Snipping Tool Windows 10 Keyboard Shortcut
Yvette Burkhammer
Press Windows+Shift+S to open the Snipping Tool on Windows 10 or Windows 11. The Snipping Tool can take rectangular region screenshots, full-screen screenshots, screenshots of a specific window, or freeform screenshots. You can also draw on a screenshot before you save it.
Need to quickly take a screenshot on your PC? If so, Windows' built-in Snipping Tool is just a keyboard shortcut away. This tool lets you capture screenshots in various shapes and also allows you to edit them. We'll show you how to launch it.
The original Snipping Tool is a legacy program introduced in Windows Vista continued to exist in Windows 7 and was eventually replaced in Windows 10 by Snip and Sketch. Despite being replaced, the Snipping Tool remains popular, and the Snipping Tool and Snip and Sketch are both commonly referred to as just "Snipping Tool."
To confuse matters further, Microsoft merged the legacy Snipping Tool and Snip and Sketch into a new application also named Snipping Tool with the release of Windows 11. The new Snipping Tool features a user interface reminiscent of the legacy snipping tool, but with all of the bells and whistles of Snip and Sketch.
Technically, Windows+Shift+S opens a program called Snip and Sketch on Windows 10 and Snipping Tool on Windows 11. We're going to refer to it as "Snipping Tool" for the purposes of this article because that is what most people call it still.
Once you press those keys, your screen will turn darker indicating the tool is active. At the top of your screen, you will see five icons, four of which allow you to choose the shape for your screenshot.
Table of Contents
- What Is the Windows Snipping Tool?
- Need a Snipping Tool Alternative? Here's Why It Should Be Zight!
- Windows Snipping Tool Shortcuts You Need to Be Using Today
- How to use a snipping tool for work.
- Reasons You Should Use Zight Instead Of The Windows Snipping Tool
- Conclusion
Sure, you could copy and paste it to your recipient, but who wants to read blocks of text anymore? At least not the 40% of people who prefer visual content, compared to text! Visual content outperforms text by up to 650%!
For instance, your annotations are limited unless you use Microsoft Paint, which is also limited and requires a bit of a learning curve. In addition, your screenshots are saved on your computer and will be lost as soon as you change devices.
Once the Snipping Tool is open, if you want to start a new screenshot, simply press Ctrl + N to reset the tool for a new capture. This shortcut will take a screenshot using the last screenshot mode.
For capturing tooltips or other pop-up menus, the Snipping Tool offers a delay feature. Press Alt + D to activate it, then use the arrow keys to choose the delay time (0-5 seconds) before the snip is taken. You may want to reset the timer to 0 for new captures to save time.
After capturing your screenshot, press Ctrl + S to open the save dialog box. This shortcut allows you to quickly save your snip to your desired location on your computer. Remember to save the right file format if necessary.
If you perform a quick Google search for the Snipping Tool shortcut, you may find that you can press the Windows logo key + Shift + S. However, this shortcut opens the Snip & Sketch tool, a newer Windows screenshot app.
While the Windows Snipping Tool is a versatile and accessible tool for taking screenshots, Zight (formerly known as CloudApp) offers a more advanced and feature-rich alternative. Here are ten reasons why you should consider using Zight instead of the Windows Snipping Tool:
The Snip & Sketch tool is easier to access, share and annotate screenshots than the old Snipping Tool. It can now capture a screenshot of a window on your desktop, a surprising omission when the app was first introduced that kept us on Team Snipping Tool until recently.
Either the keyboard shortcut or the notification button will dim your screen and open a tiny menu at the top of your screen that lets you choose which type of screenshot you want to take: rectangular, freeform, window or full-screen. Once you take your screenshot, it will be saved to your clipboard and show up momentarily as a notification in the lower-right corner of your screen. Click the notification to open the screenshot in the Snip & Sketch app to annotate, save or share it. (If you miss the notification, open the notification panel and you'll see it sitting there.)
