How to take a screenshot on Windows 11
By default, Windows 11 machines use Microsoft's Snipping Tool to take screenshots.
How to open Snipping Tool
Windows laptops and external keyboards may include a keyboard button to use as a shortcut for taking a screenshot. Look for a physical key on your keyboard that shows something like the following:
- Print Screen
- PrtSc / prt sc
- An icon of a camera or scissors over a rectangle with a dashed border
- Other combinations or variations of the above
You can also open the Snipping Tool from the Windows Start menu. In your Windows taskbar, look for the Start / Windows logo button. Click that, then search for Snipping Tool. As you type, Windows will automatically suggest matches, so you may not need to type the full name.
Snipping Tool may also be pinned on your taskbar. Click the application's scissors icon to open it.
How to use Snipping Tool to capture a screenshot
Depending on how you opened Snipping Tool, you may see different controls when it opens. If you don't see the same windows as in the first steps below, skip to step 3 which talks about the screen darkening.
- Choose your preferred snipping mode by clicking the icon to the right of the toggle between still image and video recording.
- Click + New when you're ready to take your screenshot.
- For most snipping modes, your screen will darken and you'll see a small toolbar at the top of the screen.
- You can adjust the snipping mode by clicking on the icon between the camera icon and the close icon.
- If you selected "Full screen" as your snipping mode, you won't see the screen darken; your entire screen will be captured immediately instead.
- Follow the instructions for your chosen snipping mode to capture the desired screenshot:
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Rectangle: Left click and drag your mouse to draw a rectangle over the area of your screen that you'd like to capture.
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Window: Hover over the windows that are open on your screen. When the correct window is lit up, left click once to capture it.
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Full screen: Selecting this mode will immediately capture your whole screen. You may see your screen flash once to indicate it's been captured.
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Freeform: Left click and drag your mouse to draw a shape of your choice over the area of your screen that you'd like to capture.
- At the bottom right of your screen, look for a notification from Snipping Tool with a "Markup and share" button. Click the notification to open the Snipping Tool window and see the captured image.
- If you need to crop or annotate the screenshot, you can do so using the toolbar options above the captured image.
- Click Save as to choose where to save your screenshot on your computer.
More information
- Use Snipping Tool to capture screenshots
- Snipping Tool can also be used to record a video of your screen. If you'd like to take a screen recording instead of a screenshot, click the side facing video camera icon in the application's toolbar.
