How to Take a Screenshot

Taking a picture of your screen is an important technique you need to know. Screenshots may be required for assignments or requested for tech troubleshooting. They are also valuable when giving instructions to others.

Saving a screenshot of the entire screen

Windows

Option 1

  1. Use the Windows Snipping Tool (locate under All Programs > Accessories) to outline the screen and capture the image.
  2. Save, copy, or email the image using the options listed at the top of the Snipping Tool interface.

Peer mentors Justin Choi, Christine Nutile and Julia Layne recommend the Snipping Tool.

Christine says, "I love the Snipping Tool and ... have it pinned next to Word on my taskbar for easy access and use it all the time. If I need to make any edits to an image, I'll save it then reopen it in Paint where you can do all kinds of cool things."

Julia adds, "The snipping tool is a great option for taking a screen shot. I actually prefer it over the print screen option because you can crop it to exactly what you want in one step, super easy!

Option 2

  1. Press the button marked "Prt Sc" or "PrintScreen" on your keyboard. Even though you won't see anything happen, this will place an image of the current screen on your clipboard. (Note: On some keyboards, the Prt Sc option is on the same key as the Insert, Home, or F11 keys. This may require you to press and hold the Function (Fn) key while you press the Prt Sc key.)
  2. Go to Word and Edit > Paste (or ctrl+v or however you like to paste). The screenshot will appear.

Mac

  1. Command + shift + 3
  2. The file is automatically saved.
  3. If your assignment requires a Word file, you can insert the image in the document by selecting Insert > Picture from file.

Additional resources:

Apple Support. (2016, March 21). How to take a screenshot on your Mac. Retrieved from https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201361.

Lee, Y. (2009). Screenshots on Macs. Libr 203 tips. Retrieved from http://libr203.wordpress.com/2009/08/07/screenshots-on-macs/.

 

Saving a screenshot of a portion of the screen

Windows

  1. Click on the window you wish to capture.
  2. Hold the Alt key while pressing the Prt Sc button. Even though you won't see anything happen, this will place an image of the selected window on your clipboard. (Some computers may require the use of the “fn” key.)
  3. Paste into a Word document.


Mac

  1. Command + shift + 4
  2. Click and drag to make a box around the part of the screen you want to capture.
  3. The file is automatically saved.
  4. If your assignment requires a Word file, you can insert the image in the document by selecting Insert > Picture from file.

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