Screenshots, which are also known as screen captures or print screens in some cases, are just like any other picture that we take. The only difference is that a screenshot is the picture of whatever it is that you are looking at on your monitor or your device. A screenshot can be a picture of a single program, the whole screen, or even pictures of multiple screens if you have a dual monitor setup in your system.
As you will read in this article, taking a screenshot on pc laptop is the easiest part of the process of getting a screenshot. However, the trouble arises with some people when they try to save that particular screenshot they took or paste it and attach it into an email or another program, or try to crop out some unwanted parts of the screenshot.
In this article we will guide you on how to take a screenshot on pc or laptop.
How to Take Screenshot on PC Laptop
The process of taking a screenshot on Windows 10 is the exact same as in any other Windows version. It does not matter as to what version of Windows operating system you are using. And we assure you that it is a very, very, easy process. To take a scrrenshot on pc laptop Windows 10 all you need to do is just press the PrtScr key on the keyboard.
You should remember that the print screen button might be called Print Scrn, Prnt Scrn, Prt Scrn, Prt Scr, Prt Scn, Prt Sc or Pr Sc on your keyboard depending upon the brand and type of the keyboard that you are using.
Here are a few ways in which you can use the print screen button to take screenshot on pc laptop:
- PrtScn: If you press the PrtScn button once on your keyboard, then it will save a single screenshot of the entire screen that is displayed on the screen. If, in case you have more than one monitors connected together, then a single press of the print screen button will save a screenshot of all the screens that you are using in one single image.
- Alt+PrtScn: If you press the Alt button and the PrtScn button at the same time to take a screenshot, then it will take a screenshot of a single window that you are currently working on. For this, just select the window once to make sure that it is in focus, and then press both of these keys.
- Win+PrtScn: : If you press the Win button and the PrtScn button at the same time to take a screenshot, then it will take a screenshot of the whole screen and then simultaneously save it in the default Pictures folder after creating a sub-folder with the name Screenshot. (e.g. C:\Users\[user]\Pictures\Screenshots).
You should remember that except the last print screen method described above, the Windows does not specify you the time ay which the print screen button was pressed. Instead, it saves the image to the clipboard so that you can use it anywhere else according to your requirement.
Downloading a Screenshot on PC software for Print Screen Program
Though Windows is great in having basic screenshot abilities, but there are other applications which are both free and paid third-party applications that you can install on your system for having more advanced features like fine tuning of the screenshot by pixel, annotating it before you save it, and for easy saving to a pre – specified location.
One example of such a free print screen tool which has more advanced features as compared to Windows one is called WinSnap. WinSnap is a very nice tool for taking screenshot but the professional version of WinSnap comes with a fee and the free edition lacks some of the advanced features.
Pasting or Saving a Screenshot on PC:
One of the easiest ways to save a screenshot is to paste it in the Microsoft Paint application first. Saving a screenshot is simple to do in Paint because with Paint you do not have to download it – it is already included with Windows by default.
You also have some other options alogwith this such as to paste it in Microsoft Word, Photoshop, or any other program in your system that supports images.
Pasting the Screenshot on PC:
The most less time consuming method to open Paint in all the versions of Windows is through the Run dialog box. To open this using this method, press the Win Key and the R key of the keyboard simultaneously. This will open the Run dialoge box. In the Run dialoge box, type the command mspaint.
After opening Microsoft Paint and having the screenshot still saved on the clipboard, just use Ctrl+V key combination to paste the screenshot into Paint.
Or you can also do the same thing by finding the Paste button.
Saving the Screenshot on PC:
You can save the screenshot using the key combination of Ctrl+S on your keyboard. You can also do the same thing by following the path File > Save as.
While doing this, you may notice that the image that you have saved might look a bit different. The image might not take up the entire canvas in Paint, and it might leave white spaces around it.
The only way to fix these white spaces in Paint is to drag the bottom right corner of the canvas toward the top left of the screen. You need to keep doing this until you reach the corners of your screenshot. This will eliminate all the white space around the image and then you can save it like a normal image.
We hope that after reading this article you will be able to take as well as save the screenshot easily on your PC.