How to Take Screenshots on Computers
This guide includes instructions on how to take screenshots on different types of devices.
Note: For all devices, if you want to cancel the screenshot action: press esc, which is usually on the top left corner of your keyboard.
Chromebook
Take a screenshot of your entire screen
Press ctrl + show windows. The show windows button should be in the middle of the first row from the top of your keyboard. See the image below. Remember to press and hold the keys in order.
Take a screenshot of part of your screen
Press shift + ctrl + show windows. Remember to press and hold the keys in order. Then you will have the options to select a specific window to capture, or to drag over the area you would like to capture then hit enter. You can also switch in between doing screenshots and screen recording.
Other than using the keyboard shortcuts, you can also utilize the Quick Settings feature (it pops up when you click on the time at the bottom right of your screen) to initiate screen capture. See this article: How to take screenshots & screen recordings on a Chromebook
The most recent screenshot would be on your clipboard, so you can bring it out by ctrl + v or Right click > Paste. Screenshots by default are saved to the Downloads folder, so you can see all screenshots in there.
Windows
Depending on your Windows versions, there can be various ways to do screenshots. Here is a general keyboard shortcut that should work with both Windows 10 and 11.
Press Windows logo key + Shift + S. They should all be located towards the left of your keyboard. See the image below. Remember to press and hold the keys in order. From there, you can drag over the area you would like to capture then hit Enter, or choose to capture a window or your entire screen.
On Windows, the application that is in charge of screen capture is called the Snipping Tool. To learn more about the Snipping Tool and the various ways to work with your screenshots, check out this article from Microsoft: Use Snipping Tool to capture screenshots
The most recent screenshot would be on your clipboard, so you can bring it out by ctrl + v or Right click > Paste. Screenshots by default are saved to the Pictures > Screenshots folder, so you can see all screenshots in there.
Mac
Take a screenshot of your entire screen
Press shift + command + 3. They should all be located towards the left of your keyboard. See the image below. Remember to press and hold the keys in order.
Take a screenshot of part of your screen
Press shift + command + 4. Remember to press and hold the keys in order. You can then drag to select the part of your screen to capture.
Take a screenshot of a window or menu
Press shift + command + 4 + space bar. Remember to press and hold the keys in order. You can then click the window or menu to capture it.
On Mac, the application that is in charge of screen capture is called Screenshot. To learn more about the application and the different options it provides, check out the two articles from Apple:
Screenshots by default are saved to your Desktop. It may make your screen cluttered without proper management. To avoid this, you can change the default saving location of screenshots from the Options menu in the Screenshot app. Take a look at this article for detailed instructions: 5 Steps to Easily Change Screenshot Location on a MacBook
Ubuntu
Press Print. It may have a different name on a different keyboard, so you can look for print screen or prt scr. Depending on your keyboard size, it can be located differently, but it is usually on the right of f12 on the first row on the top. See the image below. From there, you can drag over the area you would like to capture then hit Enter, or choose to capture a window or your entire screen.
If you have trouble using the keyboard shortcut, you can find the screenshot button in the system menu. Click on the top right corner of your screen where it shows the volume and the battery, then on the pop-up system menu, click the screenshot icon (see image below).
On Ubuntu, the screenshot tool also allows other features like screencast. To learn more, check out this article from Ubuntu: Screenshots and screencasts
The most recent screenshot would be on your clipboard, so you can bring it out by ctrl + v or Right click > Paste. Screenshots by default are saved to the Pictures > Screenshots folder, so you can see all screenshots in there.