The Snipping tool interface in Windows 11.

Take a snapshot to copy words or images from all or part of your PC screen. Use Snipping Tool to make changes or notes, then save, and share.

Capture any of the following types of snips:

Freeform

Draw a freeform shape around an object.

Rectangle

Drag the cursor around an object to form a rectangle.

Window

Select a window, such as a dialog box, that you want to capture.

Full screen

Capture the entire screen.

Video snip

Capture a video clip of a rectangular selection of any part of the screen you like.

When you capture a snip, it's automatically copied to the Snipping Tool window where you make changes, save, and share. 

Open Snipping Tool

There are four ways to open Snipping Tool:

  • Select the Start  button, enter snipping tool, then select Snipping Tool from the results.

  • Press Windows logo key Shift for a static image snip.

  • Press Print Screen (PrtSc) for a static image snip.

  • Press Windows logo key Shift + R for a video snip.

Work with your screenshots

With Snipping Tool open, select one of the following to create and work with your screenshots.

In Snipping Tool, select Mode. In earlier versions of Windows, select the arrow next to the New button. Next, when you choose the kind of snip you want, you’ll see the whole screen change slightly to gray. Then, choosing from anything currently displayed on the screen, select the area of your screen that you want to capture.

Selecting a mode for an image snip in Snipping Tool.

After you capture an image snip, you can:

  • Write or draw on or around it by selecting the Pen or Highlighter buttons.

  • Add shapes or emojis to the snip by selecting the Shapes button.

  • Select Eraser to remove the lines or shapes you've added.

  • Crop the image by selecting the Image crop button.

Taking a video snip in Snipping Tool.

To capture a video snip, open Snipping Tool, select the Record button, then select New recording, or press Windows logo key Shift + R. Select the area of the screen you wish to record, then select Start. When you are done, select Stop. At this point you can save the recording as-is or select Edit in Clipchamp to work with it in the Clipchamp video editor.

When you finish recording a video snip, select the Edit in Clipchamp button to add Captions or Audio.

Screen of a snipped video in Snipping Tool with Edit in Clipchamp button.

Generate and add captions

  1. Navigate to the Captions tab and select the Transcribe media button.

  2. Choose your language and filter options from the pop-up.

  3. Navigate and select Transcribe media to generate captions.

Add and detach audio from the video snip

  1. Select the Audio tab from the sidebar.

  2. Adjust the volume within a range of 0 to 200%.

  3. To download the audio separately, select the Detach audio button.

  4. To access the downloaded audio file, press the Windows logo key  + R and type "downloads" in the dialog box.

For more information, refer to Add captions and audio description to a Snip video.

Notes: 

  1. After you capture a snip, select the Save as button.

  2. In the Save As box, type a file name, location, and type, and then select Save.

After you capture a snip, select the See more menu on top right, and then select Share.

Once you've captured a snip, select the Text actions button to activate the Optical Character Recognition (OCR) feature. This allows you to extract text directly from your image. From here, you have the option to either select and copy specific text or use the tools to Copy all text or to Quick redact any email addresses or phone numbers in the snip. All text recognition processes are performed locally on your device.

Press these keys

To do this

Alt + M

Choose a snipping mode.

Alt + N

Create a new snip in the same mode as the last one.

Shift + arrow keys

Move the cursor to select from different types of snips.

Alt + D

Delay capture by 1-5 seconds

Ctrl + C

Copy the snip to clipboard

Ctrl + S

Save the snip

With your capture open in Snipping Tool, select Edit Edit with Paint to use features for sizing, color, text, and many other enhancements.

In the folder where you’ve saved your snip, right click on the snip. Select Print from the options and make choices for how you want to print your image.

In the search box on the taskbar, type snipping tool. You’ll see the Snipping Tool app and a list of actions you can take. Select Pin to taskbar.

First, identify the menu or other components you want to capture. In Snipping Tool, select Delay and then select, for example, 5 seconds. Select Mode to start the 5-second countdown. Within 5 seconds, open a menu or otherwise compose your image. At 5 seconds, when you see the screen turn gray, use the mouse to draw around the area you want. 

Take a snapshot to copy words or images from all or part of your PC screen. Use Snipping Tool to make changes or notes, then save, and share.

Capture any of the following types of snips:

Free-form snip

Draw a free-form shape around an object.

Rectangular snip

Drag the cursor around an object to form a rectangle.

Window snip

Select a window, such as a dialog box, that you want to capture.

Full-screen snip

Capture the entire screen.

When you capture a snip, it's automatically copied to the Snipping Tool window where you make changes, save, and share. 

Open Snipping Tool

There are three ways to open Snipping Tool:

  • Select the Start  button, enter snipping tool, then select Snipping Tool from the results.

  • Press Windows logo key Shift S.

  • Press Print Screen (PrtSc).

Work with your screenshots

With Snipping Tool open, select one of the following to create and work with your screenshots.

In Snipping Tool, select Mode. In earlier versions of Windows, select the arrow next to the New button. Next, when you choose the kind of snip you want, you’ll see the whole screen change slightly to gray. Then, choosing from anything currently displayed on the screen, select the area of your screen that you want to capture.

Snipping Tool mode options

  1. After you open Snipping Tool, open the menu that you want to capture.

  2. Press Ctrl + PrtSc keys. The entire screen changes to gray including the open menu.

  3. Select Mode, or in earlier versions of Windows, select the arrow next to the New button. Select the kind of snip you want, and then select the area of the screen capture that you want to capture.

After you capture a snip, you can write or draw on or around it by selecting the Pen or Highlighter buttons. Select Eraser to remove the lines you've drawn.

  1. After you capture a snip, select the Save Snip button.

  2. In the Save As box, type a file name, location, and type, and then select Save.

When you capture a snip from a browser window and save it as an HTML file, the URL appears below the snip. To prevent the URL from appearing:

  1. In the Snipping Tool, select the Options button.

  2. In the Snipping Tools Options box, clear the Include URL below snips (HTML only) check box, then select OK.

After you capture a snip, select the arrow next to the Send Snip button, and then select an option from the list.  

Press these keys

To do this

Alt + M

Choose a snipping mode.

Alt + N

Create a new snip in the same mode as the last one.

Shift + arrow keys

Move the cursor to select from different types of snips.

Alt + D

Delay capture by 1-5 seconds

Ctrl + C

Copy the snip to clipboard

Ctrl + S

Save the snip

With your capture open in Snipping Tool, select Edit Edit with Paint 3D to use features for sizing, color, text, and many other enhancements.

With your capture open in Snipping Tool, select File Print and make choices for how you want to print your image.

In the search box on the taskbar, type snipping tool. You’ll see the Snipping Tool app and a list of actions you can take. Select Pin to taskbar.

First, identify the menu or other components you want to capture. In Snipping Tool, select Delay and then select, for example, 5 seconds. Select Mode to start the 5-second countdown. Within 5 seconds, open a menu or otherwise compose your image. At 5 seconds, when you see the screen turn gray, use the mouse to draw around the area you want. 

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