How to Take Screenshots on a Laptop or Desktop Using Windows, macOS or Linux

You can use a combination of keyboard shortcuts to quickly take screenshots on your Windows, Mac, or Linux laptop or computer.

By Gadgets 360 Staff | Updated: 7 September 2023 13:50 IST

Highlights

You can take screenshots on your laptop using the official, built-in apps
These features are found on computers running Windows, macOS and Linux
A combination of keys allows you capture a part or the whole screen

How to Take Screenshots on a Laptop or Desktop Using Windows, macOS or Linux

Take a screenshot on your laptop using a combination of keys instead of using advanced apps

Photo Credit: Unsplash/ Benjamin Dada

How to take a screenshot on a laptop is one of the most commonly asked questions by users when they start using a computer running on Windows, macOS, or Linux. There are several ways to take screenshots on your laptop or desktop computer, from using keyboard shortcuts to opening apps designed to crop, rotate, annotate, and print the image you have captured from your screen. However, the fastest way to take a screenshot is through pressing a combination of keys on your keyboard for the screen capture functionality.

There are several third-party apps that you can install to gain even more control over your screenshots. For most users, the built-in tools on Windows, macOS, and Linux-based distributions like Ubuntu pack so many features that you probably don't need a more advanced tool. Here's how you can use the inbuilt tools on these operating systems to take screenshots on a laptop.

How to take screenshot on laptop using Windows

Open the app or website you want to capture on your laptop or desktop computer.
Press the Windows logo + Shift + S keys together until the screen appears dimmed.
Use your trackpad or mouse to select the area you want to take a screenshot OR select the Fullscreen Snip option at the top of the screen.
Click on the Snipping Tool notification to edit, crop, annotate, share, or save your screenshot.

How to take screenshot on laptop using macOS

Open the app or website you want to capture on your laptop or desktop computer.
Press the Shift + Command + 3 keys together to capture the entire screen.
Press Shift + Command + 4 to capture a portion of the screen, then drag and select the area as required.
View your desktop to see the latest screenshot and share it to another app.

How to take screenshot on laptop using Linux

If you are running a modern Linux distribution like Ubuntu, press the Print key.
Click Screen or Window to capture the whole screen or a specific window, respectively.
Choose Selection to capture part of the screen, using your mouse to click and drag until the area is selected.
Navigate to Pictures > Screenshots to view the screen capture, or paste it into any app using Ctrl + V.

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