste it in any app as usual.

This is useful for grabbing shots of individual windows, dialogs, menus, or any isolated areas without additional editing. The window does not need to be maximized, as long as it's in focus.

Windows + Print Screen for Auto Saving

Modern Windows 10 and 11 versions have a built-in shortcut to automatically save screenshots to files without requiring Paint or other apps.

To use it:

1. Show the screen or region to capture.
2. Press Windows + Print Screen.
3. The screenshot will be saved in the Pictures > Screenshots folder as an PNG image file, with the filename based on the date and time.

You can find these automatically saved screenshots quickly in the Screenshots section of the Photos app.

Keyboard Shortcuts for Snipping Tool

For fast access to the Snipping Tool selection modes, use these keyboard shortcuts:

• Windows + Shift + S: Invokes Rectangular Snip for taking quick screenshots with click and drag.
• Ctrl + Shift + Windows + S: Starts Window Snip mode to copy active foreground windows.

These shortcuts remove the need to manually open the Snipping Tool when you want to grab region or window screenshots.

Screen Sketch App for Annotations

Along with capturing screenshots, the Screen Sketch app allows annotating them with drawings, text, and stickers. To use it:

1. Open Screen Sketch from the Start menu.
2. Click one of the modes: Freeform, Rectangular, Window, or Fullscreen.
3. Edit the screenshot in the canvas with the annotation tools.
4. Export the finished sketch or save to OneNote.

Screen Sketch combines easy snipping abilities with powerful markup features for documentation, collaboration and instructional guides.

Third-Party Screen Capture Tools

While the built-in options cover most needs, there are capable third-party capture tools available as well:

• ShareX: Open source app with advanced capture, editing and sharing options.
• Lightshot: Provides quick customizable snips and uploads to various destinations.
• Greenshot: Lightweight utility with obsure selection, annotation and export choices.
• Flameshot: Feature-packed Linux screenshot tool ported to Windows.

These tools fill in functionality gaps and add configurable hotkeys, custom file naming, effects, uploading to external hosting services and more. They provide additional power beyond the native screenshot capabilities.

With the techniques listed here, you have full power to capture screens, regions, windows and more on Windows devices. Take advantage of quick keyboard shortcuts for full screen grabs, Snipping Tool for custom selections, Screen Sketch for annotations, and third-party apps when you need advanced features.

With practice, creating screenshots will become second nature. You'll never have to ask how to take a screenshot on Windows again!