How to screenshot on dell laptop

Knowing when to take a screenshot is now becoming an important skill and a part of our daily lives, especially with the ever-increasing volume of people who work remotely from home. If you are one of those who needs to know how to take a screenshot, may it be for work or personal use, you’ve got the right article for you. Here, we would take a look at 4 ways to quickly take a screenshot on a Dell laptop.

Speaking of Dell Laptops, after much research, here are a few that we recommend:

• Dell Inspiron 15 – Amazing Value
• Dell XPS 13 7390 – Best Overall
• Dell XPS 15 – Infinity Edge Display
• Alienware M15 – Best Gaming
• Dell G5 15 – Entry Level Gaming
• Dell Inspiron 7000 – Best For College
• Dell Latitude 7390 –  Best For Business
• Dell Inspiron 11 – Very Portable
• Dell Inspiron 14 – Affordable Business Laptop
• Dell Chromebook – Impressive Durability

Taking a screenshot using a Dell laptop can be done in a blink of an eye. You just have to find the Print Screen key which is usually denoted by “PrtSc” and press it. Now, it is already stored on your clipboard and all you have to do is edit it to your liking.

It is really simple and most of the things you need can be done with that knowledge. But depending on what you exactly want to do, this way might not be the easiest and quickest way for you to take a screenshot on a Dell laptop. So how to know what way of taking a screenshot is best for you? Here are 4 ways for you to choose the best quick screenshot techniques:

How to screenshot on dell laptop

Pressing the Print Screen Key

This is, by far, the most commonly used way to take a screenshot. This might already be familiar to you but who knows, you might still get a little trick in here on how to use it. Here are the steps to take a screenshot of your whole laptop screen using the Print Screen Key:

1. Find and press the Print Screen key on your keyboard. This is denoted by “PrtSc” or “PrtScSysRq” which means Print Screen or Print Screen System Request. Different models might have different denotations but the letters “PrtSc” are usually there. This is usually found near the end of the Function Keys.
2. Open a photo editing software like Microsoft Paint or Adobe Photoshop and paste it. You may press CTRL + V or Right-Click then click paste.
3. Edit it to your liking. You may crop, put annotations, arrows, and many other more. Then save it to your desired folder and file type.

Pressing The Windows Key and Print Screen Key

If you don’t want to edit and just want the whole screen captured, then there is a faster way for you to do this. On your keyboard, find and hold the Windows key, and then press the Print Screen key. If you have successfully pulled this off, your screen will dim for an instant which indicates that you have taken a screenshot. The image you have captured is already saved, not in your clipboard, but as an image in This PC > Pictures > Screenshots.

This is a faster way than the first one because you don’t have to open an image editing software every time you take a screenshot just to save the image. All you now need to do is to copy or move the file to your desired folder.

Pressing The Alt Key And The Print Screen Key

If you are someone who needs to only capture a specific window or the opened the program on the screen of tour Dell laptop, then this way might be for you. To do this, find and hold the Alt key, then press the Print Screen Key. The screen will also briefly fade for you to know if the screenshot was successfully taken. This way will allow you to capture your active window, excluding your background and even the taskbar. This removes the extra time and effort needed to crop and edit your whole-screen screenshot.

This is good for those who need to create a step-by-step tutorial about using a program on your Dell laptop because only the active program will be captured on your screenshot.

But in this method, you will have to manually paste it to a photo editing software then save it. This might be not good for those who do not need to edit it but for those who need to put in a few annotations like in creating a step-by-step tutorial, this is really good.

Using the Snip & Sketch

Snip & Sketch is the built-in screenshot software of Windows 10. It is pretty advanced compared to the previous 3 ways we have discussed and for whatever reason that you might be wanting your screenshot, Snip & Sketch would surely be useful to you. One of its key advantages is that it could take a partial screenshot of your screen wherein the exact borders and size of the screenshot would be completely decided by you. To know how this could be done, follow the steps below:

1. Press the Windows key + Shift key + S key, all at the same time. Your screen will dim and your cursor will be changed to a crosshair.
2. Select the portion of your screen which you want to be captured.
3. A thumbnail will pop-up on your laptop screen where a “Snip saved to clipboard” is written. Click it and the Snip & Sketch program will open, automatically pasting your screenshot in it.
4. Edit your image using the built-in tools from it.
5. Save it on your desired folder location and file type.

As you can see, Snip & Sketch can let you select the specific portion of your screen which you want to be captured. On top of that, it is also a photo or image editing software that allows you to edit your screenshot inside of it.

It has a Ballpoint Pen, Pencil, Highlighter, Eraser, Ruler, Protractor, Image Crop, and Touch Writing all of which you can use to your advantage. This software is much better for those who need quite more complex screenshot requirements because the tools are extremely useful, especially the Ruler and Protractor. This is quite rare even for other downloadable screenshot programs.

The in-built Ruler and Protractor allows you to create perfect lines, arcs, and circles, which is useful in many situations. Try to navigate each tool, to see for yourself its capability. You may also want to learn a more advanced photo editing software like Adobe Photoshop if you need more complex editing skills.

What to Do If A Screenshot Is Not Working on Your Dell Laptop?

If your Print Screen key is not working, there might be many different causes. But the most common one is connected to the Fn key. Check if there is another function that is written together with the Print Screen key. Usually, in Dell laptops that have an Fn key, the End function and the Print Screen function share one key.

If this is also the case for your laptop, then all you have to do is press the Fn key + the Print Screen key simultaneously. It is also possible that your Print Screen key might share the button with other keys, not just with the Del key, but the process is still the same.

Taking A Screenshot Using A Keyboard That Has No Print Screen Key

Some Dell laptops might have no Print Screen Key at all, and it is because they are saving space to make your laptop thinner and smaller for the best portability.

If your laptop is one of those who do not have a Print Screen key, don’t worry because it still is capable of taking a screenshot.

All you need to do is to find the Fn key or Function key. If you already know its location, then you can press the Fn key + Windows key + Space Bar simultaneously. This will take a screenshot of your whole screen just like when pressing the Print Screen key.

In addition, if you are looking for a new Dell laptop, we would go with one of these:

• Dell Inspiron 15 – Amazing Value
• Dell XPS 13 7390 – Best Overall
• Dell XPS 15 – Infinity Edge Display
• Alienware M15 – Best Gaming
• Dell G5 15 – Entry Level Gaming
• Dell Inspiron 7000 – Best For College
• Dell Latitude 7390 –  Best For Business
• Dell Inspiron 11 – Very Portable
• Dell Inspiron 14 – Affordable Business Laptop
• Dell Chromebook – Impressive Durability