If you open Snip & Sketch from the Start menu or by searching for it, it will open the Snip & Sketch window instead of the small panel at the top of the screen. From here, you need to click the New button in the upper left to initiate a screen capture and open the small panel. It's an extra step to proceed this way, but it also lets you delay a screenshot. Click the down-arrow button next to the New button to delay a snip for 3 or 10 seconds.
The Snipping Tool has been around since Windows Vista. Windows has warned for a couple years that the Snipping Tool is going away, but it's still kicking around in Windows 11. The Snipping Tool has been delisted from the list of apps in the Start menu, but you can still easily access it via the search bar.
You can also set the PrtScn button to open the Snip & Sketch tool by going to Settings > Ease of Access > Keyboard and toggling on Use the PrtScn button to open screen snipping under Print Screen Shortcut.
To capture your entire screen and automatically save the screenshot, tap the Windows key + Print Screen key. Your screen will briefly go dim to indicate you've just taken a screenshot, and the screenshot will be saved to the Pictures > Screenshots folder.
To take a quick screenshot of the active window, use the keyboard shortcut Alt + PrtScn. This will snap your currently active window and copy the screenshot to the clipboard. You'll need to open the shot in an image editor to save it.
You can use the Game bar to snap a screenshot, whether you're in the middle of playing a game or not. First, you'll need to enable the Game bar from the settings page by making sure you've toggled on Record game clips, screenshots and broadcasts using Game bar. Once enabled, hit the Windows key + G key to call up the Game bar. From here, you can click the screenshot button in the Game bar or use the default keyboard shortcut Windows key + Alt + PrtScn to snap a full-screen screenshot. To set your own Game bar screenshot keyboard shortcut, to Settings > Gaming > Game bar.
If you're rocking a Microsoft Surface device, you can use the physical (well, sort of physical) buttons to take a screenshot of your entire screen -- similar to how you would take a screenshot on any other phone or tablet. To do this, hold down the Windows Logo touch button at the bottom of your Surface screen and hit the physical volume-down button on the side of the tablet. The screen will dim briefly and the screenshot will be automatically saved to the Pictures > Screenshots folder.
The Snipping tool's New button is not working for new screenshots. However, it works for new recording. I am on the Windows 11 insider preview, build 25905. It has happened before and I was able to fix it by changing some files associated with the app but could not fix it this time. Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas that can help me fix it? thanks in advance
Press and hold Windows + Shift + S keys simultaneously until it becomes a dim overlay on your screen and a small toolbar at the top. You can choose one of the four options from the toolbar rectangular, freeform, window snip, or full screen. Now, click and drag your mouse to select the area you want to capture.
Hello Salman!
I wanted to express my gratitude for your valuable contribution. Your input has been incredibly helpful. However, I would like to clarify that the issue I am facing is specific to the 'New' button functionality in the snipping app. This button is only visible when manually opening the snipping app. When accessing the snipping app, various features are available, such as screen snipping, and screen recording. The problem arises when attempting to take a snip using the 'New' button. Unfortunately, the 'New' button is unresponsive on my system, rendering it impossible to capture screen with the 'New' button. Although I am aware of the shortcut method, my concern lies solely with the malfunctioning 'New' button when using the snipping tool.
Thank you once again for your assistance!
The "sfc /scannow" is indeed a useful utility that can scan and repair system files in case of corruption.
Thank you again for your feedback, it is a pleasure to assist you.
Please do not hesitate to reach out if you need any further support.
The title says it all. I customized different keyboard shortcuts. But every single shortcut config still keeps bringing up windows snipping tool. This is Windows 11. Is this a known bug? Are there any workarounds?
This is true. It arose because Microsoft changed things when it released Windows 11. So the problem is with Microsoft rather than Evernote. I'm sure that there could be some work done by Evernote to resolve the issue but since the workaround is trivial I anticipate that it will be sometime in arriving.
Meanwhile, I recommend Win+Shift+S which will open the Windows snipping tool with the cross hairs (just like the Evernote process used to have). Highlight the screen area you wish to snip. Then open the note where you want this to be captured (if it is a new note tap Ctrl+N) and tap Ctrl+V to paste the clip into the note.
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