How to use the print screen key to take a screenshot in Microsoft Windows

Capturing a snapshot of your computer screen is called a screenshot or screen capture. Once captured, the screenshot is automatically copied to your computer clipboard.

You can then paste the screenshot into a document, email message, file, or image editor (Paint, for example). Alternately, you can save the screenshot as a file, and then insert it as a picture into a document, email message, another file, or image editor.

Figure 1: Illustration of the print screen key on Dell KM5221W wireless keyboard.

Figure 2: Illustration of the print screen key on Dell Precision 5550 mobile workstation keyboard.

The Print Screen function operates slightly differently in each Windows operating system.

Using the Print Screen Key in Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8.1, and Windows 8

To capture the entire screen:

• Press the Windows logo key + PrntScrn key together.
  On tablets, press the Windows logo button + the volume down button together. (The screenshot is saved in the Screenshots folder in the Pictures folder.)

To capture all active windows:

• Press the PrntScrn key.

To capture a single active window:

• Tap or click the window that you want to capture.
  Press the Alt + PrntScrn keys together.

Once you have captured the wanted screen or window using the Print Screen key, you must take additional steps. Paste the captured image into an image editor such as Microsoft Paint or Photoshop to edit or save it. Open the appropriate application and use the Ctrl-V key combination to paste the image into a new image document.

For more complex screen captures, see the Snipping Tool in Windows.