Missing screenshots

Question

Hi, guys,

For a certain period of time my default Screenshots folder was not existing. I was making screenshots during this period. Can you tell me where they have been saved? And, is it possible that they weren't saved during this period and are simply lost forever (never created)?

I will appreciate highly a prompt response.

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

If the images are not found in the above locations (including the shell:screenshots folder), I think the screenshots may not have been saved in the first place. Another possibility is that a sync client (Dropbox/Google Drive/OneDrive) running in the background may have saved the snip to the cloud directly, if such an option was enabled in the respective program.

Answer 2

I've looked everywhere on the pc for them (incl. said folders) and there are simply no such files.

It is a work pc so I don't know if they could be saved on other master user or whatever if the default folder is missing.

Answer 3

Hi,

I'd check the above-mentioned folder locations for the screenshot images. If you can't find them, you may download "Everything" from voidtools.com and search for all PNG files in the system drive. In Everything, you can filter the results by date range (Advanced Options → Date Modified).

//Are they somewhere or have they never been created?//

Win + PrintScreen saves your screenshots silently; by default, the screen dims for a second when using this key combo, indicating that the screenshot has been saved.

Answer 4

Hi, Ramesh,

Thank you for the answer, but I am looking for the lost files and IF they exist, because I cannot locate them anywhere on the PC. When I made the screenshots the system never told me "There is no folder existing and your screenshot will not be saved."

Are they somewhere or have they never been created?

Answer 5

If you used the Win + PrintScreen keyboard shortcut to take screenshots, please check one of these locations:

%userprofile%\pictures\screenshots

%userprofile%\onedrive\pictures\screenshots

-or-

Right-click Start, click Run. Type the following and click OK.

• shell:screenshots

This opens your screenshots folder.