Where Are Screenshots Saved On Windows 10? The Complete Guide!

Screenshots have been a part of Windows for quite a while now, and it is a good way of saving what is on your screen for later purposes. In this article, I will discuss how to save a screenshot and how to access screenshots on Windows 10.

How To Save A Screenshot And Where Are They Saved In Windows 10?

With every new update, Microsoft makes some changes to the Windows. Last year, a new screenshot tool was introduced that was targeted to replace the popular Snipping tool. Also, a new keyboard shortcut was added to take screenshots as well. Here i will discuss where are screenshots saved on Windows 10.

# Method 1 (Snipping Tool) [Being Phased Out]

First introduced with Windows Vista, snipping tool is still one of the most popular choices to take a screenshot in Windows 10. To open the snipping tool, simply search for the application name in Search.

The default snip shape is a rectangular snip. However, there are additional features of a free form and a full-screen snip, and a fan favorite window snip as well (takes a screenshot of the active window of user’s choosing).

Where are the screenshots saved: The screenshots are not automatically saved, they are just copied to the clipboard. You must manually save before you exit. You can save the screenshots in whatever directory you like.

# Method 2 (Snip & Sketch)

This tool was added last year in an attempt to improve the screenshot experience. This tool has made it easier to access and share the screenshots. Some basic editing tools were also added to the fray.

You can press the New button at the top to take a new screenshot, or click the folder button to open an existing image and edit it using the provided tools.

Surprisingly, the ability to take windowed snips were removed from Snip & sketch, and this is the reason a lot of users still stick to the Snipping Tool.

[Update: Windowed Snip is added in August 2019 Update]

Where are the screenshots saved: Here too the screenshots aren’t saved automatically. You must choose the saving destination when you click the Save button at the top right.

# Method 3 (The New Keyboard Shortcut)

To accompany the snip and sketch, a new shortcut was added.
Pressing the Windows key + Shift + S launches the new snip in Snip and Sketch directly.

# Method 4 (Print Screen Shortcuts)

The Print screen shortcut button is the key to press to take a full-screen screenshot and copy it to the clipboard. Nearly all keyboards nowadays have this button dedicated to taking screenshots.

Where are the screenshots saved: the screenshots are not saved. Instead, they are copied to the clipboard. You need an image editor (MS Paint will work as well) to paste the image and then save it.

# Method 5 (Windows + Print Screen)

To take a full window screenshot, the Print Screen button can be used in combination with the Windows key.

Pressing the Windows key followed by the Print Screen button takes a full window screenshot. The screen will blink for a split second indicating that the screenshot was successfully recorded.

Where are the screenshots saved: the screenshots are saved in the folder C:\Users\[USERNAME]\Pictures\Screenshots

# Method 6 (Alt + Print Screen)

To take a screenshot of the currently active window, you can combine the Print Screen key with the Alt key.

Pressing the Alt key followed by the Print Screen button takes a screenshot of the active window.

Where are the screenshots saved: the screenshot taken by this key combination is not saved automatically. Instead, they are copied to the clipboard. You must use an image editor (or MS Paint) to paste the image and then save it.

# Method 7 (Win + Volume Down)

If you have a Surface product or other Windows tablets, you can take a screenshot using the physical buttons.

On nearly all Windows tablets, you can take a full-screen screenshot by pressing the Windows logo and the Volume Down key simultaneously.

# Method 8 (Screenshots During Gaming)

If you have the Windows game bar on your Windows 10 device, you can take a screenshot of the active window using a keyboard shortcut Windows key + Alt + PrtScn

Where are the screenshots saved: the Screenshots taken using this method are stored in the following folder:

C:\Users\[USERNAME]\Videos\Captures

Moving The Default Windows 10 Screenshots Folder

All the screenshots that you take from the native screenshot tools that are saved automatically are stored in the Screenshots folder or the Captures folder.

But you can change this location very easily to change the default location of where the snaps will be saved.

• Right-click on the Screenshots or the Captures folder and select Properties.
• Under the Location tab, click on Move to select the new default location of the Screenshots folder.

Conclusion

Screenshots are an effective way of saving some vital information from the screen using just a few key combinations. Now you know how to take screenshots and where are screenshots saved on Windows 10 by reading the complete guide above. Comment below for a further discussion on the same.