Have you ever wanted to share or save something that appeared on your Dell laptop’s screen? That’s what taking screenshots is for. Thankfully, there are multiple ways to take a screenshot on an Dell laptop; you just need to follow the proper steps.
To take a screenshot of the full screen on a Dell laptop, hit the Windows key + “PrtSc.” To take a screenshot of a specific part of the screen, open the Snipping Tool and click “New.” Then just drag the cursor across the area you’d like to save and release to capture the screenshot.
That’s the basic idea behind taking screenshots, but it’s not the full story. Let’s take a closer look at the different ways to take screenshots on a Dell laptop and where to find the saved images.
How to Take a Screenshot on a Dell Laptop
Taking screenshots on your Dell laptop is a breeze using two easy methods: one that captures the full screen using the Print Screen key, and one that only captures a selected area using the Snipping Tool.
Using the Print Screen Key
One of the least used buttons on your laptop is likely the Print Screen key (often shortened to just “PrtSc”). In fact, when asked where the key is on their keyboard, most PC users don’t even know the answer! But the truth is that the key is great for taking screenshots, and it’s usually located in the top right of your laptop’s keyboard.
To take a screenshot using the PrtSc key, hold down the Windows key on your keyboard (looks like the Windows icon) and then hit the key that says either “PrtSc” or “Print Screen” while still holding the Windows key.
If your PrtSc key has other text on it (for example, some say PrtSc and then SysRq on the same key) then you may need to hit the FN key at the same time as you hit PrtSc.
Once you hit the right combination of keys, you’ll know that you’ve succeeded if your screen flashes or if a notification appears letting you know a screenshot has been taken.
Using the Snipping Tool
If you don’t want to have to screenshot the whole screen every time you take a screenshot, all Windows laptops, including Dell laptops, have a feature known as the Snipping Tool. This tool allows you to take a screenshot of whatever section of your screen you want, and it’s very easy to use.
To open the Snipping Tool, begin by opening the Windows menu by clicking on the Windows icon in the bottom left corner of your desktop, and then type “snipping tool” into the search bar (on a Windows 10 laptop, you can just click on the search bar to begin with). Once it appears in the list of results, click on the scissors icon that says “Snipping Tool” to open the Snipping Tool.
Once the Snipping Tool opens, you should see a small window with three main options: New, Mode, and Delay. In order to simply take a screenshot, all you need to do is select “New.” This will activate a filter that appears over your screen, and your cursor should turn into a plus sign.
Now, all you have to do is select the area you want to screenshot. To do this, hold down the left mouse button in the top left corner of whichever area you’d like to screenshot. While continuing to hold down the left mouse button, drag the mouse, and you should notice that your mouse is being used to create a rectangle.
Next, you just need to drag your mouse so that the area you’d like to screenshot is within the rectangle you’ve created. Once you’re satisfied with your selection, just let go of the left mouse button, and your computer will screenshot the location you selected.
After your screenshot is taken, a window will open featuring your screenshot. In this window, you can choose to draw on your screenshot with the Snipping Tool pen if you’d like. Once you’re satisfied, just click on the floppy disk save icon, select a location where you’d like to save the screenshot, and your screenshot will be saved.
Where Are Screenshots Stored?
Being able to take screenshots is all well and good, but what if you don’t know how to view them? Where are the screenshots that you took stored?
So far, we’ve covered two different methods for taking screenshots: through the Print Screen key and the Snipping Tool. Oddly enough, these each have different locations for their screenshots.
The default location where screenshots end up when you take them with the Print Screen key is in the Screenshots folder.
To get to this folder, open the File Explorer and click on “This PC.” Next, click on “Pictures” and you should see a folder titled “Screenshots.” In this folder, you should find all of the screenshots you took, as long as you didn’t select another storage location yourself.
When you use the Snipping Tool, you get to select the location that your screenshots are saved in. However, the default location is in the Pictures folder.
To get to the Pictures folder, open the File Explorer, select “This PC,” and then select “Pictures.” In this folder you should be able to find the screenshots that you took.
What to Do if Print Screen Isn’t Working
So, what if you’ve tried hitting the Windows key + PrtSc to take a screenshot of the whole screen and nothing happens? Oddly enough, it’s actually possible for the PrtSc key’s screenshot functionality to be turned off. That means that all we have to do is turn it back on.
To do this, begin by pressing the Windows key and the “U” key at the same time to open the Ease of Access menu. Once there, scroll down on the left panel until you see the “Keyboard” option. Select the Keyboard option and then find and turn on the toggle that says “Use the PrtSc button to open screen snipping.”
Once you’ve toggled that on, your PrtSc key should be ready to use to take screenshots.