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How to Take Screenshots in Windows 10

You can take a screenshot in different ways. There is a little trick in Windows 10 that helps to take screenshots faster than in previous versions.

The Windows 10 operating system was launched by Microsoft in July 2015. This OS is absolutely compatible with tablets, smartphones, and computers, and in all respects surpassed the previous version of Windows 8.1.

Here is the extension guide on Windows 10 screenshot, wan to know how to take screenshots in game or PrtScn button not working? answers to all these questions are here. Keep reading.

What Is a Screenshot?

A screenshot is a capture of what is happening on a computer’s (or other devices) screen and saved in a static image format (for example, JPG, GIF, PNG, etc.). In essence, this is a picture of the screen. A small file – compared to video – allows you to quickly and visually report errors, application performance and open pages on a PC.

Why Would You Need a Screenshot?

Taking a screenshot may be needed in different cases. For example, to save information from websites that prohibit copying Or when you have technical difficulties and you need to demonstrate an error by asking a question on the forum, etc. Using screenshots allows you to clearly illustrate all the steps to achieve a specific action. They are also used in advertisements to demonstrate the quality of video games.

How To Take a Screenshot In Windows 10?

Take Screenshot on Windows 10

There are several methods to take a screenshot. The sole purpose of providing several different methods of taking a screenshot is to make various options available for a user. Different users might have different criteria or requirement in case of a screenshot. Some users might want only a specific part of the screen or someone would like to not spend much time in the procedure etc. Hence, Microsoft has provided several different methods where each has some advantage of its own.

Taking a Screenshot With “Print Screen” Key

This method is focused on the users who want to quickly save a screenshot of the complete screen without wasting any time. In this method, all you have to do is press a specific combination of keys on the window which you wish to save as a screenshot and the screenshot will be saved in a designated folder. This method requires a “Print Screen” key on your keyboard. This button is usually located after the “Function keys”. Desktop users can use the “Print Screen” key directly, but laptop users might have to use the “Fn” key combination to use the feature as the key might co-exist with a function key. There are a few keyboards which lack the “Print Screen” key but worry not. Even if you don’t have the key on your keyboard you can still take screenshots by various other methods or by using a third-party application. we will explain how to do that in the latter part of the article. In this part, we will focus on various methods to take a screenshot using the “Print Screen” button.

Method 1: Using “Print Screen” to copy the content on clipboard

This is the easiest method of taking a screenshot. The basic feature of the “Print Screen” key is to copy all the data being displayed in the screen at the moment as an image to clipboard. The “Print Screen” copies the whole window regardless of the part you require. Hence, if you need a specific portion of the screen, you must crop the image afterward in any photo editing app like MS paint. Also, the “Print Screen” key just saves the screenshot in the clipboard, which you must paste in MS paint or other app and to save permanently. If it is not saved, the screenshot will be deleted from your clipboard after you reboot the system or some other similar circumstances.

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To take a screenshot using the “Print Screen” key, follow these steps:

  1. First, make sure you are on the window which needs to save. Also, check whether any important content is blocked by some other window or not. If it is, remove the other window aside or minimize it to take a proper screenshot.
  2. Now once the window is cleared, just press “Print Screen” key once.
  3. Now, open your photo editing application. We would prefer MS Paint to prevent loss of quality of the image.
  4. Now, just press “Ctrl + V” to paste the screenshot on MS Paint.
  5. Now, you can save the screenshot at any location that you desire by using the “Save as” option in MS Paint.

You can also crop the screenshot according to your requirement in MS Paint before saving.

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Method 2: Using “Windows key+Print screen” combination to save a screenshot.

This method is focused on those users who want to save the screenshots quickly. This is the fastest method to take a screenshot on Windows 10. In this method, the screenshot will be saved automatically at a designated location after taking the screenshot. You won’t have to use any other application to process the screenshot.

to take the screenshot using this method simply follow these steps:

  1. First, make sure the screenshot content is properly visible as mentioned in the previous method.
  2. Now, once you are certain that the screenshot will be clear, press “Windows key+Print Screen” simultaneously.
  3. By default, there is an animation provided for this feature. You will notice that the screen will go dim for a moment, confirming the screenshot is successfully saved.
  4. Now, you can access the screenshot by locating the screenshot save folder.

