We tend to believe that everyone born in the past twenty years is tech-savvy. Surprisingly, that’s not the case. Most people know how to take screenshots on their smartphone, yet things are more difficult with computers. And you may need screenshots for your academic writing.
Yes, you can always check out the EssayPro reviews and pick the service to delegate your writing duties to a professional author. However, there are numerous other reasons why you may need to take a screenshot. The most typical reasons include:
To avoid going back and forth between different sites.
Sending a particular part of the content.
To share something with your friends instead of sending them a link.
But to be fair, taking screenshots goes beyond that. Let’s say that you have issues with a particular software on your computer, and you need to send tech support the error message that you get when you try to execute this or that task. The best way to do that is to screenshot the error message.
Of course, you can do more ridiculous things, like simply copying the text of the error message, but who does that?
In other words, you need to know how to take a screenshot on your PC. And there are several ways to do that.
Print Screen
Print Screen is one of the most obvious options you use when you need to take a screenshot. It’s the best solution when you need to make a screenshot fast and forward it to whoever may need it or paste it where you want.
There are, however, two things you need to remember regarding the print screen — or PTR SC as it’s listed on your keyboard — option. Firstly, it doesn’t save the screenshot as a file. Secondly, it captures the whole screen.
So, to save the file and edit it, if you want to cut unnecessary parts out of it, you need to paste it into a certain program, like Microsoft Paint. There, you can save the file as it is or edit it according to your requirements and save the edited version.
Sounds not that comfortable, right? We’ll discuss how to make things easier in the next points.
Snip & Sketch Tool
There’s an alternative to using Print Screen, which is the Snip & Sketch Tool. To use it, you need to remember the easy combination of Windows key + Shift + S. As soon as you press the combination, your screen will become dim, and the small menu will pop up at the top of it.
Unlike Print Screen, which takes a screenshot of your entire screen, Snip & Sketch Tool allows you to capture a particular part of it.
The screenshot will be saved to your clipboard. Also, the screenshot will pop up as a notification in the upper right corner of your screen. Click on the notification, and you can edit the capture, add text to it, or highlight a certain aspect. If you fail to click on the notification, click the notification panel, and the screenshot will be there.
Easier than Print Screen, but the key combinations drive you crazy. There’s an option that can save you a lot of time. You can set your computer so that the PRT SC button will trigger the Snip & Sketch Tool.
To do that, you need to go to Settings Ease of Access Keyboard. There, go to Print Screen Shortcut and switch the “Use PrtScn to open screen snipping” option.
Snipping Tool
Despite the constant claims that the Snipping Tool is going away, it has every chance to celebrate its twentieth anniversary in 2026. Yes, the tool has been around that long. It was first introduced with Windows Vista and remained in all Windows incarnations after that. The Snipping Tool is better than the Print Screen option but worse than the Snip & Sketch Tool.
In the prior Windows versions, Snipping Tool was listed among the apps in the Start menu, but you won’t find it there in Windows 11. However, it’s still among the default apps, and you can easily find it using the search bar. Now, let’s discuss why it’s better than Print Screen and worse than Snip & Sketch.
When you open the Snipping Tool, you need to click “New,” and you can capture any part of the screen you need. That’s better than Print Screen, as you can select what you need to capture, and there’s no need to re-edit the screenshot afterward. Yet, the capture is not saved automatically to your clipboard. You need to manually save it as a file before you exit the tool. Only then can you send the screenshot to someone or drop it in the text file.
That kind of makes the process a bit tedious, and you can see why Microsoft wanted to ditch the Snipping Tool several times. The Snip & Sketch Tool gives you the same options as the Snipping Tool, but it’s easier to use. Yet, some users find the Snipping Tool more comfortable than other options. Not all vehicles have automatic transmissions
Closing Remarks
According to writers from essaypro reviews, here are three effortless ways to take screenshots in Windows 10 and 11. You may use this or that option, depending on your needs. If your computer or a particular software on it is glitchy, it makes sense to use Print Screen to capture the whole screen. It may be extremely useful, especially when you’re communicating with the technical support representatives to fix the issue you are experiencing.
For other purposes, you can choose the tool that is more comfortable for you. If you need to take the capture of something on your screen without altering the screenshot and send it right away, the Snip & Sketch Tool is your go-to option. If you need to take a screenshot and save it for later use, the Snipping Tool can come in handy. It’s better to have three options to choose from.
Last Updated 4 months ago
