To take a screenshot on Windows, press Win+Shift+S to snip part of the screen, press PrtScn to copy the entire screen, or open the Snipping Tool app for timed and annotated captures.
Windows gives you several built-in ways to capture what is on screen, and none of them need extra software. The right one depends on whether you want the whole display, a single window, or just a slice, and whether you want the file saved automatically or copied to the clipboard. Below is each method, current for Windows 11 with notes for Windows 10.
The quickest way: Win+Shift+S
Pressing the Windows key, Shift, and S together dims the screen and opens a small toolbar at the top. This is the method most people should learn first because it is flexible and works the same on Windows 11 and Windows 10.
- Press Win+Shift+S. The screen dims and a toolbar appears.
- Choose a mode: rectangular snip, freeform snip, window snip, or full-screen snip.
- Drag to select the area (or click a window). The image is copied to the clipboard.
- Click the notification that pops up in the lower-right corner to open it in the Snipping Tool editor, where you can crop, mark up, and save.
If you skip the notification, the capture still lives on your clipboard, so you can paste it straight into an email, a document, or a chat with Ctrl+V.
The Print Screen key and its variations
The Print Screen key, usually labeled PrtScn or PrtSc, is the classic method. What it does depends on which other keys you hold.
| Shortcut | What it captures | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|
| PrtScn | Entire screen (all monitors) | Clipboard (paste to use) |
| Win+PrtScn | Entire screen | Saved as PNG in Pictures > Screenshots |
| Alt+PrtScn | Active window only | Clipboard |
| Win+Shift+S | Any area you select | Clipboard (plus editor) |
On many laptops the Print Screen key shares a key with another function, so you may need to press Fn+PrtScn. On most recent Windows 11 builds, Microsoft has also made the plain PrtScn key open the Snip & Sketch overlay by default instead of copying the full screen. You can toggle that behavior under Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard by looking for the Print Screen option.
Using the Snipping Tool app
For anything beyond a quick grab, open the dedicated app. Click Start, type Snipping Tool, and press Enter. The app is worth learning for three reasons: delay timers, annotation, and, on Windows 11, screen recording.
- Click New to start a capture, or set a delay first.
- For a menu or tooltip that disappears, choose the timer (3 or 10 seconds) so you have time to open it before the capture fires.
- After capturing, use the pen, highlighter, ruler, and crop tools in the editor.
- Click the Save icon to choose a folder and file name, or the Copy icon to put it on the clipboard.
In Windows 10, the equivalent apps are the older Snipping Tool and Snip & Sketch; Microsoft merged their features into the single Snipping Tool in Windows 11, so exact button labels differ slightly between versions.
Editing, blurring, and sharing
Before you send a screenshot, it is worth checking what it reveals. The Snipping Tool editor includes tools to crop out anything you do not want to share and, on current versions, to blur or redact sensitive areas such as an email address, an account number, or a face. This matters because a screenshot is just an image file: whatever was visible on screen is now permanently baked into the picture, and cropping after sending is too late. Save the finished image as a PNG for sharp text, or as a JPG if you need a smaller file for email. When you paste a screenshot directly into an app rather than saving it, remember the image only exists on the clipboard until you copy something else, so paste before you move on.
Capturing gameplay and app video
To record video rather than a still image, press Win+G to open Xbox Game Bar. Use the Capture widget to record the active app window; clips land in Videos > Captures. The Snipping Tool in Windows 11 now includes its own screen-recording button as well. Note that some apps block screen capture of protected content, so a streaming video may appear as a black rectangle in both the screenshot and the recording.
Choosing the right method
If you want a file saved instantly with no extra clicks, use Win+PrtScn. If you want to grab just part of the screen and mark it up, use Win+Shift+S or the Snipping Tool. If you only need the active window, Alt+PrtScn is fastest. For anything you plan to annotate or blur before sharing, open the Snipping Tool editor so you can hide personal details first. There is rarely a reason to install third-party screenshot software, since these built-in tools cover captures, timers, annotation, and recording between them.
Screenshots on other devices
Screenshots are handy across every platform, and the process differs by device. If you switch between machines, it is worth also knowing how to take a screenshot on a Mac and how to screenshot on iPhone, since the key combinations are completely different from Windows. When you are capturing sensitive material such as a login screen, remember that a screenshot stores that information as an image, so treat it like any other private file. If you are actually trying to recover a stored credential rather than photograph one, the guide on how to see saved passwords on iPhone is a better route. Finally, if your display looks smudged in every capture, the marks may be on the glass rather than in the image; see how to clean a laptop screen for a safe method. With these built-in tools, you rarely need anything extra to capture, edit, and share exactly what is on your Windows screen.
