How to Take a Screenshot in Windows OS Easily

Taking a screenshot is one of the useful features in our gadgets. A lot of people nowadays are using this feature. This is really helpful especially in making tutorials, presentation, and many more. For teachers, we can use this when we are going to teach about computer works such as word and documents processing in our class or in seminars. By utilizing this, we can enhance a better understanding and learning of our topic. Though many of us know how to do this, some people are still wondering how this thing works. Well, there are a number of different ways on how to take a screenshot in your laptop/PC which is currently running in Windows OS.

1. Snipping Tool

This is actually software which is already installed in most of all Windows OS versions. You can easily take a screenshot by running this kind of program.

To use this tool, click start or press the windows button and type the word "Snipping Tool" to search for the program. Press enter to run it. Click “New” to start the capturing screenshots. The screen will become dull. This is the sign that the tool is ready to “snip” your designated area of the screen. Simply click your mouse and drag it to crop the desired area that you want to capture. Release the mouse button and it will automatically generate a preview of the screenshot. If you want to save it, you can press CTRL + S or you can also click the save button on your screen.

Take note that the default snip type is a rectangular box. You are free to change the mode by clicking it in the screen next to the "New" button in the snipping tool.

2. Print Screen Button

You can also easily capture the entire screen quickly by simply pressing the "Print Screen" button. In some keyboards, this button is labeled as "PrtScn", "PrtSc" or something similar. Take note that in some laptop keyboards, pressing the button will not do anything unless you also press the "Fn" button.

Pressing the "Print Screen" button doesn't mean that the screenshot was already saved. It works like it was only copied in the clipboard, so you have to paste it (CTRL + V) into another software like Microsoft Office, Paint, or in any other image processing software. By doing this, you can now save the screenshot as an image file.

3. Windows key + Print Screen Button

The number 2 is pretty handy if you want to edit the screenshot, but what if you just want to capture your screen as it is? Luckily, there is also a quick and easy way to do it. All you have to do is press the " Windows" key and the "Print Screen" button simultaneously.

After doing that, the screen will dim temporarily. This means that you successfully captured a screenshot. The image will be automatically saved to "Pictures> Screenshot" folder. If this method doesn't work, try pressing "Windows + FN + PrnScn" simultaneously.

4. Alt + Print Screen Button

Pressing "Alt" and "PrtScn" button simultaneously will enable you to take a screenshot of the specific window. This means that it will only capture the active window on your screen, not including the taskbar. Doing this method will only copy the screenshot into the clipboard so, in order to save or edit the image, you will have to paste it into another program just like in number 2 method.

5. Windows Button + Shift + S

If you want to capture a part of your screen, just press the "Windows" + "Shift" + "S". After doing this, your screen will dim temporarily and your mouse's cursor will suddenly change. This works like the snipping tool in rectangular mode.

You can make a selection of which part of your screen will be captured by clicking and dragging your mouse. Release the mouse and the screenshot will be copied into the clipboard. Therefore, you have you paste it into another program just like in method number 2.

NOTE: All of these methods works perfectly fine in Windows 10. You can also try these in the older versions of windows. Some of them will definitely work like magic.

Which method do you prefer to use? Let us know in the comments below!