We all have needed to take a screenshot on Windows and Mac at some point of time,  to save an important image or data, or even just a moment being played that is available only temporarily. It’s quick in phones and just takes a second to carry it out. It varies from phone to phone, but in most cases, we might need to hold either of the volume buttons and the power button simultaneously.

Take A Screenshot on Windows and Mac

But in computers, it is a tad bit more exacting, to say the least. The process of taking a screenshot has admittedly become much simpler from computers with Windows XP to modern laptops with Windows 10. This article shall guide you to take a screenshot adeptly in each of these versions of Windows and Mac in a succinct and methodical manner.

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How to Take Screenshot in Windows 10, 8 and 8.1

Windows 8 & 10 don’t differ much in offering screenshot options for users. They basically have the same interface and almost the same features in other aspects too. In this method, taking screenshot in Windows 10 and 8 is made one step shorter and easier.

The normal method using Snipping Tool is as follows:

Step 1 ⇒ Open the Start Menu, search for Snipping Tool and open it.

Step 2 ⇒ Select the mode among the four in which the screen is to be captured in, and select the area to be cut.

Step 3 ⇒ The image gets saved in Snipping Tool, which allows you to save it, copy it, edit it and send it through an email.

Step 4 ⇒ Save it typing the filename and directory.

Another faster method is to simply press PrtScr and it notifies you that the snap has been taken. The screenshot automatically saves itself in a separate folder Screenshots, where you can access it and edit it later.

Along with these methods, there’s also the conventional method of pressing PrtSc, pasting it in MS Paint and saving it after modifications.

How to Take Screenshot in Windows 7

Here, screenshots can be taken using either of the aforementioned methods.

Step 1 ⇒ Open the snipping tool, select the mode the screen is to be captured in and select the snap.

Step 2 ⇒ The image gets saved in Snipping Tool, which allows you to save it, copy it, edit it and send it through an email.

Step 3 ⇒ Save it typing the filename and directory.

Step 4 ⇒ Another method is to press PrtSc and paste the snapped image in MS Paint, edit it and save it as a PNG or JPG in the required directory.

Step 5 ⇒ Windows 7 allows screenshots to be taken using both the methods, though the latter seems much easier than the first.

How to Take Screenshot in Windows XP

Let’s look at how one can take a screenshot in the Windows XP and it is the first operating systems that introduced this feature.

Step 1 ⇒ Firstly, press the Print Screen button (Prt Scr) with the Alt key, by holding down the Alt key and then the Prt Scr This will selectively screenshot the window you were working on, or in other words, your active window and save it without a trace.

Step 2 ⇒ Next, open Start Menu ⇒ Programs ⇒ Accessories ⇒ Paint.

Step 3 ⇒ Upon opening MS Paint, select Edit option in toolbar and press the Paste option.

Step 4 ⇒ The screenshot image gets pasted in the drawing area.

Step 5 ⇒ It can be further cropped and edited like a normal paint image.

Step 6 ⇒ After the necessary changes, press File ⇒ Save As and change the Save As type to PNG or JPG, type in the filename and click Save in the required directory.

Next, we shall look at how a screenshot can be taken in Windows Vista.

How to Take Screenshot in Windows Vista

Vista succeeded XP in 2007 and brought in a very essential feature for screenshotting images, the Snipping tool. It just made the whole process easier and unbelievably quicker than it was in Windows XP.

Step 1 ⇒ Open the Start Menu, search for Snipping Tool and open it.

Step 2 ⇒ As the Snipping Tool opens, the entire screen becomes whited out except for the tool window.

Step 3 ⇒ Snipping Tool offers four different modes of snaps to be taken; a free-form snip, a rectangular snip, window snip and a full-screen snip.

Step 4 ⇒ In free-form snip, as the name suggests, you can draw any shape on the whited out screen and it crops accordingly to produce an image that gets opened by default in the snipping tool itself.

Step 5 ⇒ Rectangular snips crop the image to be captured in a rectangular shape, window snip captures the entire window without the taskbar and full-screen snip captures the entire screen with the taskbar.

Step 6 ⇒ There are options to copy the image directly and paste it wherever you want, save it as an image file, or edit there itself and then save it, or send it directly to someone, attached to an email.

Step 7 ⇒ To save, select Save As and type in the required filename and click Save.

How to Take Screenshot in Mac

It is really easy to take a screenshot on Mac and even easier to access it. This procedure is constant for all versions of Mac.

Step 1 ⇒ First, press Shift + Command-4.

Step 2 ⇒ Select the area of the screen to be captured by dragging it accordingly.

Step 3 ⇒ After releasing your mouse or trackpad button, the screenshot can be found as a JPG or PNG file in the desktop itself.

Step 4 ⇒ If the whole of the screen is to be captured, then press Shift + Command-3.

Step 5 ⇒ The file gets saved in the desktop as Screenshot.

Step 6 ⇒ If you don’t need it as a file, then press Ctrl + (any of the above combinations) and it gets copied to the clipboard, upon which you can paste it wherever required.

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Conclusion

This pretty much sums up how to take screenshot in almost all platforms and versions of Windows and Mac.