How to take screenshots – and why you might want to
Knowing how to take screenshots can simplify many aspects of online life, from password management to complaints escalation
A lot of information passes across your computer screen every day.
Much of it is irrelevant, and some of it can be saved using the program or application it was created with – social media, WordPress, Excel, etc.
However, sometimes your screen will display content which would be useful to keep but can’t easily be saved.
Capturing this data may be vital for logging technical faults or making complaints, sharing information or immortalising a sudden event.
Screenshot tools save almost anything currently displaying on your screen, in universally accessible graphical file formats like JPG or PNG.
These files can then be modified in free photo editing packages, or simply saved for posterity.
Snip off the old block
Screenshots have been part of computing life since the 1980s home computing boom.
Both the 8-bit Sinclair Spectrum and its Commodore C64 nemesis offered a way to dump bitmap memory, though neither system was sophisticated.
Decades later, even Microsoft’s lauded Windows XP operating system only provided a rudimentary screenshotting tool.
Indeed, the less fondly remembered Vista OS first introduced the concept of snipping.
Snipping brought two key benefits – efficient PNG files were saved instead of space-hungry bitmaps, while users could capture a selected portion of the screen, not the whole thing.
Why are screenshots useful?
Knowing how to take screenshots may offer many advantages:
- Recording information which can’t be saved in any other form – video stills, chatbot conversations, game progress or product selections on ecommerce websites.
- Offering support or assistance – such as sending a colleague instructions involving program sub-menus, with the exact option highlighted.
- Troubleshooting – capturing software/hardware error messages or conducting broadband speed checks before sharing the outcomes with technical support personnel.
- Mapping – screenshotting a Google Maps display into a graphics package allows you to draw arrows, add notes and create annotated directions over high-res satellite images.
- Evidence – if you’ve seen offensive or harmful content which might later be deleted, like Snapchat posts or live text data, a screenshot proves what was said, when and where.
How to take screenshots on different devices
We’re focusing here on desktop and laptop computers.
Depending on the manufacturer and model, smartphones and tablets may require any one of numerous button-press combinations to capture the current display.
On a PC
Smaller (75 per cent) keyboards may not have the PrtSc button incorporated into their full-size siblings.
If there is a PrtSc button, pressing it and CTRL at the same time should capture whatever is on your screen.
(If you’re running a dual-screen setup, the computer will save the screen your cursor is on).
Owners of smaller keyboards could remap a key to perform the Print Screen function, display an on-screen keyboard by pressing WIN + CTRL + O, or summon the Snipping tool.
The Snipping tool appears when you hold down WIN + Shift + S, though it might take a couple of seconds to load.
Files are saved to the Pictures > Screenshots folder.
On a Mac
PrtSc isn’t part of the standard Mac keyboard. Instead, Apple Mac users should capture a screenshot by holding down CMD + Shift + 3 simultaneously.
The screenshot will momentarily hover at the edge of the screen for editing.
It’s also possible to dispatch a screenshot directly to the clipboard, by using a slightly different combination of buttons – CMD + Control + Shift + 3.
As with Windows, you can save a portion of the screen without having to dump the whole screengrab into a graphics editor. Press CMD + Shift + 4 and then move the crosshair pointer around.
Files are saved to the desktop.
On a Chromebook
Some Google Chromebooks have a screenshot key, resembling a rectangle with lines to the right of it.
If your model lacks this, press Shift + Ctrl + F5 (or the Show Windows key if this is present instead).
Once again, you can take full-screen, partial or window grabs, using the Tab key and arrows to change the height and width of the proposed screenshot.
Files will be saved to the Downloads folder.