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Windows 10 Screenshot Default Folder/Location

In Windows 10, a specific folder is provided which stores all the screenshots at one place. This feature is included to create ease of access to the users so that you can easily locate the screenshot and use it for your desired purpose.

By default, the screenshot save location is: “C:\Users\*Username*\Pictures\Screenshots”  where *username* is replaced by your username in your system.

You can access this folder by simply copying the address provided above and paste it in the address bar of file explorer. Just make sure you replace the *username* with your current account name.
To do so, follow these steps:

  1. First, open the file explorer/This PC.
    This PC
  2. Now, click on the address bar shown in the image.
    This PC address bar
  3. Now, copy the address provided above and paste it in the address bar. Replace *Username* with your user name.
    Address of screenshot folder
  4. Then, Simply press enter. This will redirect you to the screenshot folder.
    Screenshot folder

If you are unaware of your username, you can simply follow the following path to trace the screenshot folder location.
This PC > Local Disk (C:) > Users > *Your username folder* > Pictures > Screenshots

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Taking a Screenshot Without Print Screen(PrtScn) Key

As mentioned above, there are certain keyboards and laptops which lack the “print screen” key. If you are stuck in such a situation, don’t worry. You can still take a screenshot without the “Print Screen” key. There are several methods to do so.

Method 1: Taking the screenshot using “Shift+Windows key+S”

This is a rather a newer method to take a screenshot in Windows 10 which was released with Windows 10 creators update 1703 (April 2017). This method is best suitable for those who require only a specific portion of the screenshot. Rather than going through the process of cropping a screenshot after saving it, you can simply highlight a specific portion of your screen while taking the screenshot and save that particular portion only. This method is quite easy and quick. All have to do is use the key combination “Shift+Windows key+S”. When you press these keys, the screen is shaded and the mouse pointer changes to a “cross”. You can utilize that by holding down the left mouse button, thus selecting any rectangular area of the screen whose screenshot you want to take. After the mouse button is released, the selected area of the screen is placed on the clipboard and can be pasted in a graphics editor or in a document directly.

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In Windows 10 1809 (October 2018), this method has been further updated and is now a Fragment and Sketch tool that allows you to create including screenshots of an arbitrary area of the screen and perform their simple editing.

To use these methods, follow these steps:

  1. When you are on the screen which is to be saved, press “Shift+Windows key+S” simultaneously.
  2. You will notice a change on the screen. The screen will be blurred a little bit.
  3. Now, you simply press left click on the screen and drag it around to create a rectangle.
  4. All the content which is present in the rectangle will be selected and copied to the clipboard as an image.
  5. You can paste this image wherever you want.

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Method 2: Using the “Scissors” tool to take the screenshot
Scissors

Windows has a built-in screenshot manager, the Snipping Tool application also knows as “Scissors”. It allows you to take pictures of the entire screen, its individual fragments and selected windows as well. You can simply search “Scissors” in windows search to open the application.

Scissors was available in all version of Windows since Windows 7. Previously, with the help of scissors, it was not possible to take a screenshot of a pop-up window. But in Windows 10, the developers added the function of “deferred snapshot” to make that possible.

To use “Scissors” to manage your screenshots, simply follow this procedure:

