7 Ways To Take Screenshots In Windows 10 And 11

Whether you’re downloading Windows 11 (learn how to download Windows 11 for free) or using Windows 10 for a longer period of time, it’s easy to take a screenshot to capture part or all of your screen. You may want to save your online receipts, or you may want to choose a particularly unique game action and show it to your friends. Windows 10 and 11 offer the same built-in tools (Snip & Sketch and Snipping Tool), and you can use several keyboard shortcuts to take screenshots instantly.

Here we will guide you on how to take screenshots in Windows 10 and Windows 11 so you can decide what you want using the built-in Windows screenshot tool and other shortcuts.

Also, here are the best Windows 10 tips and tricks, how to use all the new features of Windows 11, and what you need to know when upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11.

Snip & Sketch

The Snipping & Sketch tool makes accessing, sharing and annotating your screenshots much easier than the previous Snipping tool. You can now take screenshots of windows on your desktop. A surprising omission when the app was first introduced led to the use of the Team Capture tool until recently.

The easiest way to invoke Capture and Sketch is to use the keyboard shortcut Windows Key + Shift + S. You’ll also find Snipping and Sketching tools listed in an alphabetical list of applications accessed from the Start button and from the notification panel. is listed as a screenshot monitor. Or you can only search if you don’t have keyboard shortcuts installed in memory. (If you often take screenshots, we recommend that you pin the app to the taskbar.)

The built-in capture and sketch app has finally triumphed and is now my favorite way to take screenshots in Windows 10 and 11. Long capture tool.

A keyboard shortcut or notification button dims the screen and opens a small menu at the top of the screen where you can choose the type of screenshot you want: Rectangular, Freeform, Windowed or Fullscreen. When you take a screenshot, it is saved to the clipboard and briefly displayed as a notification in the lower right corner of the screen. Click the notification to open a screenshot in the Snip & Sketch app to comment, save or share. (If you miss a notification, open the notification panel and you will see it sitting there.)

When you open or search for Snipping & Sketch from the Start menu, the Snipping & Sketch window opens instead of the small panel at the top of your screen. From here you need to click the New button in the top left to start a screen capture and open a small panel. This method takes it one step further, but it also delays screenshots. Click the down arrow button next to the New button to delay the clip for 3 or 10 seconds.

Snipping tool

The snipping tool has been around since Windows Vista. Windows has been warning for years that the Snipping Tool will be gone, but it’s still running, including Windows 11. Snipping Tool has been removed from the list of apps in the Start menu, but is easily accessible via the search bar.

Click the new button to start the screenshot process. The default clip type is a rectangular clip, but freeform, fullscreen, and window clips are also available.

Snipping tool does not automatically save screenshots. Before exiting, you need to manually save to the tool and it will automatically copy the screenshot to the clipboard.

Snipping Tool has been working on Windows for a long time.

Print Screen

To capture the entire screen, click the Print Screen key (also known as PrtScn). Screenshots are not saved as files, but are copied to the clipboard. You will need to open an image editing tool (eg Microsoft Paint), paste the screenshot into an editor, and save the file from there.

You can also set the PrtScn button to open the Snipping & Sketch tool by going to Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard, and toggle the PrtScn button when opening a screenshot under the Print Screen shortcut using the PrtScn button.

You can adjust the print screen settings in Windows.

Windows key + Print Screen

To capture the entire screen and automatically save the screenshot, click the Windows key + Print screen key. The screen dims briefly to indicate that a screenshot has just been taken, and the screenshot is saved in the Photos > Screenshots folder.

Alt + Print Screen

To take a quick screenshot of the active window, use the keyboard shortcut Alt + PrtScn. This will capture the currently active window and copy the screenshot to the clipboard. You must open the snapshot in an image editor to save it.

Game bar

Whether you’re gaming or not, you can use the game bar to take screenshots. You must first enable the game bar by toggling Record game clips, screenshots, and broadcasts using the game bar in the settings page. Once activated, press Windows Key + G to bring up the Game Bar. From here, you can take a full screen screenshot by clicking the screenshot button in the game bar or using the default keyboard shortcut Windows Key + Alt + PrtScn. Game bar screenshot To assign keyboard shortcuts, go to Settings > Games > Game Bar.

Windows Logo + Volume Down

When you shake your Microsoft Surface, you can use a physical (some kind of physical) button to take a screenshot of the entire screen, similar to taking a screenshot on any other phone or tablet. To do this, hold down the Windows logo touch button at the bottom of your Surface screen and press the physical volume down button on the side of your tablet. The screen goes dark briefly and the screenshot is automatically saved to the Photos > Screenshots folder.

Want more Windows information? Check out all the big differences between Windows 10 and Windows 11 and all the features you wanted but didn’t get in Windows 11.