Use Snipping Tool to capture screenshots

Sometimes the easiest way to make a copy of something is to take a snapshot of your screen—this is what Snipping Tool does. Use it to save and share news stories, movie reviews, or recipes.

Capture all or part of your PC screen, add notes, save the snip, or email it from the Snipping Tool window. You can capture any of the following types of snips:

  • Free-form snip. Draw a free-form shape around an object.
  • Rectangular snip. Drag the cursor around an object to form a rectangle.
  • Window snip. Select a window, such as a browser window or dialog box, that you want to capture.
  • Full-screen snip. Capture the entire screen.

After you capture a snip, it's automatically copied to the Snipping Tool window. From there you can annotate, save, or share the snip. The following procedures show how to use Snipping Tool.

Open Snipping Tool

For Windows 10

Select the Start button, type snipping tool in the search box on the taskbar, and then select Snipping Tool from the list of results.

For Windows 8.1 / Windows RT 8.1

Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, tap Search (or if you're using a mouse, point to the lower-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer up, and then click Search), type snipping tool in the search box, and then select Snipping Tool from the list of results.

For Windows 7

Select the Start button, then type snipping tool in the search box, and then select Snipping Tool from the list of results.


Screen Shot of Snipping Tool depiction showing where to click

 

Capture a snip

In Snipping Tool, select Mode (in older versions, select the arrow next to the New button), choose the kind of snip you want, and then select the area of your screen that you want to capture.

Capture a snip of a menu

  1. After you open Snipping Tool, open the menu that you want a picture of. (For Windows 7, press the Esc key before opening the menu.)
  2. Press Ctrl + PrtScn keys. This captures the entire screen, including the open menu.
  3. Select Mode (in older versions, select the arrow next to the New button), choose the kind of snip you want, and then select the area of the screen capture that you want.

 

Annotate a snip

After you capture a snip, you can write or draw on or around it by selecting the Pen or Highlighter buttons. Select Eraser to remove the lines you've drawn.

Save a snip

  1. After you capture a snip, select the Save Snip button.
  2. In the Save As box, type a file name, location, and type, and then select Save.