The One Shortcut You Need
Win + Shift + S
Hold all three keys at the same time to instantly open the Snipping Tool
Snipping Tool Cheat Sheet
Quick Reference Guide
Shared Knowledge
Technical Solutions
Winchester, VA
Technical Solutions
Winchester, VA
4 Capture Modes
Rectangle Snip
Click and drag a box around what you want
Best for: 90% of screenshots
Freeform Snip
Draw any shape with your mouse
Best for: Irregular shapes, creative captures
Window Snip
Click on any window to capture just that window
Best for: Error messages, dialog boxes, program windows
Full Screen Snip
Captures everything on your entire screen
Best for: Full desktop layouts, showing everything
Keyboard Shortcuts
Win+Shift+S
Open Snipping Tool & capture
Ctrl+V
Paste screenshot into email, doc, or chat
Ctrl+S
Save as a file (in the editor)
Ctrl+Z
Undo last annotation
Ctrl+C
Copy edited screenshot to clipboard
Annotation Tools
Pen
Draw freehand lines, arrows, circles
Highlighter
Transparent highlighting over text or buttons
Eraser
Remove your annotations (not the image)
Crop
Trim the screenshot down after capture
Capture & Save Workflow
1
Win+Shift+S
Open Snipping Tool
Open Snipping Tool
→
2
Select area
Drag, click, or draw
Drag, click, or draw
→
3
Paste with Ctrl+V
or click notification
or click notification
→
4
Annotate
Draw, highlight, crop
Draw, highlight, crop
→
5
Ctrl+S
Save as PNG or JPG
Save as PNG or JPG
Quick Tips
Emailing tech support? Capture → Ctrl+V into your email. Done in 10 seconds.
Saving a receipt? Capture → Ctrl+S to a "Receipts" folder. Name it clearly.
Create a Screenshots folder in Documents so your captures are always easy to find.
Save as PNG for best quality. Use JPG only when you need a smaller file size.
Missed the notification? Search "Snipping Tool" in Start menu — your last capture is there.
Name files clearly: "error-march-15" is much better than "Screenshot (47)".