Today in this article we will discuss the topic “how to take a screenshot on Windows 10 PC?”. So, first of all, we will talk about what actually the screenshot is? The Screenshot is an image to maintain a record of any item and you can store the screenshot in your monitor or mobile device. So, now coming on to how to take a screen shot on your windows? Here is a simple guide that will help you to know how to take screenshots on your windows.
Method 1: Print Screen
This is the easiest and the simplest way to take a screenshot. By using the print screen method, you will be able to save the screenshot as a file on the desired location of the windows. So, just press the “PrtScn” button on your keyword. And when you press it, you will get the screenshot of the currently opened page on your system. This screenshot can be saved anywhere on your desktop or documents in your system.

Step1: Saving the screenshot as a file
You can do this by clicking on the Windows logo key + PrtScn. And in tablet, taking a screenshot can be done by clicking the “Windows logo button + Volume down key”. By doing this, your screen will get dimmed for some time and this screen will then get copied and you can now save it as a file. The file will be saved in the screenshot folder or it will be saved automatically to your picture folder. If the screenshot folder is not created before, it will be created now automatically. The screenshot file extension will be “.png”.
Step2: display screenshot without saving
If you wish to take a screenshot of a display, you need to press on PrtScn and by doing this the screenshot of the display will get copied. In some other laptops or computers, you may need to press “Ctrl + PrtScn” or “Fn + PrtScn” for this.
Step3: taking a screenshot of only one window
you need to press on “window title bar” if you want to take a screenshot of a window, in order to make it active. Now, press on “Alt + PrtScn key”, which will copy the active window and it can be pasted anywhere you want.
Method 2: Taking Screenshot with Snagit
Snagit is one of the ideal tools that you will be able to catch a screenshot with it on your windows. It is quite an easy tool with good features and easy to use. Using it, you will be able to take screenshots from specific windows and region screenshots and also full text can be captured by scrolling your windows down similar to web pages. If in case, you have to take more screenshots, Snagit is a wonderful tool for taking the screenshots. But, Snagit is a paid screenshot tool and so, you have to buy it for your usage and you can always check its features and functions before buying it.
Method3: Use of snipping tool for taking a screenshot on windows
A snipping tool is a tool that can be easily seen on any windows system. However, there are now many new features for this, which also include taking screenshots of an open window or any specific part of it or the entire screen itself. But there is one drawback to this tool. You can take screenshots with this tool only when there is no involvement of a mouse or moving the mouse. In case, any pop-ups come while taking the screenshot, then it can be a difficult process altogether.
Snip a Screenshot by using the snipping tool
You can create a screenshot in the snipping tool. So, here are the steps of taking a screenshot by using the snipping tool in the following ways:
- The very first step is to press on the “PrtScn” button on your keyboard and then your current screen will be captured.
- Now, this captured screen is to be loaded on an image editor and you can remove the screen parts that you don’t want to be included in the screenshot or in a simple way that is you can crop and even edit the screenshot by using this snipping tool.
- Now you have to save the file. Your screenshot will now be ready.
The snipping tool is now having a new option called “Delay” option and it helps you to take screenshots of popup menus in an easy way. All you need to do is to open the snipping tool app and then click on the Delay option. You can delay the time in seconds as per your requirement by clicking on the drop-down list of seconds (0-5 seconds).
Method4: Screenshot with Windows 10 game bar
Windows 10 is having Game DVR, it enables you to record gameplay, and you can create screenshots of PC games. So, by using the Game bar, you can take a screenshot and it will get saved in Png format. However, you have to launch the “Xbox app” before you begin taking a screenshot on Game Bar. By launching this app, you will be able to configure the settings for Game DVR. Now, using this Game DVR, you will be able to take screenshots.
You can press on “Windows + G” When the open game is active or the app window is active. After then, you have to press on Game Box if shown. After that, you will have to press on the Camera icon or else “Win +Alt + PrtScn”. So, by pressing it, you will be able to snip a screenshot of your desired screen. Please note that it is a keyboard shortcut and it can be worked only when you have checked in “Yes” when the game box is prompted. After this, you will get a notification saying that the screenshot is saved now.
These were some of the simplest and easiest ways to take a screenshot on your Windows 10 PC. There are in fact many more such ways. However, each method has its own merits and demerits. And finally, it will be ideal to choose the method, which is easy and suitable for your PC. You can either choose a basic screenshot saving method or another tool for taking the screenshots on your PC. However, it all depends upon your knowledge and system configurations.
How to take a screenshot on a laptop?
Since we have already discussed how to take screenshots in PC and Windows 10. So, now coming on to “How to take a screenshot on a laptop”. Here are the steps to take a screenshot on a laptop, so just have a look at those steps:
- Pick your desired screen of which you want to take the screenshot.
- Now, press and hold down the “Windows” key and simultaneously press the “PrtScn” buttons.
- Wait till your screen gets dimmed or greyed out.
- And finally, open your screenshots folder.
1. Print screen the whole windows.
Press only the “PrtScn” key. Then the screenshot of your display is now copied to the clipboard. You may edit that screenshot by using an image editor, or some other tools like snipping tools or other apps. Now, press “CTRL + V” to paste the screenshot to your favorite editor. Next, you can save your image as a JPG, GIF, or PNG file. The actual screenshot dimensions of the image will be the same as your desktop resolution. But for some laptop you may need to press the “Alt + Fn + PrtScn” keys instead.
2. Print screen the active windows only.
- Choose only the active windows that you want to capture in the title bar.
- Then, press “Alt + PrtScn”. As the previous steps active window will be copied to the clipboard.
- Now, you can paste it into your favorite image editor or document editor.
- Use “Alt + Fn + PrtScn” keys only if “Alt + PrtScn” doesn’t work to screen capture your display. That is how to take a screenshot on a laptop to capture the whole window or just the active window display.
Here are the steps to open the snipping tool:
- The very step is to click the Start button.
- Then type snipping tool in the search bar.
- And there you got, then click on the snipping tool.
Or you can search the snipping tool in your laptop by another method. Look at the steps of “how to open snipping tool”:
- Open and display Run by clicking “Windows+R”.
- Type the snipping tool and then click on OK.
- Get into the command prompt.
- Type snippingtool.exe.
- Then click “enter”.
How to use the snipping tool to get a screenshot on a laptop?
Here are the steps on “how to use the snipping tool to take a screenshot on a laptop”, check out the following steps:
- Open snipping tool.
- Choose from 4 types of snip.
- Select mode (Free-form, Rectangular, Window, or Full-screen Snip).
- Press the “save” snip button.
- Select the location where you want it stored.
- Type the file’s name.
- Choose the file type: PNG, GIF, JPEG or HTML.
- Press save and finally, the screenshot which you have taken is saved to the desired location.
How to catch a screenshot without the Print Screen button?
And if in case you did not want to catch a screenshot with the “PrtSc” button. Then, here are the steps “how to take a screenshot without the Print Screen button?”. Check out the following mentioned steps:
- Press the “Windows” key to display the Start screen.
- Type “on-screen keyboard” without bracket.
- Click “On-Screen Keyboard” in the results list.
- And press the “PrtScn” button on your “on-screen keyboard”.
- Then press “Ctrl-V” to paste the image into an image editor.
- And then save the result.
So, by following these methods and steps you can take screenshots in PC, or in laptops or Windows10.