Are you wondering how to take screenshots in your Windows PC? Are you not being able to find the tutorial that works accurately for your PC? Don’t worry, today in this article we will discuss the most working solution for this problem. We will be talking about the different ways to take screenshot on different brands of laptop. Let us begin the tutorial. Hope you find the working tutorial for your laptop.
What is screenshot?
A screenshot is an image taken of whatever’s on your screen. Today we will learn how to take an image of your screen in Windows 10.
How to take screenshot on Windows ?
There are different ways to take screenshot on Windows 10. Based on the company of the laptop, the ways may differ. Go through the below mentioned ways to find out which one works for you.
1) Take quick screenshots with Print Screen
The Print Screen button on your keyboard which is usually labelled as “prt sc ” , “Prtscn”, “PrntScrn”, “Print Scr” and something similar to this, can take a screenshot and save it as a file, take a screenshot without saving it as a file, or take a screenshot of only one window (instead of the whole screen).
- Press the PrtScn button to copy the screen to the clipboard : If you just click on Print Screen button your screenshot will not be saved as a file, but it will be copied to the clipboard and then you will need to open an image editing tool (such as Microsoft Paint), paste the screenshot in the editor and save the file from there.
- Press the Windows+PrtScn buttons on your keyboard to save the screen to a file : In order to capture your entire screen and automatically save the screenshot, tap the Windows key + Print Screen key. Your screen will briefly go dim to indicate that you’ve just taken a screenshot, and the screenshot will be saved to the Pictures > Screenshots folder.But if you’re using a tablet, press the “Windows logo button + volume down button.” You should remember that not all devices work the same way; on some laptops and other devices, you may need to press the “Windows logo key + Ctrl + PrtScn” or “Windows logo key + Fn + PrtScn” or “Fn + Prt sc” keys instead.
For example, I have an hp laptop and ” Fn + prtsc” works for my laptop. If you have One drive set up on your laptop then the picture can also be saved to “Screenshots” sub-folder of folder named “Pictures”.
And if you do not have one drive set up then you will see the screenshot appear as a file in a folder entitled “Screenshots”, inside your default “Pictures” folder. The screenshot is automatically labeled with a number.
As I have one drive set up in my laptop when i take a screenshot , it is saved to Screenshots sub-folder of Pictures as shown in the screenshot below:
Alt + Print Screen
If you want to take a quick screenshot of the active window only, first of all click on the title bar of the window that you want to capture >> use the keyboard shortcut Alt + PrtScn. This will snap your currently active window and copy the screenshot to the clipboard. You’ll need to open the shot in an image editor to save it.
You can also set the PrtScn button to open the Snip & Sketch tool by going to Settings > Ease of Access > Keyboard and toggling on Use the PrtScn button to open screen snipping under Print Screen Shortcut.
Windows key + shift-S
You can also use keyboard shortcut Windows key + shift-S (or the new Screen snip button in the Action Center) to capture a screenshot with Snip & Sketch. Your screen will dim and you’ll see Snip & Sketch’s small menu at the top of your screen that will let you choose with type of screenshot you want to capture.
2) Use built-in snipping tool
You can also use snipping tool that is in-built in your Windows. The snipping tool has been a part of Windows for a long time now. You can take a screenshot of a part of the screen or an entire screen with Snipping tool. Snipping tool can take screenshots of an open window, rectangular area, a free-form area, or the entire screen. To access screenshot, you can search for it on the start menu. You will see a small menu appearing as shown below.
In Windows 10, Snipping Tool has a new “Delay” option, which will allow you to capture screenshots pop-up menus as well as tool tips which was not available in Windows Vista, 7 and 8. So,now open the Snipping Tool app and click Delay. From the drop-down list, click on the number of seconds you’d like to wait until your screenshot is taken.
You can also choose the type of snip you want to make by clicking the arrow next to “New.” Now, choose from one of four types of snip: free-form, rectangular, window, and full-screen form the drop-down menu.
Unlike a regular snip, when you set the time delay the screen will not immediately fade out. Instead, you will have between 1–5 seconds, depending on the delay you chose, to set up your screenshots. You can use this time to open that pop-up menu or tool-tip you want to capture. Once your seconds have passed, the screen will freeze and fade out so that you can create your snip. If you chose window or full-screen, it will just capture the snip immediately.
3) Use Keyboard Shortcuts with Game Bar in Windows 10
With Windows 10, you can even take screenshots while playing videos. It ships with game DVR capabilities to record game play footage and take screenshots of Windows PC games. The Game Bar generates screenshots in PNG format, and saves them in “C:\Users\[your username]\Videos\Captures.” Before you start using the Game Bar, launch the Xbox app that came with Windows 10 open its settings. Under “Game DVR”, toggle “Take screenshots using Game DVR,” and assign whatever keyboard shortcuts you want and later you can use that keyboard shortcut to take screenshots.
When you want to take a screenshot, use that keyboard combination (“Windows key + G” by default) and click or tap on the “Yes, this is a game” box if prompted. Now press the “Camera icon” or “Win + Alt + PrtScn” to take a screenshot. You should note that the keyboard shortcut will only work if you have previously checked the “Yes, this is a game” box for this specific game. You will see a notification letting you know “Screenshot saved.”
4) Use powerful software like Snagit, Screenflow, CamStudio etc.
These software are used to record the video on the screen along with the screenshot. You can download one of these app to take screenshot, edit them, to capture the video of the screen etc. Some of these software are free whereas some need to be purchased. You can even have free trial for 1 months or 15 days depending on the software you choose to download. I have downloaded Snagit in my laptop. You can also download it and have a free trail of the software for some days.
Click on Image on the left side and then on the Capture on the right side in Snagit software as shown in the snapshot above. You will need to select the area of the screen which you want to capture right away after you click on Capture.
So, these are the different ways that you can employ to take screenshot in your Windows PC. Give all the ways mentioned above a try. I hope you find this article helpful. Constructive feedback are always welcome.
