Users often need to capture screenshots in Windows to include within documents and webpages or for troubleshooting purposes. There are numerous ways you can capture screenshots within Windows 11 and 10. You can capture snapshots by pressing alternative Windows hotkeys. These are the different screen-capturing hotkeys in Windows 11 and 10.

How to Capture a Full-Screen Desktop Screenshot (PrtSc)

PrtSc is the most basic Windows hotkey for capturing screenshots. Pressing the PrtSc key on your keyboard’s top row captures a full-screen screenshot on your PC. The captured snapshot will include everything on the screen at the moment taken.

The clipboard stores PrtSc snapshots so you can paste them into software packages. You can paste images captured with the PrtSc key by pressing the Ctrl + V hotkey. Then you can manually edit and save the pasted screenshot within the software.

How to Capture and Save a Full-Screen Screenshot (Windows + PrtSc)

This keyboard shortcut is an extension of the PrtSc hotkey. Pressing the Win + PrtSc keys at the same time both captures and automatically saves a full-screen screenshot on your PC. As such, you won’t need to manually paste and save the captured snapshot if you press that keyboard shortcut.

Images captured with this hotkey save within a Screenshots folder. To find and open images captured with that keyboard shortcut, click File Explorer’s taskbar button in Windows 11. Then open the C:\Users\[user folder name]\Pictures\Screenshots directory path in Explorer. You can open the captured images from the Screenshots folder.

The Screenshots folder

How to Capture an Active Window Screenshot (Alt + PrtSc)

Capturing snapshots with the PrtSc key isn’t very flexible. Some users will only need to capture specific software windows within their screenshots. In which case, they would need to manually crop out unwanted parts of screenshots captured by pressing PrtSc.

Pressing the Alt + PrtSc key combination is a better way to capture screenshots of active software windows. That hotkey only takes a screenshot of a currently selected (active) window. It excludes everything outside an active window. Windows 11’s clipboard stores snapshots taken with this hotkey much the same as the basic PrtSc.

How to Capture a Snipping Tool Screenshot (Win + Shift + S)

The Snipping Tool is Windows 11’s default screen-capturing utility for taking snapshots. It includes free-form, rectangular, full-screen, and active window screenshot options. Thus, the Snipping Tool (otherwise Snip and Sketch in Windows 10) provides more screenshot options.

You can quickly activate the Snipping Tool by pressing its Win + Shift + S keyboard shortcut. Pressing that hotkey in Windows 11 will open the snipping toolbar shown directly below. There you can select one of the Snipping Tool’s four options to take a screenshot with it.

The Snipping Tool's toolbar

Screenshots captured with the Snipping Tool are stored within the clipboard. To view thumbnail previews for snapshots, press the Win + V hotkey. Then you can select a snapshot to paste from clipboard history.

Clipboard history

Read also: How to Use the Windows Snipping Tool for Your Screenshots

How to Capture a Game Bar Screenshot (Win + Alt + PrtSc)

The Windows Game Bar is the most notable gaming feature in Windows 11 and10. Pressing the Win + G key combination opens that bar, from which you can select several handy things you can do with the Game Bar.

Among them is a Capture button you can press to select Take screenshot and Start recording options. You can capture screenshots from both games and the Windows desktop by clicking Take screenshot.

The Game Bar

Game Bar’s Take screenshot option also has a specific keyboard shortcut. You can press the Win + Alt + PrtSc hotkey to capture a snapshot with that option without manually opening the Game Bar first. A screenshot-saved notification will appear when you press that key combination.

The Game Bar automatically saves screenshots captured with it to the C:\Users\[user folder name]\Videos\Captures directory. To open that folder, bring up the Game Bar and select Capture. Then you can click Show all captures to view a gallery of captured snapshots from there. Press the Open in File Explorer button on the Gallery window to bring up the folder.

Gallery window

How to Set Up Custom Screenshot Hotkeys With ShareX

Windows 11 doesn’t include any built-in options to change its screenshot hotkeys. However, you can set up custom keyboard shortcuts for taking snapshots with ShareX, which we crowned as one of the best screenshot apps for Windows.

ShareX packs in 13 screenshot and recording options. You can customize the hotkeys for ShareX’s capturing options as follows.

  1. Open the ShareX webpage in browser software.
  2. Click Download on ShareX’s page.
  3. Press the File Explorer button on your taskbar. Then open the folder in which you downloaded ShareX’s setup wizard.
  4. Double-click ShareX-13.7.0-setup.exe to open the installer for ShareX.
  5. Click the I accept the agreement radio button, and select the Next option.
  6. To change the default installation path for the software, select the Browse option and choose an alternative directory. Click Next to continue.
    The Setup - ShareX window
  7. All additional shortcut options will be selected by default. Click the Next and Install buttons to finish.
  8. Thereafter, select the Launch ShareX and Finish options.
  9. Click Hotkey settings in the ShareX window that opens.
    ShareX window
  10. You can change ShareX’s default keyboard shortcuts from the Hotkey settings window. To do so, click a hotkey for one of the listed options.
  11. Then press an alternative key combination for the capturing option.
    Hotkey settings
  12. To add set up a hotkey for a capturing option that isn’t listed, click the Add button.
  13. Click the Task drop-down menu and select Screen capture.
    The Task drop-down menu
  14. Then choose a capturing option to set up a hotkey for.
  15. Click the X (Close) button on the Task settings window.
  16. Finally, click in the keyboard shortcut box for the added option and press a hotkey for it.

Now close ShareX’s window and try out your new custom screenshot keyboard shortcuts. After taking snapshots with those hotkeys, you can edit them further with ShareX’s editing options. To do so, double-click the ShareX system tray icon. Then right-click a screenshot thumbnail and select Edit image.

The Image editor window

Capture Screenshots on the Fly With Those Hotkeys

You can quickly capture screenshots in Windows 11 and 10 by pressing the above hotkeys. Windows 11’s screen-capture hotkeys are fine for taking full-screen and active window snapshots. You can also capture free-form snapshots more quickly with the Snipping Tool’s keyboard shortcut. If you still need more screenshot flexibility, however, set up some custom ShareX keyboard shortcuts.