How to take a screenshot on Windows


Capturing a screenshot can be a great way of recording something on your display, which you may need. It might be to store something you need to refer back to later, or to share a piece of information with someone else. You could also be using the image as a faster means of conveying an idea, than trying to explain it with words.

So given that screenshots can be a valuable productivity tool, how can you utilise this function on Windows to make the most of this function? We have some details, to give you a couple of ways that you can capture a screenshot.

Snip & Sketch

Perhaps the most versatile tool for taking screenshots is called Snip & Sketch. It is an upgrade over the previous (but still available) Snipping Tool. You can use this to capture a single window, or annotate and share screenshots. This makes it much more versatile than its predecessor.

Snip & Sketch is a built-in tool on Windows, so you don't even need to worry about downloading it. But how exactly do you use this tool? Here is everything you need to know.

How to use Snip & Sketch

Snip & Sketch can be easily accessed by using the keyboard shortcut Windows Key + Shift + S. You can also find it by using the search function, or if you are likely to use it a lot, you can pin the app to the taskbar to save some time.

If you use the keyboard shortcut, your screen will dim, and an options menu will appear at the top. This allows you to choose what kind of screenshot you want to take. the choices are rectangular, window, full-screen, or 'freeform'.

Once you have taken your screenshot, it will automatically save to your clipboard. It will also appear in the bottom right hand corner of your screen for a short time. You can click on this to open the screenshot, which can then be saved, shared, or annotated.

This is by far the most comprehensive method of capturing a screenshot, but there are several different ways of doing this. We'll give you one other option, which can be used for quickly capturing your whole screen, and automatically saving the image.

Press the Windows key + Print Screen key at the same time. The screen will dim for a moment, to indicate that a screenshot has been taken. It will be saved in the Screenshots folder, within the Pictures folder.

And there you have it. Two methods of taking a screenshot on Windows, both very simple to use, and equally helpful depending on your needs.

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