How to Screenshot on Windows
Take a screenshot on Windows 11 with Win+Shift+S, Print Screen, or Snipping Tool, and find where each one saves.
Windows has had screenshot tools for decades, but Microsoft keeps changing the names and adding new ones. Print Screen, Snip and Sketch, Snipping Tool. Each Windows version seems to rename or replace the previous tool.
On Windows 11 there is one shortcut to memorize (Win+Shift+S), one older key that still works (Print Screen), and one full app for delayed and annotated captures (Snipping Tool).
You will know which method fits each job and where every screenshot ends up. We checked these steps against Microsoft's Windows 11 support pages in September 2026.
Quick snip with Win+Shift+S
Win+Shift+S is the screenshot shortcut to learn. Press it and the screen dims, with a small toolbar at the top. Learn the modes by name rather than by position, because the order on that toolbar is not fixed. Rectangle drags a box around any area. Freeform lets you draw any shape. Window captures a specific window. Full screen captures everything. After capturing, the screenshot copies to your clipboard, so you can paste it anywhere with Ctrl+V. On current Windows 11, Snipping Tool also saves every snip automatically to your Screenshots folder, and you can turn that off in its settings. A notification appears in the corner of the screen. Click it to open the screenshot in Snipping Tool for annotation.
Full screen with Print Screen key
The Print Screen key (labeled PrtSc, PrtScn, or Print Screen on different keyboards) captures the entire screen to your clipboard, which is how Microsoft documents it. This includes all monitors if you have multiple displays. On Windows 11 that behavior is tied to a setting, so if pressing the key opens the snipping overlay instead of copying quietly to your clipboard, the toggle in the FAQ below is why. The image is only in your clipboard, so you need to paste it somewhere (Ctrl+V into Paint, Word, email, etc.) to use it. To automatically save the screenshot as a file, press Win+Print Screen instead. The screen flashes briefly and the file saves to your Pictures folder inside a Screenshots subfolder. The files are named Screenshot (1), Screenshot (2), and so on.
Active window only with Alt+Print Screen
If you have multiple windows or monitors and only want to capture the currently focused window, press Alt+Print Screen. This captures only the active (frontmost) window and copies it to your clipboard. Paste with Ctrl+V wherever you need it. Use it on a multi-monitor setup, where a full-screen capture would grab every display at once. The capture includes the window title bar and borders but nothing behind or around the window.
Use Snipping Tool for timed and annotated captures
Search for "Snipping Tool" in the Start menu and pin it to your taskbar if you use it frequently. Snipping Tool offers the same capture modes as Win+Shift+S and adds a delay, which Microsoft documents as 1 to 5 seconds, set from the Delay menu or with Alt+D. The delay is how you capture anything that disappears when you touch the keyboard or mouse, like hover tooltips, dropdown menus, and right-click menus. After capture, Snipping Tool provides built-in annotation tools including a pen, highlighter, ruler, and cropping.
Good to know: To capture a right-click menu, press Alt+D in Snipping Tool and choose a 5-second delay, then select New. Open the menu within those 5 seconds. When the screen turns gray, draw around the area you want.
Record your screen with Xbox Game Bar
Press Win+G to open the Xbox Game Bar overlay. Despite the name, it works for recording any application, not just games. Click the capture widget's record button (circle icon) or press Win+Alt+R to start recording the active window. Press Win+Alt+R again to stop. Recordings save to your Videos folder inside a Captures subfolder as MP4 files. Note that Game Bar records individual application windows rather than your whole desktop. For the desktop, File Explorer, or any region you care to draw, Windows has a second built-in recorder. Snipping Tool captures video. Open it and select Record then New, or press Win+Shift+R, drag out the area you want, and select Start. Select Stop when you are done. That covers recording a region or the whole desktop without installing anything else.
Organize and find your screenshots
Screenshots end up in different places depending on how you capture them. Win+Print Screen saves to Pictures > Screenshots folder. Xbox Game Bar recordings save to Videos > Captures folder. Win+Shift+S copies to your clipboard and, on current Windows 11, also saves to your Screenshots folder unless you have switched automatic saving off in Snipping Tool's settings. Snipping Tool saves wherever you choose in the Save dialog. If you take lots of screenshots, set up a dedicated folder and save everything there manually so you always know where to look.
Start with Win+Shift+S for everyday captures, and open Snipping Tool when you need a delay, annotation, or a video clip. If a screenshot seems to vanish, check your clipboard and the Pictures > Screenshots folder before you take it again. If you also use a Mac, our guide on how to screenshot on a Mac covers the shortcuts there.
Questions we get asked about this
Answers from experience, not a textbook.
The destination depends on the method. Win+Shift+S copies to your clipboard (paste with Ctrl+V), and on current Windows 11 Snipping Tool also saves it automatically to your Screenshots folder. Win+Print Screen auto-saves to your Pictures > Screenshots folder. Regular Print Screen and Alt+Print Screen only copy to clipboard. Snipping Tool lets you choose where to save. The clipboard contents are lost when you copy something else, so paste or save promptly.
Win+Shift+S lets you draw a rectangle around exactly one monitor. Alt+Print Screen captures whatever window is currently active. If you want a quick way to capture exactly one full monitor, the easiest method is to maximize a window on that monitor, then use Alt+Print Screen.
Windows does not include a built-in scrolling capture tool. For webpages, the easiest option is browser-based. In Microsoft Edge, press Ctrl+Shift+S and select "Capture full page." In Firefox, right-click and select "Take Screenshot" then "Save Full Page." Chrome has no menu option for it, but its developer tools do. Press Ctrl+Shift+I, then Ctrl+Shift+P, type "full size screenshot", and choose Capture full size screenshot. For other applications, third-party tools like ShareX or Greenshot offer scrolling capture.
Yes, on Windows 11. Go to Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Keyboard and turn on "Use the Print screen key to open screen capture." On older Windows 11 builds, the same toggle is under Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard. After enabling this, pressing Print Screen alone opens the snipping toolbar instead of capturing to clipboard. This makes Print Screen work like Win+Shift+S.
Plain Print Screen gives no sign that it worked. Microsoft describes it as placing a snapshot of the whole screen in your clipboard, and it saves no file. Paste with Ctrl+V into Paint, a document, or an email to see it. To get a saved file instead, press Win+Print Screen, which files it in Pictures > Screenshots. If the key opens the snipping toolbar instead, the setting in the FAQ above is turned on.
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