How to take a screenshot on a laptop or Chromebook

Taking a screenshot on a laptop is quick and easy - as long as you know the right buttons to press.

The process for taking a screenshot on all Windows laptops is pretty much the same, as it’s based on the operating system rather than the laptop brand.

So, here’s how to take a screenshot on HP laptops, Dell laptops, Lenovo laptops… or any of the other big names.

1. Full screenshot. Press the ‘Print Screen’ (prt scr) key. The screenshot will then be copied on to your clipboard, and you can save it in your Pictures folder.

2. Active window screenshot. Hold down the ‘Alt’ key and press the ‘Print Screen’ (prt scr) key. This captures the active window instead of the entire screen.

Taking a screenshot on your Chromebook is an absolute doddle, thanks to the handy screen-grabbing snipping tool.

There are two ways to bring up the snipping tool. Through the Quick Settings panel, or with a keyboard shortcut:

• Quick Settings panel. To bring up the Quick Settings panel, click the little clock icon in the bottom right corner of your Chromebook desktop. Then click on the screen capture option to open the screen snipping tool.

• Keyboard shortcut. The quickest way of opening the snipping tool is to press the Shift + Ctrl + Show Windows keys together. The Show Windows key is the one with a stack of rectangles on it - usually the fifth or sixth key in the top row.

When you select the snipping tool, your mouse cursor arrow will turn into a crosshair icon. A screen grab toolbar will also appear at the bottom of the screen, with the Take partial screenshot option selected. Now simply click and drag the crosshair over the area of the screen that you want to grab. When you're happy, click the Capture option in the middle of the highlighted area.

Your screenshot will now appear in a preview window in the bottom right corner of the screen. You can save it in the Downloads folder.

To take a full-screen screenshot on your Macbook, press the Command + Shift + 3 keys together. The screenshot will then be saved on your desktop.

To take a partial screenshot on your Macbook, press the Command + Shift + 4 keys together. When the cursor turns into a crosshair, you can click and drag to select the area you want to capture, then release the mouse button to take the screenshot.

Troubleshooting FAQs

Need more help?

If you’re looking for new computing tech, our laptop buying guide is packed with useful info. We’ve also got handy articles on which laptop to buy, and which Chromebook to buy.

If you’d like to chat to a real-life expert, pop into one of our stores and speak with one of our colleagues. They’ll happily answer all your tech questions.