In this article, we will not only focus on one but different Windows 10 screen-snipping tools from which you can select. We will share with you how to screenshot on Windows 10 using any of the tools or applications from our list.
If you are a Windows user, surely you are familiar with capturing screenshots by just pressing the Print Screen key. Quick and easy, right? However, with that method, you are limited with the frame or window you wanted to capture.
That is why we have come up with a list to provide you with all the free and paid Windows 10 screen-snipping tools. These tools will help you how to screenshot on Windows 10 – or any Windows version. You can select from any of the premium or paid tools down to the free ones.
What's In Here
Free Windows 10 Screen Snipping Tools
There are built-in or free Windows 10 screen-snipping tools that are just waiting for you to use them. Microsoft will soon sunset some of them and is introducing a new tool or application as a replacement.
1. The Old-school Print Screen Key (PrtScn)
For as long as you are using Microsoft Windows and your keyboard has a Print Screen key then you are all set. Since the beginning, the Print Screen method, also known as PrtScn, has been widely used. Even in Windows 10, this method is being used how to screenshot on Windows.
Back in the old days, once you press Print Screen, it will be automatically saved in the clipboard. For you to edit the screenshot image, you can open another old-school Windows application called MS Paint.
Since Microsoft OneDrive has been introduced, you can automatically save all of your screenshots into your OneDrive cloud storage. In this way, you can go back to your captured screenshot and edit it with your favorite image editor. But with this Print Screen method, you will be limited to capturing only what is on your current active screen. This means you do not have options like if you only wanted to capture a specific area of your screen. Or if you want to capture up to the bottom of a page.
Windows + Print Screen keys
The Windows + Print Screen key combination is one of the known Windows 10 screen-snipping tools. It also works on previous Windows versions.
What happens is that when you press and hold simultaneously the Windows + Print Screen keys, your entire screen will briefly go dim or blink. This simply indicates that you have captured a screenshot of whatever is on your screen.
Your captured screenshot will be saved temporarily in the clipboard. You can open a photo editor and paste (CTRL+V) the image.
Alt + Print Screen Keys
Alt + Print Screen, even though it would seem to look the same as just pressing Print Screen or a combination of Windows + Print Screen, this one is doing a different trick.
The Alt + Print Screen, when pressed and held simultaneously, it ONLY captures the ACTIVE window in your screen. This means that if you have layers of open applications on your screen, this method will only capture the topmost active window or application.
Same to the previously mentioned ways, this method will save the image in the clipboard and you can edit it by pasting it into your favorite photo editor.
2. Microsoft Snipping Tool
Microsoft Windows Snipping Tool has been lying around your operating system since it was launched back on November 7, 2002. This is a screenshot software that was first found in Windows XP Tablet PC Edition and Windows Vista.
Microsoft has been advising Windows users that they will soon sunset the Snipping Tool and it will be replaced. Microsoft even hid this application in Windows 10 by delisting it from the list of apps from the Start bar menu. However, it is still one of the Windows 10 screen-snipping tool options today.
To open the Snipping Tool, you can use the search bar. Once it is open, you must click the New button to start capturing screenshots. One of the few advantages of this Windows 10 application, is you can choose the mode of capturing the screenshot.
- Free-form Snip
- Rectangular Snip
- Window Snip
- Full-screen Snip
There are notes to remember while using the Snipping Tool:
- The Snipping Tool does not save the captured screenshot automatically.
- Also, the Snipping Tool does not automatically save the image in the clipboard.
- The Snipping Tool is still available in Windows 7, Windows 8.1/Windows RT 8.1, and Windows 10.
3. Microsoft Windows’ Snip & Sketch
After the Snipping Tool or also known as Snip, Microsoft introduced its new independent utility that lets Windows users capture, annotate, and share screenshots. The new Windows 10 tool or utility for capturing screenshots is called Snip and Sketch.
And to start using Snip and Sketch, just press and hold the Windows + Shift + S keys simultaneously. Then immediately, your whole screen will become a little dark and a small menu will slide from the top of your screen.
The image above was taken using the Snip and Sketch’s Freeform snip tool. The Freeform snip is one of the options the user can use when capturing the screenshot. Like the Snipping/Snip Tool, the users can select any of the options below when capturing screenshots:
- Free-form Snip
- Rectangular Snip
- Window Snip
- Full-screen Snip
Annotation is of course easier and quicker if you are using a pen or mouse. But Snip and Sketch for Windows 10, provide a couple of keyboard shortcuts that the user can use. These access keys are immediately activated if you press + hold the Alt key.
Here are some more keyboard shortcuts to use in Snip and Sketch.
Snip and Sketch Keyboard Shortcuts
| What to Press | And it will do this |
| CTRL + N | To create a new snip |
| CTRL + O | To open a file |
| SHIFT + ARROW KEYS | Move the cursor to select a rectangular snip area |
| CTRL + E | To select the eraser |
| CTRL + P | To print an annotation |
4. Using Xbox Game Bar as one of Windows 10 Screen Snipping Tools
Yes, folks! An Xbox Game Bar is pre-installed in Windows 10 – whether you like it or not. Whether you are a gamer or not, that game bar is there from the onset. But, you do not need to uninstall the Xbox Game Bar, instead, make use of it as one of the free snipping tools in Windows 10.
