The “Print Screen” key on a laptop is used to take a screenshot of the entire screen. When pressed, it captures an image of the current state of the screen and saves it to the clipboard, from where it can be pasted into a document, image editing software, or other application. This is useful for capturing an image of an error message, a specific window, or a particular section of the screen. The key may also be labeled “PrtScn,” “PrntScrn,” or “Print Scr.”
Some laptops also have a “Function” key (usually labeled “Fn”) that must be held down while pressing the “Print Screen” key in order for it to work. Additionally, some laptops may also have key combinations such as Windows key + Print Screen to save the screenshot directly to your picture folder.
To take a screenshot on a laptop using the “Print Screen” key, follow these steps:
- Locate the “Print Screen” key on your keyboard. It is usually located near the top right of the keyboard, and may be labeled “PrtScn,” “PrntScrn,” or “Print Scr.”
- Press the “Print Screen” key. This will capture an image of the entire screen and save it to the clipboard.
- Open an image editing program such as Paint or Photoshop.
- Press Ctrl + V or Right click and select paste, this will paste the screenshot you just took into the image editing program.
- Once you have the image in the editing program, you can crop, edit or save the image.
Alternatively you can use other key combinations like Windows key + Print Screen to save the screenshot directly to your picture folder.