The easiest and fastest steps to take screenshots of Windows and MacBook computers

Taking a  screenshot of the computer screen  is one of the basic and useful operations for laptop users  . If you do not know how to take screenshots of Windows and MacBook computers   the easiest way, follow this article!

1. How to take a screenshot of a Windows computer

The way to take screenshots in the article can be applied to all laptops such as  Dell ,  HP ,  ASUS ,  Acer ,  Lenovo ,  LG ,  MSI ,.

Screenshot of Windows XP, Windows 7/8" laptop

Step 1 : You press the  Print Screen  (PrtSc) key on  the computer keyboard .

Depending on the computer model, the Print Screen key   has different symbols such as:  PrtScn ,  Prnt Scr ,  Prt Sc , .

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Step 2 : Select  the Windows icon  (Start Menu) > Enter  Paint  to search and open Paint software.

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Step 3 : Paste the captured image into Paint just by pressing the key combination  Ctrl  +  V .

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Note : You can edit photos or make arbitrary notes on the screenshot before saving!

Step 4 : After finishing, you choose  File  > Select  Save  to save.

You can press Ctrl + S to quickly save the file.

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Step 5 : Finally, you choose the save location (Here I choose the Camera Roll folder as shown below) > Name the image file > Click  Save  to finish.

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Self-saved screen capture on Windows 8, Windows 10 laptop

With laptops using Windows 8, Windows 10 operating systems  , you can take a screenshot that automatically saves right away with just a simple operation. Doing:

Step 1 : Press the  Windows  +  Print Screen  (PrtSc) key combination on the keyboard.

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Step 2 : Go to  My Computer  (or  This PC ) > Select the  Pictures folder  > Select  Screenshots  to review the screenshot you just took.

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How to take a screenshot of any window on Windows

This way of taking screenshots allows you to capture any open window, displayed at the top of the computer screen without taking the entire image on the screen such as browser window, software window, taskbar ,.

Step 1 : Open the window you want to take a screenshot of.

Step 2 : Press  Alt  +  Print Screen  (PrtScr) key combination.

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Step 3 : Paste the captured image into Paint just by pressing the key combination  Ctrl  +  V .

 You can also paste the screenshot on any editing window or chat window like  Word ,  Messenger ,  Zalo ,  Line ,  Google Docs , .

Capture part of laptop screen with Snipping Tool

Snipping Tool is also a built-in tool on all versions of Windows, but most people know about its amazing screen capture capabilities. Follow along with the following steps:

Step 1 : Open Snipping Tool  by pressing Windows  +  Shift  +  S key combination  .

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In addition, you can open the  Snipping Tool  in different ways depending on the Windows operating system:

1. For Windows 7 ,  Windows 10 : Click  Start  > Select  Accessories  > Select  Snipping Tool .
2. For Windows 8/8.1 : Type  Snipping Tool  in the search bar and then press  Enter .

Step 2 : Take a screenshot in Snipping Tool.

Snipping Tool has 4 shooting modes  as follows:

1. Free-form Snip : Take a picture freely with the image border as the line you circle on the screen.
2. Rectangular Snip : Capture the image into a rectangular frame.
3. Window Snip : Take a screenshot of an open window.
4. Full-screen Snip : Capture the full screen of your computer.

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Snipping Tool has 4 screen capture modes

1.  With two types of shooting  Free-form Snip  and  Rectangular Snip,  you just need to zone the screen you want to capture, click to start and release the mouse when finished.
2. If you want to highlight a certain part of the photo, just click on the pen icon on the toolbar and then zone it.

For Windows 7 : Select the capture mode by clicking the arrow to  the right of the word New .

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For Windows 10 : Select the capture mode by clicking the arrow to the right of the Mode item  .

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Step 3 : You can press  Ctrl  +  V  to paste in Paint if you want to continue editing.

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Step 4 : Press  Ctrl  +  S  to save the image.

If you often have to take screenshots, you should pin the Snipping Tool on the Taskbar by right-clicking the Snipping Tool's icon on the Taskbar > Select  Pin to taskbar .

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2. How to take a screenshot on a MacBook

How to take a full screen screenshot of a MacBook laptop

Press  Shift  +  Command  ( ⌘ )  +  3 . Now the screenshot will save automatically and display on the main screen.

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How to capture part of laptop screen

Press  Shift  +  Command  ( ⌘ )+  4 .

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Now the mouse pointer will change to a + sign  , you just need to hold down and drag and drop the cross to the end of the area to capture.

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Move the drag cross to the end of the area to capture

Note :

- While dragging, hold  Shift ,  Option  or  Space  to change the way the selection moves.

- When you have selected the area to capture the screen, release the mouse or trackpad. To cancel, simply press the  Esc key  before releasing the mouse button.

- Screenshots are saved as .PNG files   on the desktop (home screen).

How to take a screenshot of any window on a MacBook

Step 1 : Press  Shift  +  Command  ( ⌘ ) +  4 , the mouse pointer will change to a cross.

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Press Shift + Command (⌘) + 4

You continue to press the Space key   (spacebar), the pointer will change to a camera icon  .

Step 2 : Move this camera over the window to capture > Click on the camera  to take a screenshot of the window.

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The pointer will turn into a camera for you to take pictures

The screenshot is saved as a  .PNG file  on the home screen.

3. TOP professional Windows and macOS screen capture software

Lightshot (Windows, macOS)

Lightshot  is a free computer screen capture software that supports users to take screenshots quickly. With just a few simple steps, you can take a screenshot in a snap.

In addition, you can edit photos after shooting with a set of professional photo editing tools, many extremely convenient features.

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Lightshot has some outstanding features as follows :

+ You can capture any information displayed  on your computer screen.

+ Easily edit screenshots, create annotations with professional toolset.

+ Use the photo you just took to search on Google quickly.

+ You can share images  quickly as a link.

+ You can save the captured and edited photos to your computer.

You can download Lightshot software HERE

PicPick (Windows)

PicPick is a software that allows you to take screenshots of your computer, including many useful features that help you edit the images and share them directly on social networking sites such as  Facebook ,  Twitter ,  Gmail , . .

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PicPick has some outstanding features such as :

+ Can  capture the whole, an area or specific objects  on the screen.

+ Supports many different color encodings  RGB, HTML, C++ .

+ Many professional photo editing tools are built in.

+ Support batch image editing.

+ Connect to  the printer  to be able to print the images directly.

+ Share images via social networks.

You can download PicPick software:  HERE

Skitch (macOS)

Skitch  is a powerful screen capture software that can annotate images on MacBooks, which is popular with users with fast image capture speed, and supports saving images in many different formats.

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Skitch Mac has some outstanding features as follows :

+ Easily take screenshots of your computer screen with a variety of shooting styles.

+ You can customize the image size  when taking.

+ Easily create notes from existing photos or screenshots.

+ Freely save photos in many different formats.

+ Many professional editing tools, free to use on this software.

You can download the Skitch software for macOS HERE.

Just now are the easiest ways to help you take screenshots of Windows and MacBook computers. Hope this information is useful to you. Thank you for watching and see you in the next topics.

Marvin Fry

Update 09 August 2021