If you want to capture an image of your desktop, menu, or whatever else, a screen­shot is the simplest solution. We’ll show you how to take a screen­shot in Windows 11 and store it as an image file.

A quick guide of the most important steps:

  • Screen­shot the entire Windows 11 screen and save it to the clipboard: [Print] key (Note: On some laptops, instead of the [Print] you’ll need to press the com­bin­a­tion [Fn] + [PrtScn]).
  • Screen­shot active window view and save it to clipboard: [Alt] + [Print] key
  • Take a screen­shot of the entire screen and save it directly to the .\pictures/screen­shots directory: [Windows] key + [Print] key
  • Screen­shot a select area and save it to the clipboard [Windows] key + [Shift ⇧] + [s]
Word with Microsoft 365 Business and IONOS!
The Office you know, only better
  • Up to 50 GB Exchange email account
  • Outlook Web App and col­lab­or­a­tion tools
  • Expert support & setup service

Key com­bin­a­tions for Windows 11 screen­shots

In the early days of personal computers, the [Print] key served a single practical purpose: to print displayed screen contents of operating systems like MS-DOS to paper. In suc­ceed­ing versions, the function has changed: [Print] became a versatile hotkey for creating screen­shots in Windows.

In Windows 11, you can use the [Print] key to screen­shot whatever is displayed and save it to the clipboard – the operating system’s temporary memory. In addition, [Print] can be combined with other keys, for example, to capture only sections of a screen. Here are the most important key com­bin­a­tions for screen­shots in Windows 11:

  • [Print]: Press this button (sometimes also [Prnt] or [Prnt Scrn]) and everything visible on your screen(s) is saved to the clipboard. You can then paste the screen­shot into any ap­plic­a­tion that displays images (such as Paint or Word) by pressing [Ctrl] + [v].
  • [Alt] + [Print]: If you combine the [Print] key with [Alt], Windows 11 will not take a screen­shot of the entire screen, but only a screen­shot of the active window. To do this, simply select the desired window with the cursor.
  • [Windows] + [Print]: Use this key com­bin­a­tion to save a screen­shot as an image file in Windows 11. In this case, an image of the entire screen is stored in PNG format in the user-specific directory .\Images\Screen­shots.
  • [Windows] key + [Shift ⇧] + [s]: Press this key com­bin­a­tion to access a screen­shot tool. This lets you frame any section of the screen and save it as a screen­shot to the clipboard. The function also lets you cut and screen­shot a window or the entire screen.
Image: Windows 11: Screenshot tool (Win + Shift + s)
Windows 11: Screen­shot tool pops up after pressing key com­bin­a­tion (Windows) + (Shift ⇧) + (s).

When saving an image using one of these options, beware that the operating system’s clipboard only ever has space for a single screen­shot. So if you use the [Print] key a second time, the previous image will be auto­mat­ic­ally replaced. If you want to keep an image from the clipboard, you should copy it to a com­pat­ible ap­plic­a­tion such as Paint or a paint al­tern­at­ive with [Ctrl] + [v] and save it in the desired format.

Tip

Prefer to use ap­plic­a­tions to screen­shot in Windows 11? You can always resort to a third-party solution. Read about some good choices in our detailed article on the best screen­shot tools.

Snipping Tool: the simplest solution for screen­shots in Windows 11

Seasoned Windows users who have already taken screen­shots with Windows 10, will be familiar with the Snipping Tool, which is an extended version of the tool that you access with the pre­vi­ously mentioned key com­bin­a­tion [Windows] key + [Shift ⇧] + [s].

Launch the ap­plic­a­tion for Windows 11 screen­shots as follows:

  1. Launch the start-up menu.
  2. Click on ‘All Apps’.
  3. Scroll to find the Snipping Tool or al­tern­at­ively type ‘snipping tool’ in the search bar.
  4. Launch the tool with a left click.

The Windows tool provides the following screen­shot variants:

  • Rectangle mode: use this mode to drag a rectangle over the area you want to screen­shot.
  • Window mode: With window mode you can create a screen­shot of a single Windows 11 window or menu. Make a selection by left clicking.
  • Full screen mode: Use the full screen mode of the Snipping Tool whenever you want to take a screen­shot of the entire screen.
  • Freehand mode: In freehand mode, you set the shape of the screen section that you want to capture.
Image: Snipping Tool: Modes in Windows 11
Snipping Tool: Modes in Windows 11

To capture elements via screen­shot that are only visible when you hold down the mouse pointer or hover over a menu item (e.g. drop-down menus), use the Snipping Tool’s delay function. This lets you set up the function so that the screen­shot is taken after three, five, or ten seconds.

The main advantage of the snipping tool is the wide range of editing and pro­cessing options that become available after the screen­shot is created. You can crop an image, add markers, save the image, or share it via email.

Image: Snipping Tool: Screenshot editing in Windows 11
Snipping Tool: Screen­shot editing in Windows 11
Tip

Don’t just want to screen­shot but capture your actions in a video? Read the following article to learn how to start a Windows 11 screen capture.

Screen­shots of web content in Windows 11 and browser ex­ten­sions

The presented options for taking screen­shots in Windows 11 are practical if you want to pho­to­graph a specific section or the entire screen. However, if you want to capture dynamic web content or, for example, an entire website via screen­shot, you will need special browser ex­ten­sions.

For popular browsers Google Chrome and Firefox FireShot and Awesome Screen­shot are suitable ex­ten­sions.

Once you have installed your chosen extension in your browser, you can configure it via the cor­res­pond­ing button in the address bar and use it to screen­shot entire websites.

Go to Main Menu