How to Screenshot on Windows 11: Native Tools and Smart Shortcuts

By Hexafusion IT Solutions — serving British Columbia. Last updated: August 23, 2025.

Screenshots help your team resolve tickets faster, document changes, and create training steps. This guide covers the built-in Windows 11 tools and where each capture is saved. At the end you will find a bonus tip for scrolling screenshots across long pages.

Quick shortcuts you will use daily

• Snipping Tool overlay: Windows + Shift + S to capture a rectangle, freeform, window, or full screen. The capture goes to the clipboard first.
• Save full screen to file: Windows + Print Screen saves a PNG to Pictures\Screenshots.
• Copy the active window: Alt + Print Screen puts the current window into the clipboard.
• Let Print Screen open Snipping Tool: In Settings → Accessibility → Keyboard, enable “Use the Print Screen button to open Snipping Tool,” then press Print Screen.

Snipping Tool: fast images and basic recording

Open the Snipping Tool from Start or press Windows + Shift + S. Choose your mode and capture. Click the preview to annotate with pen, highlighter, or shapes, then save or copy. Snipping Tool also records your screen; press Windows + Shift + R or choose the Record option inside Snipping Tool.

Tips

• Use the Timer inside Snipping Tool to delay a capture for menus that disappear.
• If you need the cursor visible in a tutorial, record a short clip or add the cursor later in your documentation tool.

Xbox Game Bar: quick app screenshots and recordings

For app or game captures, press Windows + G to open the Xbox Game Bar. Press Windows + Alt + Print Screen for a screenshot, or record with Windows + Alt + R. Files save to Videos\Captures.

Full-page webpage screenshots with Microsoft Edge

Open the page in Microsoft Edge and press Ctrl + Shift + S to open Web capture, then select Capture full page. This creates a scrolling screenshot of the entire webpage and lets you copy or save it.

Where your captures are saved

• Windows + Print Screen: Pictures\Screenshots. Create the folder if it does not exist.
• Snipping Tool overlay: Clipboard first; click the notification to save or annotate.
• Xbox Game Bar: Videos\Captures.
• OneDrive users: If OneDrive is set to save screenshots, files may appear in OneDrive\Pictures\Screenshots.

Troubleshooting

• Nothing saves with Windows + Print Screen: Ensure Pictures\Screenshots exists and you have permission to write to it. Check if OneDrive is redirecting screenshots.
• Print Screen does not open Snipping Tool: Enable it in Settings → Accessibility → Keyboard.
• Floating thumbnail did not appear: Open Snipping Tool from Start and confirm notifications are allowed, then try again.

Bonus: Scrolling screenshots anywhere

Windows does not offer a native scrolling capture for apps and documents outside the browser. For long documents, chats, or settings panes, use a third-party tool.

ShareX (free and open source)

1. Install ShareX and open it.
2. Select Capture → Scrolling capture.
3. Pick the region or window. ShareX will scroll and stitch the images into one long capture.
4. If a site or app uses complex rendering, try a smaller region or slower scroll speed in ShareX settings.

Alternative tools include PicPick and Snagit. For webpages, Microsoft Edge full-page capture is usually the simplest choice.

Helpful links

• Use Snipping Tool to capture screenshots (Microsoft)
• Xbox Game Bar capture shortcuts (Microsoft)
• Microsoft Edge: Capture full page
• ShareX: Scrolling screenshot guide

If you would like Hexafusion IT Solutions to standardize screenshots and annotated steps across your team, call us at (604) 332-1500 or visit hexafusion.com.

Explore our services: IT Support · Cybersecurity (RedShield365) · AI Automation