How to Take a Screenshot in Microsoft Windows

Methods:  Taking a Full Screen Screenshot

If you’ve got a problem with a program in Windows, you may be wondering how to show someone the errors you’re receiving. Luckily, taking a screenshot of your current display is just a quick keystroke away.  Follow this guide to take a screenshot of your whole screen, a specific window, or any section of the display you want.

> Method 1: Taking a Full Screen Screenshot

1. Press the "Print Screen" (⎙ PrtScr) key on your keyboard. This will capture an image of your entire screen and copy it to the clipboard. The dimensions of the image will be the same as your desktop resolution.

• The ⎙ PrtScr button may be labeled "PrtScn", "Prnt Scrn", "Print Scr", or something similar. On most keyboards, the button is usually found between F12and Scroll ⇩. On laptop keyboards, you may have to press the Fn or "Function" key to access "Print Screen".
• You will not receive any confirmation that the screenshot has been taken.

2. Paste the screenshot. 
Once you’ve made the screenshot,  you will need to paste it to a program in order to see it. The most common way to paste it is into a Paint file.  This will allow you to save it as an image file that can be transferred to others.

• Open Paint from the Accessories section in your Start menu. With a new blank canvas open, press ^ Ctrl+V to paste the image onto the canvas. You can also open the Edit menu and select Paste, or right-click on the canvas and select Paste.
• Click File, then Save to set the name and file type of the image. The most common file types are JPG and PNG. The recommended format for screenshots is PNG, due to the high quality and small file size.
• You can also paste the screenshot into other programs, such as Word or into the body of an email. Simply open the program that you want to paste the image into and press ^ Ctrl+V.

3.  Save a full-screen screenshot directly to a file in Windows 8.  When you press⌘ Win+⎙ PrtScr, you will save a full-screen screenshot directly to a file without having to paste it into another program first. The file is saved to the Screenshots folder in your Pictures folder. If the Screenshots folder does not exist, Windows will create one.

• The picture is saved in PNG format.
• Screenshots are automatically labeled "Screenshot", and a number will appear in parentheses for each consecutive screenshot.

Tips

• Some people who take a lot of screenshots may want to download a program to make the process easier.
• On laptop keyboards, the ⎙ PrtScr key might be combined with another key. This means that you have to press a Fn key or "Function" key to access it. Such a key is usually found on the bottom row of the keyboard.
• For those with Microsoft OneNote, pressing ⌘ Win+S brings up the option to take a rectangular snip of the screen and it appear as an image in OneNote. This works even in Windows XP, which does not have the snipping tool.
• If you're going to put the screenshot on a website, make sure that the file doesn't exceed limits on the file size.
• The Windows Snipping tool does not come with all editions of Windows. You can use this free Snipping tool clone instead.
• If you wish, you can also download and use Jing to take screenshots and videos that are immediately available to upload and share on the web.

Warnings

• Screenshots will not show the mouse cursor.
• Screenshots may not show content being played in Windows Media Player.
• Some people will be annoyed if you email them a large attachment. Remember to crop and convert.

• Saving a screenshot in some file types (such as bitmaps) will result in a very large file. Because of this it's highly recommended to use the PNG format.