How to take screenshots on a Windows 11 and macOS laptops

There comes several occasions to take screenshots during working or attending classes on laptop PCs. Whether you are using a Windows PC or a Macbook, you can quickly capture a screenshot if you know the right trick. Not just taking screenshots, you can easily save them as PNG or JPG files on your computer system. 

We have prepared a detailed guide comprising ways and commands to take screenshots on Apple Mac devices and PCs running on Windows 7, Windows 10, and Windows 11. The below-mentioned steps are easy to follow and remember.

How to take screenshots on Windows PCs

Windows platform offers a number of methods to grab screenshots and we’ll be discussing each of them one by one. Most of the method described here works smoothly on Windows 7, Windows 10, and Windows 11 PCs. 

1. Take a screenshot on Windows laptop/PC using the app

Windows PC arrives with a built-in application called ‘Snipping Tool’ dedicated to grabbing screenshots with different customization options.

1. Go to the Start menu and type ‘Snipping Tool’ to search. 
2. The tool window will open. Click on ‘New’ to take a screenshot and drag the cursor to select a specific area on the screen. By default, it will let users select a freeform region.
3. The ‘Mode’ option allows you to pick the type of screenshot you are required. It has four options – Free-from, Rectangular, Window, and Full-screen.
4. The ‘Delay’ option offers a timer function to grab the screenshot.
5. If you don’t want to take screenshots even after opening the Snipping Tool, just click on the ‘Cancel’ option.

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2. Take a screenshot on Windows using a dedicated key

Windows laptops and PCs with keyboards have a dedicated key to capture screenshots and the key has the name ‘PrtScn’. Here’s the method to use it.

1. The PrtScn key is available on the top-right corner of the keyboard and in some cases, on the function keys.
2. All you have to do is to press the PrtScn key to capture a screenshot of the entire screen and go to programs like Paint or MS Word to paste it. Actually, once you click the screenshot key, the system automatically copies the entire screen.
3. You can easily save the pasted screenshot from Paint in JPG or PNG format.

3. Shortcut to take a screenshot of a specific region on Windows

If you want to capture screenshots of any required portion on the screen, here’s the trick:

1. Press three keys Windows+Shift+S simultaneously. 
2. It will open a Snip and Sketch tool through which you can select any dimension to capture the screenshot. 
3. Once you are done with region selection, it will copy the screenshot to the clipboard.
4. Paste the item into any supported program like Paint or MS Word and save it as required.

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4. Screenshot for gamers on Windows

1. Gamers can capture a screenshot or record a screen video by pressing Windows+G together during gameplay.
2. Another way to take screenshots during gameplay is to press the Windows key + Alt + PrtScn.
3. Both the methods save the screenshot within a subfolder ‘Captures’ of the folder ‘Videos’.
4. Gamers playing games on the Steam platform can capture screenshots by pressing the F11 key. The screengrab can access under the ‘Steam’ folder of the system.

5. Other ways to capture screenshots in Windows

1. To take grab screenshot of an active window, press Alt+PrtScn together and paste it into a program to save.
2. If you are too lazy to save the screenshot by pasting it into another program, there’s another way. Just press Windows key+PrtScn buttons to automatically capture and save the screenshot into the folder Picture>Screenshots.

How to take screenshots on Apple Macbooks

Apple is also at the frontline offering multiple methods to capture screenshots on its macOS laptops and PCs. Here are the different ways and shortcuts to take screenshots on Macbooks.

1. Take a screenshot on Macbook using the app

Apple Macbook offers a dedicated tool called ‘Screenshot’ that is quick to access and take customized screengrabs. The steps are:

1. Press the Command+Space button to open the Spotlight Search bar.
2. Type and search ‘Screenshot’.
3. The screen will dim itself and open a pop-up window of Screenshot. By default, you can select any portion you want to capture the screenshot.
4. The app also offers a way to take screenshots of the entire screen or selected window. The tool also allows you to record videos of a selected portion or entire screen. The timer function is also available.
5. Once the screenshot is taken, press Command+S to save the images as HEIC, JPEG, PNG, PDF, or TIFF formats and select the destination folder. 

2. Command+Shift+3 option

Press these three buttons Command+Shift+3 altogether to capture the entire screen of your Macbook. Saving the image is required with the Command+S button.

3. Command+Shift+4 option

• Pressing these buttons allows the user to quickly select any required portion of the screen to take screenshots by dragging the mouse cursor.
• After Command+Shift+4, press and release the space bar to instantly take a grab of the entire screen.

4. Command+Shift+5 option

This command is basically a quicker way to open the ‘Screenshot’ tool we have discussed earlier in the 1st method of capturing screenshots on a Macbook. All you have to do is to follow the aforementioned steps in Method 1.

5. Command+Shift+6 option

This method is not for all Macbooks but it is limited to Apple laptops with Touch Bar. The command allows users to take screenshots of the Touch bar. Impressive, isn’t it?

Tell us in the comment section how many of the above tricks you already knew or if you are new to these tricks, don’t forget to share with friends.