How Do I Capture A Screenshot On My Pc

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  1. How Do I Capture A Screenshot On My Pc Windows 7
  2. How Do You Screenshot On A Computer
  3. How To Take A Screenshot Windows 10
Categorized under Windows

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Capture-a-screenshot

You can take a screenshot of any platform, including Mac OS, Linux, iOS, Android, and Windows isn't an exception. In a previous post, I've introduced a Print Screen Mac guide, to present ways you can use to capture a screenshot on your Mac. Today, I'm going to show you how to take a screenshot on Windows computers.

A screenshot will be taken when you press a particular key or combination of keys on your keyboard. You can also use built-in or third-party programs to assist you to capture a screenshot of your computer screen.

How do I take a screen capture in Windows 10? You can take a screenshot of your computer screen using the steps below. Your screenshot will be copied to the clipboard and saved to the Screenshots folder in your Pictures library. PC: Set up your screen the way you want it to appear for your screen shot. Press the Windows Icon key + PrtSc to.

  1. How to take a screenshot on your smartphone, tablet, notebook or desktop computer.
  2. Hit the PrtScn button/ or Print Scrn button, to take a screenshot of the entire screen: When using Windows, pressing the Print Screen button (located in the top right of the keyboard) will take a screenshot of your entire screen. Hitting this button essentially copies.

Depending on the key, the combination of keys, and applications you use, the screenshot will be stored in different locations.

Methods To Take A Screenshot On Windows Computers

There are many ways you can use to take a screenshot on your Windows PC. However, in this article, I will show you three major solutions to do so.

How To Take A Screenshot On Windows PCs With The Print Screen Key

If someone asks me how to take a screenshot on a Windows computer, I would tell them that I use the Print Screen key (or also known as PrtScr) on my keyboard. It's the simplest method you can use to take a screenshot of the screen of your Windows PC.

Don't know how to use Print Screen key? Here are the instructions:

  1. Look at your keyboard and find Print Screen or PrtScr key – depending on the keyboard.
  2. Press it to take a full-sized screenshot and save to Windows' clipboard.
  3. Press Windows + R, type: MSPaint and then press Enter. Uppercase or lowercase isn't a problem.
  4. Press Ctrl + V to paste the screenshot from the clipboard to Microsoft's Paint.
  5. Crop, resize, add text, or do whatever you want with your screenshot.
  6. Press Ctrl + S, choose the location you want to save the screenshot and then click on the Save button.

That's it!

How To Take A Screenshot On Windows PCs With The 'Windows' Key + PrtScr

This method is quite similar to the way above. However, your computer will take a screenshot and save it directly to the 'Screenshots' folder instead of saving it to Windows' clipboard.

To use this method, you need to press Windows + PrtScr. Your computer will automatically take a full-sized screenshot and save to:

C:UsersLivingDesktopPicturesScreenshots

Note: LivingDesktop is the username of my Windows computer. So the path on your PC should be:

C:Usersyour-Windows-usernamePicturesScreenshots

The simplest way to access the Screenshots folder is:

  1. Press Windows + E.
  2. Look at the left sidebar and click on 'Pictures'.
  3. Double-click on the 'Screenshots' folder.

Once you have accessed the Screenshot folder, you will find your recent screenshot images there. Choose a screenshot file, right-click on it and select 'Edit' to open it in Microsoft's Paint to crop, resize or add texts.

How To Take A Screenshot On Windows PCs With The Snipping Tool

You might not know that Microsoft added a Snipping tool to Windows OS since they launched Vista. Since then, it's been part of the operating system and hasn't got any new features yet, just a few bug fixes.

The Snipping tool allows you to take a screenshot of:

  • The entire screen.
  • Rectangular area.
  • A free-form area.
  • An open window.

All you need to do is to choose the mode, and move your cursor to select the area.

That's it!

Also Read: How To Take A Screenshot On A Mac?

With the Snipping tool, you can quickly annotate with the Pen or Highlighter. You can also remove things you have added with the Eraser, one by one. Further, you can send the screenshot to a friend through email, as well as save it as PNG, JPG, GIF, and HTML.

How Do I Capture A Screenshot On My Pc Windows 7

However, you can't use the Snipping Tool to take a screenshot that involves mouse movements when running Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8, 8.1. To take a screenshot of something like that, such as tooltips or pop-up menus, you will need to use the Print Screen key.

Luckily, the Snipping tool in Windows 10 has a 'Delay' feature, which allows you to take a screenshot of pop-up menus and tooltips.

To use it, follow these instructions:

  • Open the Snipping tool.
  • Click on the Delay option, choose the number of seconds you would like to wait until the screenshot is taken, from the drop-down list.
  • Click on the arrow next to 'New' and select the type of the screenshot you want to take.
  • You will have up to five seconds to set up the screenshot, depending on the number of seconds of the delay you selected.
  • Once the time has passed, your Windows screen will fade out so you can move your cursor to choose the area of the screenshot.

