Tech

Did you know ? Windows 10 has a great keyboard shortcut for taking screenshots

You probably know the two great ways to take a screenshot on Windows 10. There is a third way that you may miss: it is nevertheless formidably effective.

When you need to take a screenshot on Windows 10, which school are you from? Are you the type to press the “Print System Screen” key on the keyboard, open the Paint software and paste the result, adjusting it as needed? Or would you rather go for the screenshot tool built into the operating system?

How do I take a screenshot on Windows?

Did you know that there is also another method, which might save you some time? By pressing three keys on the keyboard, it is possible to open a menu dedicated to screen capture. These keys are ” Win + Shift + S “. If you can’t locate them on the keyboard, the first is a key with the Windows logo on it, while the second has an upward pointing arrow.

This shortcut gives access to options to define how you want to take the screenshot. You have the choice between rectangular selection, free-form path, window capture, and full screen capture. Once the option has been chosen and the capture done, a notification will appear at the bottom right of the screen to notify you of the successful execution of the command.

screenshot
This is what the options and how the capture works look like when using this keyboard shortcut.

By clicking on the warning insert, you will open your image in software giving you access to tools to possibly annotate it. This step is optional: you can save the screenshot directly, by clicking on the appropriate icon at the top right – the famous floppy disk, even if no one has really used it for twenty years.

This shortcut complements the “Print System Screen” key, which is used to make a copy of the entire screen, giving quick access to other settings, if you do not want to record a smaller area. Note that there is another shortcut, “Win + Print syst screen”, which is used to take a screenshot of the entire screen and then save it in a dedicated folder, in the Windows 10 “Pictures” directory.

This keyboard shortcut was not available at the time of the launch of Windows 10. It was in 2018 that it was integrated into the operating system, via an update. It was then a question of supplementing the three already existing techniques, be it the screen capture tool and the two other screen shortcuts (“Print syst screen” + Paint, and “Win + Print syst screen”), by offering a more practical solution.

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