Screen capture on Windows

Short answer: Windows captures stills with Windows + Shift + S or Windows + Print Screen, and video with Windows + Alt + R in Xbox Game Bar. Third-party software adds scrolling capture, editing and better recording control.

Last verified: 2026-08-01

Built-in Windows capture shortcuts

These shortcuts are part of Windows itself and work in File Explorer, Chrome and any desktop application.

Shortcut	What it does	Availability
Windows + Shift + S	Open the snipping overlay: rectangular, free-form, window or full-screen snip. Result goes to the clipboard.	Windows 10 & 11
Print Screen	Copy the whole screen to the clipboard. On Windows 11 this can be set to open the snipping overlay instead.	Windows 10 & 11
Alt + Print Screen	Copy only the active window to the clipboard.	Windows 10 & 11
Windows + Print Screen	Save the whole screen straight to Pictures\Screenshots as a PNG file.	Windows 10 & 11
Windows + Alt + Print Screen	Save the active window as a PNG through Xbox Game Bar, into Videos\Captures.	Windows 10 & 11
Windows + G	Open Xbox Game Bar, which includes a capture widget for stills and screen recording.	Windows 10 & 11
Fn + Print Screen	On many Windows laptops the Print Screen key is shared with another function and needs the Fn key.	Windows laptops

Recording the Windows screen without extra software

1Press Windows + GXbox Game Bar opens over the current application.
2Open the Capture widgetIt contains still capture, recording and microphone controls.
3Press Windows + Alt + RRecording starts for the focused application window.
4Stop and find the fileRecordings are saved as MP4 in Videos \ Captures.

Where Windows saves your screenshots

Windows + Print Screen saves PNG files to This PC \ Pictures \ Screenshots.
Windows + Alt + Print Screen saves to This PC \ Videos \ Captures via Xbox Game Bar.
Windows + Shift + S copies to the clipboard first; the file only exists once you save it from the Snipping Tool editor.
Print Screen and Alt + Print Screen copy to the clipboard only — paste into an editor or document with Ctrl + V.

You can move the Screenshots folder: right-click it, open Properties, then the Location tab, and choose a new path.

Recommended Windows software

ShareX

ShareX Team

Free

Download ShareX

Free, open-source Windows screenshot and screen capture software with scrolling capture, OCR, screen recording and scriptable after-capture workflows.