How to take a screenshot on Windows 11 and Mac, and find it
A screenshot is a picture of what is on your screen. Here are the shortcuts for Windows 11 and Mac, where the picture ends up, and what to do if you can't find it.
You want to save a confirmation page, a funny message, or an error you need to show someone. A screenshot does it in a second. The shortcut is easy. The hard part is usually afterward: where did it go?
This guide covers both. First the keys, for Windows 11 and then for Mac. Then where the picture is saved, and how to move it somewhere you can find it.
How to take a screenshot on Windows 11
Windows has a few ways to do it. These two are the ones most people need.
Pick the part of the screen you want
- Press Windows logo key + Shift + S. The screen dims and a small bar appears at the top.
- Choose a shape on that bar: a rectangle, a free-form shape, a single window, or the full screen.
- Drag across the part you want, or click the window.
- The picture is copied. A small preview pops up in the corner of the screen. Click it to open the Snipping Tool, where you can draw on the picture, crop it, and save it.
If you do not click the preview, the picture is still on the clipboard. You can paste it straight into an email or a document with Ctrl + V.
Grab the whole screen with the Print Screen key
Look for a key labeled PrtSc (it may say Print Screen or similar). Pressing it copies a picture of the whole screen to the clipboard. Nothing seems to happen, which confuses many people. The picture is there. Open a document or email and press Ctrl + V to paste it.
To save a whole-screen picture as a file in one step, press Windows logo key + PrtSc together. The screen may dim for a moment, and a file is created.
On some laptops the Print Screen key shares a key with another function. If nothing happens, try holding Fn as well.
Using the Snipping Tool directly
You can also search for "Snipping Tool" in the Start menu and open it. Inside it, Ctrl + S saves your snip, Ctrl + C copies it, and Alt + D delays the capture by a few seconds, which helps when you need to catch a menu that closes on its own.
How to take a screenshot on a Mac
Every Mac uses the same three shortcuts.
- Shift + Command + 3: captures the entire screen.
- Shift + Command + 4: gives you a crosshair. Drag across the part you want. If you press Space before you click, the crosshair turns into a camera and you can click one window to capture just that window.
- Shift + Command + 5: opens the Screenshot controls, where you can choose what to capture and change a few options.
After you take one, a small thumbnail appears in the corner of the screen for a few seconds. Click it to mark it up, or ignore it and it saves on its own.
Want the picture on the clipboard instead of saved as a file? Hold Control while you do it. For example, Control + Shift + Command + 3 copies the full screen so you can paste it with Command + V.
Where your screenshot is saved
On Windows 11
Pictures taken with Windows logo key + PrtSc, and pictures you save from the Snipping Tool, go to a folder called Screenshots. To open it:
- Open File Explorer (the yellow folder icon on the taskbar).
- Click Pictures in the left-hand list.
- Open the folder named Screenshots.
The path looks like This PC › Pictures › Screenshots. Pictures that only went to the clipboard (a plain PrtSc, or Windows logo key + Shift + S when you did not save from the preview) are not files yet. Paste them somewhere, or open the Snipping Tool preview and save them.
On a Mac
By default, screenshots land on your Desktop. The name starts with "Screenshot" (older versions of macOS say "Screen Shot"), followed by the date and time.
If the Desktop is empty of them, the save place may have been changed. Press Shift + Command + 5, click Options, and look at the Save to list to see where new screenshots go. You can change it there, too.
If you still can't find it
- Check the time. Sort the folder by date, newest first. Your screenshot should be at the top.
- Check you really saved it. On both Windows and Mac, a copy-only shortcut leaves nothing in a folder.
- Search by name. On Windows, search for "Screenshot" in File Explorer. On a Mac, press Command + Space and type "Screenshot".
If you often lose files in general, our guide on searching for a file on Windows 11 when Search can't find it has more ideas.
Ask Key to find your screenshot
Key is a free assistant that lives on your Windows or Mac computer. You speak or type, and it opens the real folders, finds the file, and tells you what it did. It can find files, open your apps, and put a file where you want it.
So instead of clicking through folders, you can ask something like this:
KeyVoiceWhere did my last screenshot go? Put it on the Desktop.
Your latest screenshot is now on the Desktop.
You can speak the request or type it in the chat. Both are the same assistant and give the same result. While it works, a small panel shows what it is doing, and you can stop it at any point. If two files match, it asks which one you meant.
The same goes for other lost files. People ask Key things like "Where did that download go?" or "Put this photo on the Desktop", and our guide on finding your Downloads folder shows the by-hand way for that.
A quick summary
- Windows 11: Windows logo key + Shift + S to pick an area, Windows logo key + PrtSc to save the full screen as a file.
- Mac: Shift + Command + 3 for the full screen, 4 for an area, 5 for the options.
- Saved in: Pictures › Screenshots on Windows, the Desktop on a Mac, unless you changed it.
- Stuck? Sort by date, search for "Screenshot", or ask Key.
Try Key free
Speak to it or type to it. It opens your apps, finds your files and changes your settings, then tells you what it did.
Free, no card. Windows 10 or 11, macOS 11 or newer.