What is the Print Screen key?

A screenshot is a picture of your computer screen. Taking a screenshot is also called a screen capture. You can take a screenshot on Microsoft Windows computers by pressing the Print Screen key. Sometimes, you need to press it with another key. You can capture the entire screen, all active windows, or just the window you use right now. After you take a screenshot, it is saved to your clipboard.

You can paste it into a document, an email, a file, or an image editor like Paint. You can also insert the screenshot as an image into these places. Taking screenshots is useful for saving information, sharing what you see on your screen, or fixing problems by showing others what is happening on your computer.

Where can I locate the Print Screen key on my computer?

The Print Screen key is usually in the top right corner on desktop keyboards. It might be labeled as PrintScreen, PrntScrn, PrntScr, PrtScn, PrtScr, or PrtSc.

The Print Screen key is on the Function Key row on laptop keyboards. To take a screenshot, press the Fn key and the Function key (usually F10) together. Press the Fn key to switch the key functions for laptops with lit Function Keys and find the Print Screen key. Once it lights up, press PrntScrn with other options to capture the screenshot. Check your user guide for more details.