After reading this article, I hope you will know how to take a screenshot on Windows computers, by using both the Print Screen key and Snipping tool.

If you have any questions regarding this article, don't hesitate to ask by using the comment form below. How to draw a 3d model.


Taking a screenshot is more important than you may believe! First of all, it is an excellent way to get all needed information about a project or details as soon as possible. In essence, a screenshot is a picture of your computer screen. Maybe you have a lot of applications that require this type of picture, so it is a good idea to know a few ways how to achieve it.

Taking a screenshot is also useful if you want to use a picture that is copyright protected. When you take a screenshot, it won't be the same picture, so you can use it. Even Amazon allows using pictures like that. Anyway, here are the best and the simplest methods for taking a screenshot on your PC.

How to Take Screenshot Easily

1. Using PrtSc and Paint

The most common and the simplest method of them all is using PrtSc key. It is located on the right side of your keyboard, next to the F12 key. It stands for the print screen and it has been available since early versions of Windows. Steps are:

  1. Press PrtSc.
  2. Open Paint (free software available on all Windows platforms used today).
  3. Paste or press Ctrl+V.
  4. You will see the screenshot.
  5. Use the crop function to remove the edges (optional).
  6. Save the file.

It is recommended to save the file in JPEG format, due to the fact it is the most commonly used. Keep in mind that Paint will offer you to save it in PNG format, so make sure you change it, before saving the file. There are also a lot of possible customization possibilities Paint offers, such as using pencils, adding text, changing the resolution and etc.

2. Using Snipping Tool

This is a similar method to the aforementioned one, but it uses different software. However, it may be the fastest way here, and it allows you to send the screenshot as an email. Steps are:

  1. Open Snipping Tool.
  2. Click on New.
  3. Now, you will see that when you move our cursor, it will be cross, rather than a conventional arrow.
  4. Select the entire screen or the part of the screen you want to take a screenshot.
  5. It will instantly appear as a picture.
  6. Save the file and you are done.

In this case, there are no a lot of editing methods, but you can use a pencil to add drawings or text.

3. Capture a screenshot with One Drive


Microsoft One Drive is a cloud storage that allows you to keep all your data safe and sound, on a server. It is a powerful tool that comes integrated into Windows 10. If you have an older version, you will have to download the software, register and use it. This procedure takes just a few minutes and you are done.

Once you have One Drive, you should configure it. Click on the icon (right click) and go to settings. Here, you will find autosave tab. Make sure the automatically save screenshots I capture to One Drive is checked. Then you are ready to go. Steps are:

  1. Just click on the Print Screen button.
  2. Confirm and you are done.

You can use the Print Screen+ ALT key as well.

This method is especially useful if you want to save a high number of screenshots in a short period of time. All of them will be saved in the same folder on One Drive.

4. Take a screenshot with PicPick

PicPick is a free software that allows you to take a screenshot of your computer screen. However, you will have to download it. Once installed, it should be used as follows.

  1. Open PicPick.
  2. Choose the selection. In this case, you will select Screen Capture.
  3. Select the parts or the entire screen.
  4. Save the screenshot.

In some cases, Paint or Snipping Tool may not work, usually, when they are damaged by the viruses or their files are corrupted. If this happens, this software is perfect for you. In addition, it also offers certain editing capabilities, such as cropping the photo, adding text and etc.

5. Taking a screenshot without saving it

Some users will want to take a screenshot, but they don't have a need to save it as the picture. It is commonly used as an email attachment or as inserting pictures into Microsoft Office Word. In both cases, email and Word, the procedure is the same.

  1. Choose the window you want to take picture of.
  2. Press Print Screen.
  3. Open email client or Word.
  4. Press Ctrl+V. This shortcut stands for paste option and it can be used in all situations.

The Easiest Way to Take Screenshot in PC

6. Capture screen on Windows 10 or 8


If you are using Windows 8 or 10, you can take a screenshot without the help of any software. This feature has been integrated into the Windows 8 and it has remained standard ever since. However, the entire screenshot will be saved, which eliminates the possibility of making any adjustments. Eventually, you can open the photo in Paint or Photoshop and edit it. Steps for taking a screenshot of this method are:

  1. Choose the screen or window which you want to save as a photo.
  2. Press Windows logo key and Print Screen button at the same time on keyboard.
  3. Your screenshot will be saved in picture folder, into screenshots subfolder. All additional screenshots will be saved here as well.

This works only on the Windows OS versions mentioned at the beginning. It won't work on Windows 7 nor Vista.

Final Conclusion

How Do You Screenshot On A Computer

Try to remember that when you press Print Screen button, a screenshot will be copied to the clipboard. Next time you copy something, even text, a screenshot will be deleted. Also, when you shut down or reboot your computer, a screenshot will be lost as well.

How To Take A Screenshot Windows 10

All of these were a simple and useful method that doesn't require any, special skills. You will need literally one minute in order to take a screenshot you need. It will be ready to be used instantly.





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