Updated December 8, 2022.
So you’re looking to take screenshots on Windows 10? If you’re someone who has to deal with explanations a lot, it’s highly likely you do. And take it from someone who does it daily, screenshots work.
In fact, capturing screenshots on Windows not only helps you reduce the number of words you would’ve used otherwise, but it also lets you give an instant answer to your audience. With that in mind, we present you this compact guide about different methods to capture a screenshot on Windows 10.
Let’s jump right in.
1. Take screenshots on Windows of a specific area with the Snipping Tool
Let’s start with the lightest, minimalist app first and, as a result, my personal favorite: Snipping Tool. It’s a free app provided by Microsoft which lets you screen clip any part of your Windows screen. Microsoft had planned to replace Snipping Tool with Snip & Sketch (below) but is now working on a new version of Snipping Tool for Windows 11.
To launch Snipping Tool, just type ‘snipping’ in the Start menu search bar and select the best match from autosuggestion.
Once the app is launched, click on the New button to start the screenshot-capturing process. Now, press and hold the mouse and drag it over the area that you want to capture. When you’ve done that, release your mouse to capture the screen. If you like the image, you can finally save it as a screenshot.
Apart from capturing simple Windows screenshots, you can also give different modes a try. In total, Snipping Tool offers 4 different modes. They are: Free-form snip, Rectangular snip, Window snip, and Full-screen snip.
Moreover, it also has a delay feature, through which you can delay your screenshots by a few seconds.
Note that Microsoft has been considering merging Snipping Tool with Snip & Sketch (another free tool by them) on the next update. So, use it while it’s still here.
2. Capture the entire screen with Print Screen
This method will be suitable for you if you’d like to customize the screenshot to your liking.
Find and press the Print Screen button on your keyboard to grab a screen clip of the entire screen. Don’t panic if you can’t find it, though. Often, Print Screen is also written as Prt Sc on the keyboard—so be sure you look for that.
When you press the button, an image will be saved on your PC’s clipboard, instead of getting saved as a screenshot right away. For that, you’ll have to open and save it on any editing tool like Paint.NET, Paint, etc. After you’ve opened the tool, you can paste the image (Ctrl + V) from your clipboard there. Finally, you can save the image.
3. Use Windows Key + Print Screen to screen clip the whole screen
The quickest way to grab a screenshot is by pressing Windows Key and Prt Sc together. You’ll see the thumbnail in the bottom-left corner as soon as the screenshot is captured.
It will be stored in the screenshots folder in your Pictures\Screenshots folder.
4. Take a screenshot of a specific window
But what if you have multiple Windows open on your screen, and you only want to capture a specific Window?
Thankfully, Microsoft has given us the option to do that with Alt + Windows Key + Prt Sc. As soon as you press the button, a screenshot will be captured and will be stored in the Videos/Captures folder.
5. Use Snip & Sketch
Originally introduced as a replacement for the Snipping Tool, the Snip & Sketch app is available on Windows 10 1809 and later versions.
You can launch it by pressing Windows Key + Shift + S.
After hitting the Windows Key + Shift + S combo, you get to choose from different types of screenshot procedures, such as Fullscreen snip, Window snip, Freedom snip, or Rectangular snip. Note that when you’ve successfully captured a specific area, your screen clip will be stored on the clipboard, just as in the Prt Scr method.
You can then open an editor, paste the image from your clipboard there, and do any final editing you’d like to do, before saving it in a usable format.
6. Use third-party apps
Of course, you don’t have to settle with the default applications. Since we’re talking about Windows, there are plenty of quality, professional apps out there for you, available for free.
ShareX
ShareX is one such free third-party app. It’s light; quick; and moreover, has been in the game for over 13 years. So, it’s stable, too. It’s also open-source and, as a result, is open to customization as well.
Apart from its screenshot-capturing capabilities, though, ShareX also offers screen recording and conversion features.
To get started with using ShareX, download it from the official ShareX website. Alternatively, you can also get it from the Microsoft store.
When you first open the ShareX app, you’ll see multiple options to take the screenshot on Windows 10. For instance, if you’re looking to screen clip an active Windows, you can press Alt + Print Screen. It has other such shortcuts for taking a screenshot, as you can see from the image above.
When you click on Capture from the top-left corner, you’ll see a host of other features to choose from, such as screen recording, screenshot delay, scrolling capture, and so on.
Have fun taking screenshots on Windows 10
Screenshots are a helpful aid to have in your communications toolkit. We hope one or more of these methods were suitable for your requirements and helped you to take screenshots on Windows 10.
