Launch screen snipping (Legacy)

**This is a legacy method for activating the Snipping Tool. It will be deprecated on 05/01/2025. Please refer to the updated documentation: Launch Snipping Tool.

The ms-screenclip: and ms-screensketch: URI schemes allows you to initiate snipping or editing screenshots.

Open a new snip from your app

The ms-screenclip: URI allows your app to automatically open up and start a new snip. The resulting snip is copied to the user's clipboard, but is not automatically passed back to the opening app.

ms-screenclip: takes the following parameters:

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
source	string	no	A freeform string to indicate the source that launched the URI.
type	string	no	A string value to indicate which special type of capture is requested. This parameter can be omitted when starting a new snip. Values supported include: snapshot, recording*
clippingMode	string	no	A string value to indicate the clipping type for the snip. Values supported include: Rectangle, Freeform, Window
delayInSeconds	int	no	An integer value, from 1 to 30. Specifies the delay, in full seconds, between the URI call and when snipping begins.
callbackformat	string	no	This parameter is unavailable.

* type=recording is available only on Windows 11 PCs with Snipping Tool version 11.2307 or newer, and only when the default handler for ms-screenclip is set to "Snipping Tool" instead of "Screen Clipping".

Launching the Snipping Tool or Snip & Sketch App

The ms-screensketch: URI allows you to programmatically launch the Snipping Tool app (on Windows 11) or Snip & Sketch app (on Windows 10), and open a specific image in that app for annotation.

ms-screensketch: takes the following parameters:

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
sharedAccessToken	string	no	A token identifying the file to open. Retrieved from SharedStorageAccessManager.AddFile. If this parameter is omitted, the app will be launched without a file open.
secondarySharedAccessToken	string	no	A string identifying a JSON file with metadata about the snip. The metadata may include a clipPoints field with an array of x,y coordinates, and/or a userActivity.
source	string	no	A freeform string to indicate the source that launched the URI.
isTemporary	bool	no	If set to True, Snipping Tool will try to delete the file after opening it.

The following example calls the LaunchUriAsync method to send an image to Snipping Tool from the user's app.

bool result = await Windows.System.Launcher.LaunchUriAsync(new Uri("ms-screensketch:edit?source=MyApp&isTemporary=false&sharedAccessToken=2C37ADDA-B054-40B5-8B38-11CED1E1A2D"));

The following example illustrates what a file specified by the secondarySharedAccessToken parameter of ms-screensketch might contain:

{
  "clipPoints": [
    {
      "x": 0,
      "y": 0
    },
    {
      "x": 2080,
      "y": 0
    },
    {
      "x": 2080,
      "y": 780
    },
    {
      "x": 0,
      "y": 780
    }
  ],
  "userActivity": "{\"$schema\":\"http://activity.windows.com/user-activity.json\",\"UserActivity\":\"type\",\"1.0\":\"version\",\"cross-platform-identifiers\":[{\"platform\":\"windows_universal\",\"application\":\"Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe!MicrosoftEdge\"},{\"platform\":\"host\",\"application\":\"edge.activity.windows.com\"}],\"activationUrl\":\"microsoft-edge:https://support.microsoft.com/help/13776/windows-use-snipping-tool-to-capture-screenshots\",\"contentUrl\":\"https://support.microsoft.com/help/13776/windows-use-snipping-tool-to-capture-screenshots\",\"visualElements\":{\"attribution\":{\"iconUrl\":\"https://www.microsoft.com/favicon.ico?v2\",\"alternateText\":\"microsoft.com\"},\"description\":\"https://support.microsoft.com/help/13776/windows-use-snipping-tool-to-capture-screenshots\",\"backgroundColor\":\"#FF0078D7\",\"displayText\":\"Use snipping tool to capture screenshots - Windows Help\",\"content\":{\"$schema\":\"http://adaptivecards.io/schemas/adaptive-card.json\",\"type\":\"AdaptiveCard\",\"version\":\"1.0\",\"body\":[{\"type\":\"Container\",\"items\":[{\"type\":\"TextBlock\",\"text\":\"Use snipping tool to capture screenshots - Windows Help\",\"weight\":\"bolder\",\"size\":\"large\",\"wrap\":true,\"maxLines\":3},{\"type\":\"TextBlock\",\"text\":\"https://support.microsoft.com/help/13776/windows-use-snipping-tool-to-capture-screenshots\",\"size\":\"normal\",\"wrap\":true,\"maxLines\":3}]}]}},\"isRoamable\":true,\"appActivityId\":\"https://support.microsoft.com/help/13776/windows-use-snipping-tool-to-capture-screenshots\"}"
}

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