A screenshot is a picture of your screen that you can take and save on your computer. Screenshots are useful if you want to show someone exactly what you can see on your screen – for example, when troubleshooting an issue. When you've saved the screenshot, you can attach it to an email to send it to others.
If you're looking for how to take a picture during a video call, try our article on how to take a picture.
This article describes how to take and save a screenshot on Windows desktop, Mac and Linux.
Taking a screenshot on Windows desktop
- On your keyboard, press the Print Screen (Prt Scr) key to take a screenshot of your entire desktop. To take a screenshot of an active window, press Alt+Prt Scr.
- Click Start > All Programs/Programs > Accessories > Paint (on Windows 10 and Windows 11 click Start, type Paint and open the Paint app).
- Press Ctrl+V to paste your screenshot into Paint.
- In the menu bar click File > Save and navigate to where you want to save the image. Make sure you can remember where you save it, as you’ll need to find the file to attach the image in an email.
- Enter a file name.
- In the Save as type: drop-down menu, select JPEG.
- Click Save.
Taking a screenshot on Mac
On your keyboard, press the Command+Shift+4+Spacebar key combination and click the window you want to take a screenshot of.
To take a screenshot of your entire desktop, press the Command+Shift+3 key combination. To capture a portion of the desktop, press the Command+Shift+4 key combination. A cross-hair cursor appears. Click and drag the cursor to select the area you’d like to capture. To save the screenshot, release the mouse button.
The screenshot is saved on your desktop in .png format.
Taking a screenshot on Linux
The easiest way to take a screenshot is to press the Print Screen (PrtSc) key on your keyboard. This will take an image you can then paste into your graphics software and save as a file. The Prt Scr key will take a screenshot of your entire screen. To take a screenshot of an active window, press Alt+Prt Scr.
Important: On some keyboards, Prt Scr can appear as PRTSC, Print Scr or a similar abbreviation. Some laptops and mobile devices don’t have the Print Screen key and might use key combinations, like Function+Insert, to take a screenshot. See the device’s user guide to find out the correct key or key combination.
