How to Use the Windows Snipping Tool for Your Screenshots
How to Open the Snipping Tool in Windows
The easiest way to open the Snipping Tool is by searching for it in the Start Menu. On Windows 7 or Windows 10, click the Start button at the bottom-left or press the Windows key on your keyboard. Then start typing snipping and hit Enter when it appears to open it.
On Windows 8.1, hit the Windows key on your keyboard to open the Start screen. From here, you can type snipping and click the app to launch it.
Once you have it open, you may want to right-click on the Snipping Tool icon at the bottom of your screen and choose Pin to the taskbar for easy access.
While we’ll focus on using the Snipping Tool in Windows 10 here, we’ll mention small differences in older versions of Windows where applicable.
How to Use the Snipping Tool to Capture Screenshots
Once you’ve opened the Snipping Tool, you’ll see a simple window. To capture a screenshot, you’ll first want to choose a model. On Windows 10, use the Mode dropdown to choose one. Older versions of Windows show these under the arrow next to New.
The Snipping Tool offers four capture options:
- Free-form Snip: Allows you to draw a freehand shape.
- Rectangular Snip: Draw a box around an element to capture it.
- Window Snip: Capture an entire app window.
- Full-screen Snip: Take a screenshot of your entire display (including multiple monitors).
If you choose one of the first two options, you’ll need to use your mouse to draw around the part of the screen you want to capture. With Window Snip, mouse over the window you want to capture and click. Full-screen Snip instantly captures your entire desktop.
Which you should use depends on your needs. For instance, Windows Snip is great for capturing dialog boxes containing errors, while Rectangular Snip lets you decide exactly what to capture.
Taking Delayed Screenshots
In Windows 10, you can also capture screenshots on a delay using the Snipping Tool. This is useful for grabbing images of context menus that disappear when you click again.
To use them, click the Delay button and choose between one and five seconds. Then, when you hit New to start a snip, the tool will wait before showing the capture prompt. This allows you to open a menu or prepare an app for screenshotting.
How to Edit Screenshots in the Snipping Tool
Once you capture a screenshot, it will open in the Snipping Tool so you can edit if needed. If you’re unhappy with what you grabbed, click New to start over.
The Snipping Tool only has a few tools for editing. Click the Pen to draw on the image. Use the dropdown menu next to this tool to change the color or customize the thickness.
You also have access to a Highlighter, which makes it easy to point out the focus of an image. Simply select it and use your mouse to highlight points of interest in the snip.
If you decide to remove any pen or highlighter marks, use the Eraser to remove them. Click and hold, then move your cursor over markings to erase them. There’s, unfortunately, no Undo function in the Snipping Tool, so you’ll have to rely on this.
For more options, click the multicolored apostrophe-looking icon at the far right of the toolbar. This will open your snip in Paint 3D, a default Windows 10 app with additional editing capabilities. There you can crop the snip, add text or shapes, and much more.
Save and Share Screenshots From the Snipping Tool
Once you’re happy with your snip, you can save the image or send it via email. Click the Save icon to choose a location on your computer for the file. The default format is PNG, which is usually best for screenshots.
Click the Copy option to place the image on your clipboard. From there, you can paste it (using Ctrl + V) anywhere you like. In addition, you can click the Email button to send the snip in your default mail client. Use the arrow to select Email Recipient (as an attachment) instead if you prefer.
If you need a hard copy of the snip, press Ctrl + P to open the Print dialog.
