Whether you’re downloading Windows 11 (find out how to download Windows 11 for free) or sticking with Windows 10 for a while longer, it’s easy to take a screenshot to capture part of or the entirety of your display. Maybe you want to save an online receipt, or maybe you want to capture a particularly noteworthy gaming feat to show off to your friends. Windows 10 and 11 offer the same built-in tools (Snip & Sketch and Snipping Tool), and several keyboard shortcuts will let you take a screenshot in an instant.
Go to Settings and then Accessibility. Select the setting for Keyboard. Scroll down the screen and turn on the switch for “Use the Print screen button to open screen snipping” (Figure A). Next, position the window or app for which you want to take a screenshot.
The Snipping tool
The Snipping tool has been around since Windows Vista. Windows has warned for a couple years that the Snipping Tool is moving away, but it’s still kicking around, including in Windows 11. The Snipping Tool has been delisted from the list of apps from the Start menu, but it’s easily accessible via the search bar.
Click the New button to begin the screenshot process. The default snip type is a rectangular snip, but you can also take free-form, full-screen and window snips.
The Snipping Tool does not automatically save your screenshots — you will need to manually save them in the tool before you exit — and it does automatically copy your captures to the clipboard.
Once you’ve taken your screenshot, it’ll be copied to your clipboard so you can share it right away. And if you click the preview that pops up in the bottom-right corner of your screen, you’ll be able to save and edit it.
