How to take a screenshot on Windows

Windows has four ways to capture the screen, and the one most people reach for — the bare Print Screen key — is the least useful, because it only puts the image on the clipboard.

Win + Shift + S — the one to learn

Press Windows + Shift + S. The screen dims and a small toolbar appears at the top: rectangle, freeform, window or full screen.

Drag over what you want. The clip goes to the clipboard and a notification appears — click it to annotate and save in the Snipping Tool.

Win + PrtScn — straight to a file

Press Windows + Print Screen. The screen flashes and a PNG lands in Pictures → Screenshots, with no further steps.

This is the fastest way to send someone a screenshot: take it, then attach the file.

PrtScn and Alt + PrtScn

• PrtScn copies the whole screen to the clipboard.
• Alt + PrtScn copies just the active window.

Both need pasting into something — a mail, a message, or Paint — before they exist as an image.

Attaching one to an email

In BlueMail, use the attachment control in the compose window and pick the file from Pictures → Screenshots. A clipboard capture can usually be pasted directly into the message body with Ctrl + V.