Originally, the Game Bar was created and designed to record the games you play on your PC, or whatever you stream directly from an Xbox console. And when you record your screen activities, the video is automatically saved as an MP4 video file.
We will provide more about how to capture videos or stream with the Xbox Game Bar in a separate post. We will focus first on capturing screenshots in this article first.
As mentioned earlier, we can also use the Xbox Game Bar as one of the Windows 10 screen-snipping tools. We can capture and annotate screenshots with the Game Bar.
To start or open the Windows 10 Xbox Game Bar, you can either:
- Press the Windows 10 Start key then type “Xbox Game Bar” then press the Enter key.
- Or simply, press the “Windows Start key + G“
To start capturing screenshots, you can either click the camera icon from the main menu or press and hold Windows + Alt + Print Screen keys simultaneously.
Here’s a quick tutorial on how to capture screenshots using Xbox Game Bar.
5. ShareX – Open Source Software for Capturing Screenshots and Recording
ShareX is another nifty open-source software that can be used in capturing screenshots, and records, and allows you to share your files. It is more than just a snipping tool – it is a productivity tool.
You can either download ShareX software either from their website, GitHub, or directly from your Microsoft Store app.
After you download and install it, that’s it. Just open the ShareX software and see all the cool options you can do with it.
After you capture a screenshot or video using ShareX, you can share the image or video quickly on other platforms such as Google Drive, Dropbox, Imgur, ImageShack, Flickr, Twitter, and many more.
And in case we forgot, yes, ShareX is FREE. But if you appreciate the hard work done by the developers, they accept donations.
6. Greenshot Free Snipping Tool
Greenshot is another FREE and lightweight screenshot tool that you can use on Windows 10.
The Greenshot application or software is pretty much straightforward and easy-to-use – user-friendly software.
Whenever we look at Greenshot, we can’t disassociate it from the existing Microsoft Snipping tool and Snip and Sketch. The Greenshot is like an upgraded version of the aforementioned screenshot tools.
Like the other snipping tool, Greenshot enables you to capture either a selected region, the full screen of your monitor, or scrolling webpages.
Once you captured the desired portion of your screen, you can use any installed photo editor to do more changes to the image.
To support the developers of Greenshot, the team accepts donations too to help them improve this snipping tool.
7. LightShot – Simple Snipping Tool for Beginners
Light and easy-to-use snipping tool with a built-in image editor. This is the simplest description that we can give for this snipping tool called LightShot.
Once you completed the installation, start using LightShot by pressing the Print Screen key on your keyboard.
Paid Windows 10 Screen Snipping Tools
8. TweakShot – Powerful Paid Screen Snipping Tool
TweakShot is one of the most powerful paid snipping tools in the market at the moment.
After you have successfully installed the TweakShot application, it will allow you to use the tool for a 15-day trial.
With this 15-day trial, you will be able to experience how powerful is TweakShot snipping tool is. The tool can allow you to select a single window, a region, a full screen, or a scrolling window, and capture a video. It also has a built-in color picker.
At the time of writing this, the TweakShot cost is $29.95 which is a big discount from their original price of $99.90.
If you are interested, always check TweakShot’s price here.
9. SnagIt – Best Snipping Tool For All Professions
Probably SnagIt is one of our favorite screen capture and recording software. Personally, I have used this tool for the longest time I can remember. I started with the SnagIt version 7.0 and now (as of writing this), the latest version is 21.2.0.
With SnagIt, like any other popular snipping tool, you can capture a window, region, full screen, and even record a screen video. Not only that, but it also has a built-in image editor where you can enhance the image or add multiple layers or crop the image.
Regarding the price, SnagIt is quite expensive among all the paid snipping tools we know so far. You will need to pay a whooping one-time fee of $49.99. And if you want to add an additional year for Maintenance then that will cost $12.50 on top of the $49.99. For an updated price, you can check it here.
10. Ashampoo Snap – Premium Windows 10 Screen Snipping Tools
Ashampoo Snap is yet another premium photo-snipping tool in the market that is currently being sold at $24.99 from the original price of $39.99. And you can install this on up to 3 devices. Ashampoo Snap is currently the cheapest yet most powerful premium photo-snipping tool on our list.
To experience how powerful Ashampoo Snap is, you can download and install the application and get a 10-day trial.
For us, the Ashampoo Snap is a powerhouse tool. It has the same functionalities that most snipping tools have, whether free or premium, or paid applications.
However, with Ashampoo, you can crop and edit videos, export it as GIFs, WMV, or you can append it. The photo editor is powerful too. You can refine images, even those previously saved photos.
In Summary
We are 100% sure that there are other Windows 10 screen-snipping tools out there that you can choose from. But before you decide on getting the premium ones, ask yourself first if you really need them now.
Be wise in spending your hard-earned money. If you are doing a quick project and you think premium snipping tools will be the best for you, then just make use of the trial period offers. But if you are heavily dependent and would really need a snipping tool, like us in GIK Crib Project, then go for it. Otherwise, stick to the free yet effective Windows 10 screen-snipping tools.
This is why we would like to leave the decision-making to you.
How about you, can you share with us other FREE and PREMIUM or PAID snipping tools you know for Windows 10?
