# How to take a screenshot on Windows

> Press Win+Shift+S (or PrtScn on Windows 11) to snip, Win+PrtScn to save the whole screen, Alt+PrtScn for one window. Every built-in way, then hypershot's.

To take a screenshot on Windows, press **Win+Shift+S** to open Snipping Tool's capture bar, then drag a rectangle, click a window, or choose full screen; the shot goes to your clipboard, and on Windows 11 it's also saved in **Pictures\Screenshots**. On recent versions of Windows 11, **PrtScn** opens the same capture bar. **Win+PrtScn** saves the whole screen straight to a file in **Pictures\Screenshots**, and **Alt+PrtScn** copies the active window to the clipboard. For the jobs Windows doesn't cover (scrolling pages, freezing the screen while you aim, scanning QR codes) a screenshot app like hypershot adds its own shortcuts, listed below.

## The built-in way

**Win+Shift+S: Snipping Tool's capture bar.** The screen dims and a small bar appears at the top with four modes:

- **Rectangle** — drag over any area.
- **Window** — click a window.
- **Full screen** — captures immediately.
- **Freeform** — draw any shape around what you want.

The snip is copied to the clipboard, and a notification lets you open it in Snipping Tool to crop, draw on it, or save a copy. On Windows 10 the same shortcut opens Snip & Sketch, which copies to the clipboard without saving a file.

**PrtScn.** On recent versions of Windows 11 it opens the Snipping Tool capture bar, exactly like **Win+Shift+S**. To get the old behaviour back (whole screen to the clipboard, no overlay), turn off the Print screen option under **Settings → Accessibility → Keyboard**. On Windows 10, **PrtScn** copies the whole screen to the clipboard.

**Win+PrtScn: whole screen to a file.** The screen dims for a moment and a PNG lands in **Pictures\Screenshots**. With several monitors, it's all of them in one wide image.

**Alt+PrtScn: the active window to the clipboard.** Nothing is saved; paste it where you need it.

**The Snipping Tool app.** Open it from Start for the extras: a **delay** of a few seconds before the snip, **Text actions** to copy text out of a screenshot (recognised on your device) and **Quick redact** to hide email addresses and phone numbers. It also records video with **Win+Shift+R**.

**Win+Alt+PrtScn: Game Bar.** Saves a screenshot of the game or app you're in to **Videos\Captures**. Made for games, handy now and then elsewhere.

That's a capable set, and Snipping Tool keeps getting better. The gaps are specific: no scrolling capture, no way to freeze the screen while you aim, and the delay is a short preset list.

## With hypershot

Each capture lands in a [preview folder](/docs/hypershot/capturing/capture-history/) in the corner of the screen, where you can edit, copy, drag it into another app or save it. Every shortcut below is a default you can change in **Settings → Shortcuts**.

- **Region:** `Ctrl+Shift+3`. Drag and release. Hold the mouse button and it keeps recording a short burst of frames, so you can [scrub back](/docs/hypershot/capturing/hold-to-freeze/) to the exact moment.
- **Window:** `Ctrl+Shift+W`. Hover and click, even a window that's partly behind another. See [How to capture a single window](/blog/capture-a-single-window/).
- **Screen:** `Ctrl+Shift+1`. The monitor your pointer is on, not all of them.
- **Frozen:** `Ctrl+Shift+X` opens the selection with the screen already frozen, or press **Space** mid-selection. Menus and tooltips hold still while you aim.
- **Scrolling:** `Ctrl+Shift+J`. Select the part that scrolls, scroll, click **Done**. See [How to take a scrolling screenshot on Windows](/blog/scrolling-screenshot-windows/).
- **Delayed:** `Ctrl+Shift+7` for a region, `Ctrl+Shift+8` for the screen, `Ctrl+Shift+9` for a window, anywhere from 1 to 30 seconds.
- **Text (OCR):** `Ctrl+Shift+O`. Drag over text and it's on your clipboard, recognised on your PC by Windows' own OCR.
- **QR codes and barcodes:** `Ctrl+Shift+B`. Every screen freezes and every code on them is decoded, each with a **Copy** button.

Every capture is saved as an editable `.hypercapture` in **Pictures\hypershot**, so your arrows and [redactions](/blog/redact-before-send/) stay editable. If you only ever paste, set **Settings → Captures → After capture** to **Only Copy**.

## Side by side

| Job | Windows | hypershot |
|-----|---------|-----------|
| Part of the screen | **Win+Shift+S**, Rectangle | `Ctrl+Shift+3` |
| One window | **Alt+PrtScn**, or **Win+Shift+S**, Window | `Ctrl+Shift+W` |
| Whole screen to a file | **Win+PrtScn** (all monitors) | `Ctrl+Shift+1` (monitor under the pointer) |
| Freeze the screen first | Not built in | `Ctrl+Shift+X` |
| Scrolling page | Not built in | `Ctrl+Shift+J` |
| Timer | Snipping Tool app, a few preset lengths | 1–30 s |
| Copy text off the screen | Snipping Tool's Text actions | `Ctrl+Shift+O` |
| Scan a QR code | Not in the screenshot tools | `Ctrl+Shift+B` |
| Screen recording | **Win+Shift+R** | Coming soon |

## Where do Windows screenshots go?

**Win+PrtScn** and Snipping Tool save to **Pictures\Screenshots**; Game Bar saves to **Videos\Captures**; **Alt+PrtScn** (and **PrtScn** with the Snipping Tool option off) only copy to the clipboard. hypershot's captures go to **Pictures\hypershot**.

## Why does PrtScn open Snipping Tool now?

A 2023 Windows 11 update made it the default. If you'd rather have the old whole-screen-to-clipboard behaviour, turn it off under **Settings → Accessibility → Keyboard**.

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From https://hypernuclear.com/blog/how-to-screenshot-on-windows/