Capturing screenshots is a vital skill—whether you’re saving important information, sharing content, or troubleshooting a problem.
Windows 11 offers multiple built-in methods and tools, along with third-party apps, to make taking screenshots quick and easy. In this guide, we’ll walk you through all the best ways to capture screenshots on your Windows 11 device.
Also Read: How To Take Steam Screenshots? – Steam Screenshot Button
Process To Capture Screenshots on Windows
Follow this step by step guide to capture sceenshots on Windows.
1. Press Print Screen Key
Taking screenshots using the Print Screen key is the most traditional method, allowing you to manually paste and edit the image in an application
- Press the PrtScn key to capture the entire screen.
- Open an image editing app like Microsoft Paint or Adobe Photoshop.
- Paste the image by pressing Ctrl + V or using the paste option.
- Save the image if needed.
- To capture only the active window, press Alt + PrtScn and paste it into an app.
2. Press Windows Key + Print Screen
If you want to take a screenshot and save it automatically to your local drive, this method is the easiest.
- Press Windows Key + PrtScn to capture the full screen.
- The screen will briefly dim, and the screenshot will be saved in Pictures then Screenshots.
- The image is also copied to the clipboard for pasting.
Also Read: Extract Images From A Video On Windows 11
3. Set Up PrtScn to Automatically Save to OneDrive
This method saves your screenshots directly to OneDrive, eliminating the need for manual pasting.
- Click the OneDrive cloud icon in the taskbar.
- Click on the gear icon then select Settings.
- Go to the Sync and backup tab.
- Toggle on the Save Screenshots I capture to OneDrive option.
- Screenshots will now be saved automatically in the OneDrive/Pictures/Screenshots folder.
4. Use the Game Bar to Capture Screenshots
Gamers and content creators can use the Windows Game Bar to capture screenshots and recordings.
- Press Windows Key + G to open the Game Bar.
- Click the Capture window and tap the camera icon.
- Your Screenshots will be saved in this default location
C:\Users\your username\Videos\Captures
- You can also open the Game bar, then, check the gallery. Then click on a particular image and then select File location.
- You will be redirected to the Captured folder inside Videos.
- Alternatively, you can press the Windows Key + Alt + PrtScn to capture without opening the Game Bar.
5. Use the Snipping Tool
Windows 11’s Snipping Tool provides more flexibility, allowing you to capture specific areas of the screen.
- Press Windows Key + Shift + S to open the Snipping Tool.
- Click on the Snipping Mode icon to choose a screenshot mode.
- With rectangle mode, you can Drag to select an area.
- Selecting the Window mode, you can click on the window to capture.
- With the Full-screen mode, you can capture the whole screen.
- Using the Freeform, you can draw any shape to capture.
- The screenshot is copied to the clipboard and can be edited in the Snipping Tool.
- You can also edit the image in Paint. For that, select the image and you can choose Edit in Paint. If you want to save the image, you can save it by pressing Ctrl + S.
- You can also choose to save the image, by clicking on the Save As option.
- Click on the “File Name” field and type a name for the image.
- Then click the “Save as Type” drop-down menu and choose the desired image format.
- You can select the PNG format for a good-quality image. Then, click on the “Save.” Option and your image will be saved.
6. Use Third-Party Tools
In addition to built-in options, third-party tools offer a simple and efficient way to capture screenshots.
- Lightshot is such a popular and easy-to-use third-party screenshot tool for Windows. Now, here’s how you can use Lightshot to take screenshots.
- Go to Lightshot’s official website.
- Download the installer and install the software on your PC.
- Once installed, Lightshot will replace the default Print Screen key function.
- You can also launch it from the system tray by clicking on the Lightshot icon.
- Press the Print Screen key on your keyboard.
- Your screen will dim, and you can click and drag to select the area you want to capture.
- After selecting the area, you’ll see a toolbar with options to draw, highlight, add text, or arrows.
- Click the Save icon to store it on your computer.
- You can also use the Copy button and click on the Upload button to share via a unique link.
Wrapping Up
And that’s it! That was how to take screenshots on Windows 11. We hope one of these methods has worked for you. If you found this guide helpful, leave a comment below to share which method helped you fix the issue.
