Windows 10’s October 2018 Update brings a modern screenshot tool to Windows 10. A new keyboard shortcut lets you screenshot part of your screen, and add annotations.
Aug 28, 2015 Learn how to use the new Microsoft Snip Screen Capture Tool on Windows 10/8/7. It lets you capture screenshots, annotate & edit images & share them. Windows Screen Capture Tool. On the left is the Options pane and on the right is the Preview and Status pane. In the Options pane you have the image capture settings offered in the form of Tiles. One you capture the image, the captured content can be previewed. You can also come to know if your clipboard holds an image or not.
There are many ways to take screenshots on Windows 10. You can press Windows+Print Screen (some keyboards label this key “PrtScn” or “Print”) to save a screenshot as a PNG file to your PicturesScreenshots folder, press the Print Screen key by itself to copy your entire screen (or Alt+Print Screen for just the active Window) to your clipboard so you can paste it somewhere, or launch the Snipping Tool and use it to snip parts of your screen.
In the October 2018 Update, another keyboard shortcut opens a new screenshot tool that lets you snip parts of your screen or the entire screen to your clipboard. It also adds a new “Snip & Sketch” application, originally named “Screen Sketch,” that lets you annotate these screenshots.
RELATED:How to Take Screenshots in Windows 10
How to Use the New Clipping Tool
To use the new clipping tool, press Windows+Shift+S. On the April 2018 Update and earlier versions of Windows 10, this opens an interface that lets you select a section of your screen and copy just that section to your clipboard. But, on the October 2018 Update, you’ll see a new screenshot bar at the top of your screen.
The bar has four buttons. From left to right, they are Rectangular Clip, Freeform Clip, Fullscreen Clip, and Close.
To take a clip of just a rectangular section of your screen, click the “Rectangular Clip” button, and then drag to select a section of your screen.
To take a clip of a section of your screen that isn’t rectangular, click “Freeform Clip” on the bar, and then click and drag on your screen to draw the area you want to clip.
To take a screenshot of your entire screen, click the “Fullscreen Clip” button. Or, if you don’t want to take a screenshot, you can click the “Close” button or just press the Esc key on your keyboard.
The screenshot you take is copied to your clipboard instead of being saved as a file on your computer. You can paste the screenshot into any application that supports image files by clicking the “Paste” button or by pressing Ctrl+V.
If you have the October 2018 Update’s new Clipboard History feature enabled, you can press Windows+V to view a history of the screenshots you’ve taken, along with any other items you’ve copied to your clipboard.
You also can make the new screenshot tool appear when you just press the Print Screen key on your keyboard, too. To do so, head to Settings > Ease of Access > Keyboard. Enable the “Use the Print Screen key to launch screen snipping” option.
This convenient shortcut is off by default, but you can always press Windows+Shift+S to launch this tool on any Windows 10 PC after the October 2018 Update rolls out to everyone.
How to Use the New Snip & Sketch Tool
You’ll see a notification appear when you take a screenshot with the clipping tool. This notification is also available in the Action Center. To open the screenshot you just took in the Snip & Sketch application, originally named Screen Sketch, click the notification.
You can also open the Snip & Sketch tool from your Start menu, where it appears as a normal application in your list of installed apps.
Snip & Sketch offers a number of basic tools for working with screenshots. You’ll find Ballpoint Pen, Pencil, Highlighter, Eraser, Ruler, and Crop options for annotating and editing your screenshot. There are also Undo and Redo buttons.
You can take more screenshots from here by clicking the “New Snipping” icon at the left side of the toolbar, or you can click the “Open File” option to open any image file. When you’re done, you can use the “Save As” button to save your image as a file, the “Copy” button to copy it back to your clipboard for easy pasting, or the “Share” button to send it to another app.
And, because this application supports Sets tabs, you could work with multiple screenshots in the same window, with each having its own separate tab. Unfortunately, those tabs have been delayed and they didn’t make it into the final October 2018 Update.
RELATED:How to Use Sets in Windows 10 to Organize Apps Into Tabs
This application is based on the Screen Sketch tool that was originally built into the Windows Ink Workspace, which was intended for Windows users with stylus pens. Snip & Sketch is still useful if you have a pen, but anyone can use it for annotations—even if you just have a mouse or touch screen.
Microsoft Screen Capture Tool Download
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Windows 10 has not even been released yet, but that's a perfect reason to start unearthing a few secrets. Over the coming weeks and months there will undoubtedly be an endless stream of tips, tricks, and tweaks to try out, but how's this for starters? Windows 10 has a secret screen recording tool that can be used to capture on-screen activity as a video file.
Taking a static screenshot is very simple. You can either hit the Print Screen key, use the Snipping Tool, or turn to one of the countless screen capture tools out there -- many of which are free. When it comes to capturing video, however, it's something of a different story. Before you splash out on a dedicated tool such as Camtasia, you might want to try out Windows 10's hidden tool. It's designed for gamers really, but anyone can use it.
See also:
The Game bar is a toolbar which Microsoft meant for gamers to use to capture screenshots of their high scores, as well as video footage of their gaming skills. Despite the name, it is not limited to use within games, and you would be forgiven for having missed it as you browsed through the latest version of the operating system -- you're not going to stumble across it by accident.
Hit the Windows key and G, and a popup will appear asking if you would like to open Game bar -- there are no Yes and No buttons, but check the 'Yes, this is a game' box (you will have to do this the first time you access the screen recorder in any application).
Microsoft Screen Capture Tool
Things are pretty self-explanatory here -- just hit the standard record button to start capturing footage. Hit the button again to stop recording, or you can use the Windows key + Alt + R keyboard shortcut. The Settings button can be used to place a limit on the length of videos that can be recorded -- this helps you to avoid filling up your hard drive if you forget to stop a recording. Videos are saved in MP4 format in the VideosCaptures folder. Also read:
You may or may not have realized that this tool is part of Windows 10's Xbox app, and this is where you need to head to adjust more settings. Go to the Game DVR section (the fifth icon from the bottom) and you can access the videos you've recorded, as well as use a basic trim tool to get rid of unwanted sections from the beginning and end.