How to Take a Screenshot Using the Print Screen Key

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Quickly start using the "prt sc" key on a Windows computer

Written by Travis Boylls

Last Updated: March 4, 2024 Fact Checked

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Finding the Print Screen Key

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Screenshot the Entire Screen

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Screenshot One Window

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Using the Snipping Tool

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Copying a Screenshot

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Q&A

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Tips

This wikiHow guide teaches you how to use the Print Screen key on your PC's keyboard to take a screenshot in Windows 10 and 11 quickly. You will learn some quick keyboard shortcuts that let you capture the entire screen or just a single window on the desktop.

Quick Guide to Print Screen

Press Windows key + Prt Sc to capture the whole screen. You'll find the screenshot in the Pictures > Screenshots folder.
If you're using Windows 11, press Prt Sc by itself to open the Snipping Tool, where you can quickly capture the whole screen, one window, or any portion.
To screenshot the active window, press Alt + Prt Sc at the same time, then press Ctrl + V to paste it into a file or email.

Section 1 of 5:

Finding the Print Screen Key

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Find the ⎙ Print Screen key. The location varies by keyboard, but you'll usually find it in the upper-right area to the right of the function (F1-F12) keys. The text on the key may be abbreviated to prt sc, prnt scrn, or similar.
- If the "Print Screen" key has "Prt Sc" below another line of text, you will need to hold down your computer's Fn key while pressing the key for it to work properly.
- If your keyboard has no keys like this, you can also take screenshots using the Windows Snipping Tool. To open it, just press Windows key + Shift + S at the same time.

Section 2 of 5:

Screenshot the Entire Screen

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Press ⊞ Win+⎙ Print Screen at the same time to capture the whole screen. Pressing Windows key and Prt Scr at the same time instantly captures everything on the screen and saves it as an image to a folder called Screenshots, which you'll find in the Pictures folder.
- When you take a screenshot using this method, everything on your screen (except your mouse cursor) will be included in the shot.
- To find your Screenshots folder, just type screenshots into the Windows Search bar and click the Screenshots folder when it appears. The name of the image contains the date it was taken.
- If your Print Screen key requires you to also press the Fn key to use it, press that as well. This is used only when the Print Screen key is shared with another key function.

Section 3 of 5:

Screenshot One Window

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1
Open the window you want to capture. When you use this method, your screenshot will only contain the contents of one window.
- Don't navigate away from the window after opening it. To make sure the window remains in focus, click its title bar at the top.
2
Press Alt+⎙ Print Screen. This saves a snapshot of the open window to your clipboard. Now that you've captured this image, you can paste it into an image editor and save it.
- If your Print Screen key requires you to also press the Fn key to use it, press that as well. This is only necessary if your Print Screen key is shared with another key function.
3
Open the Paint app. You will find it in the Windows Start menu in your program list inside a folder called Windows Accessories. You can also open it by typing paint into the Windows search bar and clicking Paint in the search results.
- If you'd prefer not to save your screenshot as an image to your computer, you can paste it into a file, email message, or into virtually any other app by clicking the desired location and pressing Ctrl + V.
It's the clipboard icon in the upper-left corner of Paint. This pastes your screenshot into the window.
It's in the upper-left corner of the window.
The Screenshots folder is inside your Pictures folder, which you'll find in the left panel. This saves your screenshot to this folder.

Section 4 of 5:

Using the Snipping Tool

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On Windows 11, pressing the Print Screen key brings up the Snipping tool at the top of the screen. If you use Windows 10 or a keyboard without a Print Screen button, press Shift + Windows Key + S instead.
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Select a snipping function. The Snipping Tool has four modes you can use to take a screenshot. Hover your cursor over each of the icons in Snipping Tool to see the name of the tool it represents, then click the one you want to use:
- Rectangular mode: This option allows you to click and drag a rectangle around the area you want to take a screenshot of.
- Freeform mode: This option lets you freeform draw around the area you want to capture.
- Window mode: Click this option to capture a screenshot of a single window.
- Fullscreen mode: This option takes a screenshot of your entire screen.
If you selected the rectangular or freeform modes, draw or click and drag around the area you want to capture. If you selected Window mode, click the window you want to capture. If you select Fullscreen mode, it will take a screenshot automatically.
By default, your screenshots are saved to the "Screenshots" folder in your "Pictures" folder. You can access them in File Explorer.

Section 5 of 5:

Copying a Screenshot

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1
Press ⇧ Shift+⎙ Print Screen on Windows 11 or ⎙ Print Screen on Windows 10. This will copy your entire screen to your clipboard.
- To copy a screenshot of a single window, click the window, then press Alt+⎙ Print Screen instead.
Now that you've copied the screenshot, you can paste it into an image editing program like MS Paint, Photoshop, or GIMP. You can also paste it into a text document such as Word or Google Docs, or even an email or social media post.
This pastes the copied screenshot into the open document or message.^{[1]
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Question

How do I use print screen with Windows 10?

Community Answer

Hold down the Windows button and press PrtSc. The screenshot will automatically be saved to a Screenshots folder in your Pictures. The 'pasting into a program' step is not actually necessary, though if you want to edit it within some program, you can open the saved screenshot in the program the same way you would any other picture.

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I have a PC with Windows 10, I pressed Print Screen plus crtl, start, shift and alt, each individually and in combination. Nothing works. What else can I do?

Community Answer

Try Crtl+Fn+PrtSc if you haven't already. If that doesn't work, try a different keyboard.

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What should you do if you don't have Paint on your computer?

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Go to your browser and download a free paint programme such as NETPaint or similar. You can then use that to edit your screenshots.

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Tips

The "Print Screen" key is useful for preserving copies of online receipts or other important documentation without printing a paper copy.

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You can't print a physical document using the "Print Screen" key.

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