changing the function of the printscreen button

Question

Hi,

On my laptop, if I press the Print Screen button, it opens the Snipping Tool, but on my Logitech Bluetooth keyboard, if I press the Print Screen button, it directly opens the window in which I can draw the area I want to select. It then also directly copies the image into my clipboard, so with Ctrl+V, I can paste it into a Word document.

I know it is a small difference, but I take hundreds of screenshots a day for school assignments, so those few fewer clicks make a huge difference.

Is there a way to change the function on my laptop key so that it directly opens the drawing tool and not the Snipping Tool?

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Hello,

Thank you for using Microsoft products and posting to the community.

For the "directly opens the window in which I can draw the area I want to select" behavior, press Windows+Shift+S and see whether it works normally.

It still uses Snipping tool functionalities but you do not need to open the tool.

The behavior of the screenshot key can be changed by right-clicking Start->Settings->Accessibility->Keyboard, and try turning off "Use the Print screen key to open screen capture" to revert to the traditional behavior (captures the full screen to the clipboard only).

Feel free to post back if you need further assistance.

Best Regards,

Johann - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Answer 2

**** OMG, Finally have the correct solution ! ***

"Do not allow Snipping Tool to run"

Disable in Windows Registry Editor ( WIN 11 )

1. In order to Create this Group Policy change you need to be the Administrator of the machine your making this change to.
2. Open Regedit via Windows Key / Start Menu
3. Navigate to the following pathway:

Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft

1. Create the following New DWORD value type by right clicking on the right hand column and name it:

DisableSnippingTool

1. Lastly confirm the Value data is set to 0, thus Disabling the this Hexadecimal function. Then Click OK and close out of the Editor.

*Sidenote - Microsoft please stop creating Trash and then actively leaving the problem to **** overnight! We understand how Market share and Capitalism works but this is defiantly an 'L.

Y'all knew Windows Duo Phone was Garage.. Day1, clearly this was too! Also, bring back old-school MS Paint after 11/04/24. We use your Platform for full control not Ecosystems. Don't be like Apple :(

• Hasan@ikpDET

Answer 3

But how can I have the Prtsc go directly to the printer like the old days, instead of having to do all the steps before sending it to the printer.

Answer 4

Hi Johann
I tried the suggested method above, the one where you asked us to turn "Use the Print screen key to open screen capture" off. Upon hitting the PrtSc key, it still opens the snipping tool, instead of just taking a screenshot of the entire page as expected.

Kindly help me out on this

Regards

Answer 5

you could try checking and changing the snipping tool settings. There are a few options to turn off and on ie Automatically save screenshots