How to use Snipping Tool in Windows
Press Win + Shift + S, choose a mode (rectangle, window, full screen or freeform) and select what to capture. The snip is copied to your clipboard, and a notification opens it for editing. In Windows 11, Snipping Tool also saves every snip to Pictures\Screenshots automatically.
16 September 2026
How to open Snipping Tool
Snipping Tool is Microsoft's free screenshot app and comes with Windows. Win means the Windows logo key.
- Win + Shift + S: opens the snipping bar straight away, the quickest way.
- PrtScn: opens the same bar on Windows 11 by default. On Windows 10 you can switch this on in Settings.
- Start menu: type Snipping Tool and open the app to use the delay and recording options.
- Pin it: right-click Snipping Tool in the Start menu and choose Pin to taskbar.
- Missing: if it was removed, install Snipping Tool free from the Microsoft Store.
How to take a snip, step by step
- Press Win + Shift + S. The screen dims and a small bar appears at the top.
- Choose a mode on the bar: Rectangle, Window, Full screen or Freeform.
- Drag over the area, or click the window or screen you want.
- The snip is copied to the clipboard. Paste it anywhere with Ctrl + V.
- To edit or save it, click the notification that appears in the corner. In Windows 11 it is also saved to Pictures\Screenshots.
Snipping modes explained
To snip a menu that closes when you click away, open Snipping Tool from the Start menu and use a delay, described next.
- Rectangle: drag a box around any part of the screen. The one most people use.
- Window: click an app window or dialog box to capture exactly that.
- Full screen: captures the whole display. With several monitors, snip the one you want with Rectangle instead.
- Freeform: draw any shape by hand around what you want.
How to take a delayed snip
- Open the Snipping Tool app from the Start menu.
- Choose a delay: in Windows 11 pick 3, 5 or 10 seconds from the clock menu. In the older Windows 10 Snipping Tool, pick 1 to 5 seconds from Delay.
- Click New, then open the menu or tooltip you want before the timer runs out.
- The snipping bar appears when the time is up. Select the area as usual.
Edit, copy and save a snip
When a snip opens in the app you can draw with the pen, mark text with the highlighter, erase marks, draw straight lines with the ruler and crop the image. In Windows 11, Text actions finds the words in the snip so you can copy them, and Quick redact hides email addresses and phone numbers.
Press Ctrl + C to copy the edited snip, or Ctrl + S to save it as PNG or JPG where you choose. To make Windows 11 stop saving every snip, open Snipping Tool, click the three dots, choose Settings and turn off automatic saving.
Lost a snip? In Windows 11, look in Pictures\Screenshots. If you turned on clipboard history in Settings, System, Clipboard, press Win + V to see recent snips and paste an older one. Windows 10's Snip & Sketch does not keep a history, so save each snip you need.
Record your screen with Snipping Tool in Windows 11
Recent versions let you include your microphone and system sound, and recordings save as MP4 files. Windows 10's Snipping Tool cannot record; use the Xbox Game Bar with Win + Alt + R instead, which records one app window.
- Open Snipping Tool and switch from the camera icon to the video camera icon.
- Click New, drag over the area to record, then click Start.
- Click Stop when you are done. Save the video from the preview window, or find it in Videos\Screen Recordings if automatic saving is on.
Snipping Tool on Windows 10, Windows 7 and other systems
- Windows 10: has the classic Snipping Tool plus Snip & Sketch. Win + Shift + S opens the Snip & Sketch bar, and clicking its notification opens the Snip & Sketch editor.
- Windows 7: the classic Snipping Tool is in the Start menu under Accessories. Choose the mode from the New menu. Win + Shift + S does not work there.
- Mac: there is no Snipping Tool, but Cmd + Shift + 4 snips an area and Cmd + Shift + 5 opens the Screenshot toolbar.
- Chromebook: Ctrl + Shift + Show windows opens the screen capture bar for partial, window and full screen snips.
- Linux and Ubuntu: PrtScn opens the built-in screenshot tool. ksnip and Flameshot are free alternatives.
- Android: press Power and Volume Down together. iPad: press the top button and Volume Up, or the top button and Home button on models with one.
Snipping a whole web page
Snipping Tool cannot scroll, so it only captures what is on screen. For a full page snip of a long website, a browser extension is the easiest route. The free NeoReader Full Page Screenshot extension for Chrome, Edge and Firefox captures the entire scrolling page, the visible part or a dragged area, and its editor can crop, add arrows and text and blur private details before you save PNG, JPG or PDF. Microsoft Edge also has a built-in screenshot tool on Ctrl + Shift + S.
Our free web tools pick up after the snip: Screenshot to Text copies the words out of a snip, and Screenshot to PDF combines several snips into one PDF. Both run in your browser, so the images stay on your device.
