Feb 4, 2019 - Learn how to capture and save a screenshot image of a custom sized area of the screen, a window, or the entire desktop in Windows 7, 8,. Apr 03, 2019 Windows 10 October 2018 Update introduced a new way to take screenshots last year. Snipping Tool is out; Snip & Sketch is in. (Actually, the Snipping Tool is.
If you’ve been a Windows PC user for any length of time, chances are you’ve had to take a screenshot. The simplest (and one of the oldest) methods is to hit the Print Screen (PrtScn) button next to the F12 key, open your preferred photo editor, and paste the screenshot in using Ctrl-V. But it’s not the only method, and not even the most useful, depending on what you’re trying to accomplish.
First, you can use the Alt key to take a screenshot of the foreground application, even when multiple applications are open at the same time. The first image below shows my desktop with four different application windows open.
If I use Alt-PrtScn, I can capture just the image in the top right-hand corner.
This image is of my Firefox memory woes pre-Firefox Quantum.
Alternatively, you can use the PrtScn key and the Windows key together to take a screenshot of your active desktop and save that image to the PicturesScreenshots directory, as shown below. If you choose this method, images will be automatically numbered as Screenshot(1).png, Screenshot(2).png, etc. Be advised that automatically saving images as PNG files can result in a very large screenshot folder if you don’t convert them to other file formats (depending, of course, on what you screenshot). Also, keep in mind that Microsoft doesn’t stop numbering your screenshots higher, even if you delete some of them. If Screenshot(13).png is your highest number, and you delete that file, the next screenshot created will be Screenshot(14).png, not Screenshot(13).png.
Using the Windows Key screenshots and saves the document, albeit with a standardized file name.
If you don’t have a dedicated PrtScn key on a tablet or laptop, you can typically use the function key (Fn) to activate these capabilities in the same way. In this case, the PrtScn key label will be written under another capability on the same key. So instead of hitting PrtScn, you hit Fn+PrtScn to take a screenshot, Fn+Alt+PrtScn to take a screenshot of one specific window, etc.
Those of you with Microsoft Surface Touch Covers or Type Covers have two alternate methods available. Fn+Spacebar will take a generic screenshot, while Fn+Alt+Spacebar takes a screenshot of a specific window. The Windows Logo + Volume Down button will take a Surface screenshot in tablet mode.
Finally, you can use the Snipping Tool to take screenshots of any visible section of any image you have available. To launch it, simply type “Snipping” after hitting the Windows Key.
You can set a delay of up to five seconds and pick any section of any window (or groups of windows) you want to target. Once you do, a new window will option with various options and your snip located in the center.
Once snipped, you can apply a highlight to parts of the image, mark it up with a pen, or adjust various program options. Snip window sizes can also be adjusted to be free-form, square, rectangular, or full-screen depending on your needs.
Now read: Windows 10: The Best Hidden Features, Tips, and Tricks
[For Windows 10 users - I have consolidated this post into Capturing screen contents - the PrntScrn key, Win-Shift-S, the Snipping tool and Screenshots - Wiki]
Setting and checking the Screenshots folder
1 In Windows 10, the key combination WindowsKey+PrntScrn sends a png picture of your screen to your Screenshots folder. When this happens, the screen momentarily dims slightly to tell you that you are doing it.
If your PrntScrn key has two jobs then you may need to press the Fn key as well -> Fn-WinKey-PrntScrn. Normally, the keyboard maker will have indicated this by labelling PrntScrn in blue and the Fn key in blue but if there is any doubt your computer manual ought to explain this.
Screenshots produces a whole screen picture:-
Pictures quality reduced for ease of posting [the originals can be blown up to double normal size before degradation becomes apparent]
If you have a second monitor set up in Extended desktop mode then Screenshots will capture them both:-
2 The Screenshots folder is not created until the first time that you use this key combination. The folder is created at
%UserProfile%PicturesScreenshots
[you can paste this entry into the File explorer address bar to get straight to it]
3 Relocating the Screenshots folder
3.1 If you right-click on the Screenshots folder, select Properties & select the Location tab then you can relocate it to another folder if you want to.
3.2 A dialog box appears and it asks whether or not you want to move the contents of the current Screenshots folder to the new location. If you choose to do so then the original folder is removed in the process. If you choose not to move its existing contents then they and the existing Screenshots folder itself remain where they are but they no longer have any significance to the system - new screenshots will be sent to the new location.
3.3 I normally have mine set to dump the screenshots on my Desktop because that is my general clearing house for work in progress. So, I entered D:Desktop [%UserProfile%Desktop] as my new location.
3.4 Because I have chosen to use a folder that is itself a relocatable user folder, Windows will no longer help me to relocate it again [it cannot cope with multiple user folders being set to the same folder path].
3.5 Had I chosen to relocate it to D:DesktopDumps or another unique folder then I could change my mind later on and repeat step 3.1 to relocate it again.