  1. To open scissors, just search “Snipping tool” or “Scissors” in windows start menu search. Click on the “Snipping Tool” to open the application.
    Snipping tool search result
  2. Now, you have several different options available in the snipping tool. The first option available is “New”. This works similar to the method mentioned above. All have to do after clicking “New” is left-click and drag across the screen.
    New option in snipping tool
  3. As soon as you leave the left-click, the selected portion will be captured and displayed in a newly opened window.
  4. Now, you can either save the screenshot as it is or you can use the tools provided in the window to edit the screenshot in a certain way e.g., Highlighting a specific portion.
  5. The next option available is “Mode”. In the section, you can select the form of your screenshot. You can select from various choices like Free-form, Rectangular, Window snip, Fullscreen snip, etc.
    Modes in Snipping tool
  6. Another important feature present in the Snipping tool is “Delay”. In some cases, the content you require to save might appear after a certain delay and could not be captured after a certain time frame. This feature can be the best solution for you in such a case. The “Delay” option can be used to set a specific time delay after which the screenshot will be taken.
    Delay feature in Snipping tool
  7. Once you have set the delay, simply click on “New”. The Snipping tool will disappear and open the screenshot window after the particular delay.

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Method 3: Using the PSR to take a screenshot (Steps recorder)

PSR is a tool that allows you to make instructions, which records all your actions and makes screenshots of small sizes. Unfortunately, PSR is not available in all branches of Windows, for example, in the Home version, it most likely does not exist.

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PSR will be useful if you are trying to explain to a familiar computer user what your problem is and if he does not quite understand you. After all, by running this function, you can record all your actions that led to the problem Or you can create a series of instruction as the PSR will record all your actions in the form of text and post screenshots next to it, and in the end, it will create a small archive with all the contents.

To find this function, follow these steps:

  1. Enter “PSR” in the search bar and click the result to open the recorder.
    PSR search result
  2. Now, the PSR window will open.
    Steps recorder window
  3. Now you can simply click on “Start recording” and then “Stop recording” to start and stop the screen recording respectively.
  4. As a result, you will receive an archive in which all your actions with screenshots will be saved.

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Taking In Game Screenshots

Microsoft has also taken care of our fellow gamers by providing a specialized tool called “Windows Game Bar” to record content from Games. The features of this tool include taking a screenshot, recording screen, etc.

To open the Windows game bar, all you have to do is simply press “Windows + G” when you are in a game. This will launch a floating window in your game.
Windows game bar

The game bar consists of five icons as shown in the image above.

  1. The “Xbox” icon can be used to launch the Xbox application.
  2. The second icon can be used to record the last 30 seconds of your gameplay.
  3. The third option is utilized to take a screenshot in the game. You can either click on the icon or use the hotkey “Windows key+Alt+Print Screen”
  4. The fourth icon is provided to start screen recording.
  5. The last icon can be used to launch the Windows game bar configuration.

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Third party applications to take a screenshot

There are some third-party applications available to assist you to take a screenshot.

  1. Gyazo

    If you are not satisfied with the built-in Microsoft functions, try programs from third-party developers. For example, Gyazo. It takes snapshots of selected areas of the screen and stores them on the cloud server. Therefore, you can always access them from any device or quickly share a link to the desired image. It is quite easy to use. All you have to do is create a personal account and download a free client from the Gyazo website. After installing the client, a manager shortcut will appear in the system tray.
    Gyazo icon in system tray
    To take a screenshot, you need to click on the shortcut with the left mouse button and select the desired part of the screen with the cursor. After that, the program will launch a browser and open a page with the captured image in your personal online gallery. Here you can copy the link to it or delete the file from the server.
    Screenshots saved in Gyazo are available in the cloud for four weeks. But for $ 4.99 per month, the service offers unlimited access and several additional features. Some important features are the ability to copy text directly from images, tools for drawing notes, arrows and other shapes, password file protection, etc.

  2. Snagit

    Snagit program has a lot of opportunities and can be useful to solve a number of everyday tasks, one way or another, connected with taking a screenshot or recording video from the screen
    You should take into consideration that Snagit is not free to use application, But the features provided within the application justifies its price.
    Snagit is a pretty good tool which can be used for multiple purposes like scrolling screenshots, specific region selection, screen recording, etc. Snagit has a built-in drawing tool which can be used to edit the screenshots on the go.  The company has provided a free trial period of the application which you use to see the operation parameters for yourself before buying the application. This can be a really useful tool for those who take a lot of screenshots on a daily basis and require quality and integrity at a professional level.

These are the multiple options available in Windows 10 to take a screenshot for various purposes.

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