Looking for a way on How to Take Screenshots in Windows 10? Taking a screenshot can be really handy and useful at times.
Perhaps you wanna preserve your online transaction, grab an image for troubleshooting, and errors on your PC or laptop.
Whatever the case may be, it is vital to know (in this case) how to take a screenshot on Windows 10.
“A screenshot is an image grab of whatever’s on the screen.”
You can take a screenshot on just about any device. It’s the simplest task there is but there are multiple ways to take a screenshot on your PC.
I will be listing out 9 ways to perform the action. You choose what works best for you.
Snipping Tool
This method has been used for a while now since the Window Vista days though it has been recently replaced by Snip & Sketch.
Press Window + Shift + S to access the Snip & Sketch tool.
A tool bar will show at the top with four different options –
- Rectangular Snip (rectangular shape)
- FreeForm Snip (freely select any area)
- Window Snip (capture an entire app window) and
- Full-Screen Snip (captures the entire screen).
Once you have taken a screenshot using any of the above mentioned method, a pop-up notification will show up that it is saved to your clipboard.
If you wanna save the screenshot, you have to manually save it on your device before you exit because it does not automatically save it for you.
On the other hand, if you do need to edit your screenshot. Click on the clipboard notification and there you can perform some basic editing like cropping, drawing, etc.
To access this feature more easily if you do not wanna type Window + Shift + S,
- Settings < Ease of Access < Keyboard
- Enable the Use the PrtScn button to open screen snipping.
- Reboot your PC or laptop to take effect.
Print Screen
This method is the easiest, a long time classic and the most common way to take a screenshot.
The print screen button differs from devices and may be labeled as “PrtScn,” “PrntScrn,” “Print Scr,” “Prt Sc,” or something similar to that regard.
Hitting the Print Screen basically captures your whole entire screen to the Clipboard and not as a file yet.
You do need to further open any editing apps or document editor such as – Photoshop, Paint, Paint 3d, Wondershare, etc.
Once you are in any of those apps. Simple paste with Ctrl +V and edit it or save the original image on your device from there.
Alt + Print Screen
This shortcut grabs only the image of the active window that you are on rather than the whole screen.
Tap Alt + Print Screen to capture and save your screenshot on the clipboard. Similar to Snipping Tool, you do still need an app like Paint to access and save the image on your device as a file.
This is beneficial especially if you are using multiple monitors with tons of windows open and it can help capture the important page or window.
Windows + H
If you wanna take a screenshot and share it via email, FaceBook, or any other social media, this combination will take a screenshot of your currently active window.
It will bring up a sharing panel, basically allows you to easily insert and share your screenshot.
Press Window+H at the same time. A Pop-up will show up on the right side of the screen with multiple options to share.
This method is particularly helpful if you are looking to share your screenshot rather than saving it on your device.
Print Screen Key With OneDrive
There is a way to avoid saving your screenshot on a clipboard, using an editing app, pasting the image from the clipboard and then saving it.
It’s too much of a hassle. All of the above steps can be skip and save your file instantly.
- Head over to OneDrive’s Settings panel
- Go to Backup < Tick mark or choose Automatically Save Screenshots I Capture to OneDrive.
The next time you take a screenshot, a slide-out notification will pop-up on your right side of the screen. Click on the notification to visit the folder of your saved file.
Game Bar
Windows 10 has the ability to record gameplay footage and also at the same time take screenshots of Windows PC games.
Whether you are in the middle of playing a game or not and needed to take a screenshot.
However, there are some steps you need to complete first. First of all, you need to enable the Game DVR to be able to take a screenshot in games.
Launch the Xbox app < Settings. Under the “Game DVR”, simply allow or toggle “Take screenshots using Game DVR,” and you can also assign any shortcuts you want.
Press the Window + G key to call up the Game bar. Next on the Broadcast & capture section, tap on the icon looking like a camera.
Click on it or use the default keyboard shortcut key Windows key + Alt + PrtScn to save your screenshot on the Videos/Captures folder.
You’ll get a slide-out notification on screen once it is successful, and the screenshot files are saved in the Captures folder of your Videos library.
Your images are saved here by default: “C:\Users\[your username]\Videos\Captures.”
Win + Print Screen
You can ignore all the above methods as this is the most efficient and the simplest compared to the others in the list if you just wanna capture the whole screen.
This is the best shortcut to use if you wanna have an immediate image file created directly from your screenshot.
This handy shortcut Window + Prt Sc will directly save your screenshot as PNG files on Pictures < Screenshots.
Windows Inking Tools
If you have a device that supports stylus input through Windows Ink or digital-inking-capable touch-screens like a Surface Laptop or any other provided your stylus supports this feature.
Simply double click on the back button on the pen to capture and this will opens the Snip and Sketch with the screenshot image ready for editing, sharing, annotating and saving.
Alternatively you can also open the Ink Workspace by tapping the pen icon in the taskbar. Next click on the ‘screen sketch’ to capture a full screenshot.
Windows + Volume Down
This one is not exactly how to Take Screenshots in Windows 10 solution answer. It is more for the tablet and other mobile Windows users. So, If you are a tablet user, we haven’t forgotten about you.
Simply hit the Windows button (or the capacitive touch logo in the middle) with the volume down button simultaneously at the same time and it will take a screenshot of your entire screen.
Compare it as the Win + Print Screen key combination.
LightShot
There are many third-party screenshot tools/ apps on the market. LightShot is one of those that stood out because of its ease of use, simple to use features.
Lightshot allows you to easily make screenshots of any selected area immediately.
Apart from taking screenshots, it allows you to upload and share your screenshots.
Tap the Lightshot icon and select the area you wanna take a screenshot. You can draw on it, add annotation or not and click “Save” or “Upload to server” to get your screenshot URL.
LightShot Features:
- Share screenshot.
- Screenshot History.
- Copy a screenshot to the clipboard.
- Edit screenshot immediately after it’s taken.
- Save screenshots to your PC.
- Free
There are many amazing screenshot apps or browser extension and most of them are free.
So hopefully, these methods helped you as well. Try and choose which works best for you. If you have other methods on how to take screenshots in Windows 10, let us know in the comments below.