4 Working in the Registry - Preparations
4.1 If you have had problems with user folder relocations then you can check in the Registry to find out where the system has set this folder. The same procedure can also be used for your other user folders.
4.2 It is also possible to alter the setting directly in the Registry.
4.3 Naturally, all the usual warnings about editing the Registry apply - you can destroy your system if you make a mistake. There are guides in the forum about what to do before editing the Registry - search within the Windows section of the forum for Edit Registry or RegEdit or regedt32 [this is the current name of the utility that is used to edit it but most people just refer to it using its old name of RegEdit].
4.4 Personally, before editing the Registry, I make a new System image and I check that my Recovery drive or installation disk still works [that it can still boot the computer]. If it all went horribly wrong, I could boot from the Recovery drive & restore the system image so I could have the system back in its previous state within twenty minutes.
4.5 In addition, go to C:UsersYourUserName to check what the YourUserName folder name is. This is the user name you are going to be looking for in the Registry. It is straightforward for local accounts but might not be obvious if the user account was initially created as an MSAccount rather than a local one.
5 Working in the Registry - ProfileList
5.1 Run %windir%System32regedt32.exe [normally at C:WindowsSystem32regedt32.exe] and give it Admin permission to proceed
5.2 You will notice that there is a section in the Registry called HKey_Current_User but I will be referring to the section HKey_Users instead. The reason for this is that, as far as the Registry is concerned, the Current user is the Admin who gave permission to use RegEdit and not the user who wanted to do so. For this reason, you first need to identify the reference number for your user account [its UserProfile 'GUID'].
5.3 Find you own user profile at
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionProfileList
[getting there is just like working down through folders in File explorer but it is much easier to get lost along the way]
5.4 The short entries S-1-5-18 to -20 are for system entries. You can look but don't touch.
5.5 The longer entries S-1-5-21-nnnnnnnnnnn-1001, S-1-5-21-nnnnnnnnnnn-1002, etc are for the users you created on this computer. You can look but don't touch.
5.6 In the left-hand pane, click on each of these longer entries to find out which shows, in its right-hand pane, the entry C:UsersYourUserName and then note the full entry so you can make sure you are looking at the correct section of the Registry later on. Notice that it is the last four digits [1001, 1002, etc] that distinguish one user account from another.
5.7 To help you get back to the ProfileList later on, click on the RegEdit menu item Favorites then select Add to Favorites. It will suggest the name ProfileList so accept that as it is descriptive of the entry.
6 Working in the Registry - UserShellFolders
6.1 Select the Registry section HKey_Users and work down into your user profile's entry at
HKey_UsersTheFullEntryNotedInStep5.4AboveSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerUser Shell Folders
6.2 The section you are in is shown in the Status bar at the bottom of the window. If the Status bar is not shown then click on the View menu and select Status bar. Double-check that the last four digits [1001, 1002, etc] of the TheFullEntryNotedInStep5.4Above are what you intended. If you made a mistake then get to the right place so you do not accidentally alter another user profile's settings.
6.3 Look in the right-hand pane, there should be many entries that make sense. You'll see, for example, the entry called Personal & it will have the path to your own Documents folder.
6.4 The right-hand pane also has some entries that are called by long serial numbers [GUIDs]. Look for the one called
{B7BEDE81-DF94-4682-A7D8-57A52620B86F}
6.5 The value shown on that line is the path to your Screenshots folder. It might be, for example, %UserProfile%PicturesScreenshots. If you have relocated the Screenshots folder it will show the path you have relocated it to. Mine, for example, is D:Desktop. In fact, several entries in mine show D:Desktop because I have found it convenient to relocate several user folders to my Desktop.
6.6 If you want to change the entry [to relocate the Screenshots folder], then double-click on
{B7BEDE81-DF94-4682-A7D8-57A52620B86F}
and, in the lower part of the 'Edit string' dialog box that appears, type in the full path to the folder you want to use for your screenshots. I might, for example, enter D:Desktop or D:DesktopDumps. Then click on OK and have a final check that you have typed in the path correctly.
6.7 Before leaving, add this location to RegEdit's Favorites to help you get back here later on.
6.8 Just to help you with any future tasks to do with user folders, look in the left-hand pane several lines up from UserShellFolders and you will see an entry ShellFolders. You might need to work in there in the future. Not all entries from UserShellFolders appear in ShellFolders [and vice versa]. You might wish to add ShellFolders to RegEdit's Favorites as well. I do not understand the difference between UserShellFolders and ShellFolders; I just work in the one that has the entry that I want to alter.
6.9 Leave RegEdit by clicking on the File menu then Exit.
6.10 The change should have taken effect immediately [you do not need to reboot]. Use File explorer to get to your new Screenshots folder then take a screenshot to make sure it is being saved there correctly.