How to take proper proper screenshots on your Windows PC

[Kane]

The easiest quick lazy method:

 

Press ⊞ Win+Shift+S to open the built in Windows screenshot tool (aka Snipping Tool). It'll copy the screenshot you take to your clipboard and you can paste it. This is usually the preferred method for quick screenshots to deliver to messaging apps like Discord, or even on this forum.

 

 

---

 

The still easy but more advanced method:

 

https://getsharex.com/ ShareX - The best free and open source screenshot tool for Windows!

 

ShareX is my preferred tool when I want a screenshot to last forever. It also has a lot of different editing capabilities and bunch of other nice-to-have features. It also allows you to upload screenshots you take immediately to sites like Imgur. I'll show you how to do that here.

 

It's preferred that you have an Imgur account with a private album you can later delete all your nefarious screenshots.

 

The steps to take:

 

1. After installing ShareX, right click it on your Taskbar and "Open main window".
2. Go to "Destinations" > "Destination settings..."
3. Choose your preferred Image uploaders (Imgur, for this example) and follow the steps to connect your account.

 

It's that simple. Now every screenshot you take with ShareX will automatically upload to Imgur, all in their own album so you never lose your screenshots and can later come back to them without having to search for that link. ShareX also keeps a history of every screenshot you take. If you right click on ShareX in your Taskbar and go to "History...", you'll see a list there of all your screenshots and a URL associated with it if you uploaded it.

 

To make sure it uploads, ensure you configure your "After capture tasks". Set it to "Upload image to host". And then go to your "After upload tasks" and turn on "Copy URL to clipboard" (and if you want, "Open URL").

 

 

My recommendation for your settings but it's ultimately up to you how you like it:

 

"After capture tasks"

"Open in image editor" only - I prefer it open in the image editor and I can crop the part I want to screenshot and if I have to edit it in anyway, such as highlighting, arrows, etc, whatever, I can do it there. In the editor you can also choose to just copy to clipboard if you don't want to upload this one or upload it too.

 

"After upload tasks"

"Copy URL to clipboard"

"Open URL"

 

"Hotkey settings"

 

My Print Screen for ShareX is set to take a screenshot of my entire screen and I use the image editor to crop it. You can choose to have it set to capture a region so you can do it yourself if you'd like but this is what I recommend:

 

 

 

---

Now delete Gyazo and Lightshot!

 

[almightybounter]

Thanks

[DowDaw]

Thanks Kane! I've been using ShareX for almost two years now, very useful software love it

[lilianna]

Thanks for the helpful info.

[Justin Richardson]

On 3/7/2023 at 12:07 AM, Kane said:

The easiest quick lazy method:

 

Press ⊞ Win+Shift+S to open the built in Windows screenshot tool (aka Snipping Tool). It'll copy the screenshot you take to your clipboard and you can paste it. This is usually the preferred method for quick screenshots to deliver to messaging apps like Discord, or even on this forum.

 

 

---

 

The still easy but more advanced method:

 

https://getsharex.com/ ShareX - The best free and open source screenshot tool for Windows!

 

ShareX is my preferred tool when I want a screenshot to last forever. It also has a lot of different editing capabilities and bunch of other nice-to-have features. It also allows you to upload screenshots you take immediately to sites like Imgur. I'll show you how to do that here.

 

It's preferred that you have an Imgur account with a private album you can later delete all your nefarious screenshots.

 

The steps to take:

 

1. After installing ShareX, right click it on your Taskbar and "Open main window".
2. Go to "Destinations" > "Destination settings..."
3. Choose your preferred Image uploaders (Imgur, for this example) and follow the steps to connect your account.

 

It's that simple. Now every screenshot you take with ShareX will automatically upload to Imgur, all in their own album so you never lose your screenshots and can later come back to them without having to search for that link. ShareX also keeps a history of every screenshot you take. If you right click on ShareX in your Taskbar and go to "History...", you'll see a list there of all your screenshots and a URL associated with it if you uploaded it.

 

To make sure it uploads, ensure you configure your "After capture tasks". Set it to "Upload image to host". And then go to your "After upload tasks" and turn on "Copy URL to clipboard" (and if you want, "Open URL").

 

 

My recommendation for your settings but it's ultimately up to you how you like it:

 

"After capture tasks"

"Open in image editor" only - I prefer it open in the image editor and I can crop the part I want to screenshot and if I have to edit it in anyway, such as highlighting, arrows, etc, whatever, I can do it there. In the editor you can also choose to just copy to clipboard if you don't want to upload this one or upload it too.

 

"After upload tasks"

"Copy URL to clipboard"

"Open URL"

 

"Hotkey settings"

 

My Print Screen for ShareX is set to take a screenshot of my entire screen and I use the image editor to crop it. You can choose to have it set to capture a region so you can do it yourself if you'd like but this is what I recommend:

 

 

 

---

Now delete Gyazo and Lightshot!

 

Taking screenshots on your Windows PC can be a really useful tool for capturing images, whether it's for work or personal use. However, it's important to make sure you're taking high-quality screenshots that accurately represent what you're trying to show.

One tip for taking great screenshots is to use the built-in Windows Snipping Tool, which allows you to capture specific areas of your screen with precision. Another great option is to use the Windows + Print Screen key combination, which saves a screenshot directly to your computer's Pictures folder.

By the way, have you seen this circle vector? It's a great tool for adding a circular design element to your screenshots or other images. You can find it on many stock image websites, including Shutterstock or Adobe Stock. It's a simple but effective way to add a little extra visual interest to your screenshots!

I hope these tips help you take great screenshots on your Windows PC. Good luck!

Edited April 4, 2023 by Justin Richardson

[zUgg]

Furthermore, those who choose to use the steam built in screenshots need to make sure they enable the saving of uncompressed copies.

[Nature]

This is so good. Thanks Kane!

[april]

thx kane this was sooooooo helpful 

[mireu]

kane anyone who posts on here is trying to get closer to you so they can get promotions or staff stay woke king

[Sal]

We stan, v helpful. Been using Windows Snipping Tool for years too, didn't know anything existed which auto-uploaded.