Quick Screen Capture

There are many times when the need arises to take a screen shot of something on your computer. Whether it's to share something on your screen with a friend or coworker, or perhaps you are writing an article about how to do a particular task using Windows. Windows has allowed for screen capture of certain items for some time now, and Windows 10 continues that ability. Now, though, Windows 10 allows for a quicker way to get that screen shot you need. Enabling a simple setting allows you to trigger a screen shot with the press of one single button. Follow these simple steps to enable easy screen captures.

1. Press the Windows key and type (without quotes) "Ease of Access Keyboard," then press Enter. Windows displays the Keyboard section of the Ease of Access settings of the Settings Dialog box. (See Figure 1.)



Figure 1. The Ease of Access section of the Settings dialog box.

2. In the right part of the dialog box scroll down to the Print Screen Shortcut area. Turn the setting on by clicking on the toggle. (See Figure 2.)



Figure 2. The Print Screen Shortcut setting of the Ease of Access section of the Settings dialog box.

3. 3. Close the Settings Dialog box.

Note: Your computer may require (depending on other settings you may have selected) for you to restart for this setting to take effect.

Now when you press the PrtScn (Print Screen) button on your keyboard, Windows immediately switches to screen capture mode. As you move your mouse around your screen you will see that it dims your screen and highlights certain portions of the screen, indicating what you can take a screen shot of. You can capture a portion of a window, a full window, or full screen shot. (See Figure 3.)

Figure 3. Windows highlighting an area you can capture.

After you click on the area you want captured Windows opens the screen shot in the Snipping Tool program. Within the Snipping Tool program, you can easily annotate it and share it with someone via email or save it to your computer.

Thanks to activating this simple setting it has never been easier to take screen shots on your Windows computer. Now you can quickly share those shots with the people you need.

 This tip (6074) applies to Windows 10.