Screenshot - Capture Screenshots Directly in Windows 8

How to Capture a Screenshot Directly in Windows 8 and 8.1


information   Information
This will show you how to capture a screenshot of everything on your display(s) and have it instantly saved as a PNG file directly into your C:\Users\(user-name)\Pictures\Screenshots folder without having to do anything else in Windows 8, Windows RT, Windows 8.1, and Windows RT 8.1.

You could also view the saved screenshot in your Pictures library.

Tip   Tip
If you like, you are still also able to use the Ctrl+PrtScn, Alt+PrtScn, Fn+PrtScn (laptops/notebooks), or PrtScn keys to capture a screeshot into the clipboard, but you would need to use a image editor like Paint to copy the screenshot from the clipboard to edit and save the screenshot.




Here's How:


1. Do step 2, 3, or 4 for how you would like to capture a screenshot depending on what type of PC you have.

2. On all PCs, press the Windows + Print Screen (PrtScn) keys and release, then go to step 5 below.
NOTE: For laptops and notebooks, you may need to press either the Windows+Ctrl+PrtScn or Windows+Fn+PrtScn keys instead.

3. On a Surface tablet, press the Fn + Windows + Space Bar keys on the Type Cover and release, and go to step 5 below.

4. On tablets (ex: Surface), press and hold the capacitive Windows button on the front of the tablet, and press the volume down button on the volume rocker once, release both, then go to step 5 below. (see screenshot below)

Surface_Screenshot.png

5. You will now notice the screen quickly dim and return back to normal as a snapshot of your display(s) is captured as a screenshot. In Windows Phone 8, you will also hear a snapshot click sound.

Note   Note
You will only see the screen dim if you have the Animate windows when minimizing and maximizing turned on (checked) in your visual effects settings.

Visual_Effects.jpg



Screenshot-2.jpg

6. The screenshot is now saved in your C:\Users\(user-name)\Pictures\Screenshots folder named as Screenshot (#).png with # indicating the screenshot index counter. Each screenshot you take increases the counter # by one. (see screenshot below)

Screenshots_Folder.jpg


That's it,
Shawn


 

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If I have multiple monitors hooked up it takes a screenshot of both monitors side by side.
Is there a way to take a screenshot of only my primary monitor?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8
Hello sdmf74, :)

I'm afraid not, but you can open the screenshot in mspaint.exe (Paint), crop the image to remove the other monitor from it, and save it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Hello, thanks for this tutorial.

I know this is an old thread and I don't mean to bump it at all. But as I have an issue, I thought it would be wise to post it here than to open up a new thread on this subject matter. :think:

The issue I have is that every time I press Windows+Print Screen I get a new Screenshot (17) Screenshot (18) Screenshot (19) and so on even after I delete these screenshots from the recycling bin, restart computer, etc.

The screenshot capture with Windows+Print Screen will again re-continue with Screenshot (20), etc as if there are still 19 screenshots on the computer. Even if the screenshot was the only one after deleting all the previous screenshots. Does anyone know the solution to this issue? How can I fix it so that the screenshot is saved again as the first Screenshot name?

I am assuming there must be some registry data hidden somewhere. But I tried using CCleaner to delete the registries and that does not seem take care of the issue.

I'd appreciate if someone has the answer to this issue.:thumb:

Kind regards,
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Hello BLaZiNgSPEED, and welcome to Eight Forums. :)

The tutorial below can help show you how to reset the screenshot counter back to default.

:ar: Screenshot Counter - Reset in Windows 8
Thanks a lot for this! :D

That is exactly what I was looking for. It was mysterious how this screenshot counter kept increasing. It seems like Windows kept a record of the counter in its registry even after the screenshots are deleted! :p

This can definitely get some people feeling puzzled.

I found out how to manually reset the counter without the .bat file. Although the .bat file is definitely more convenient. There is another way by going to Regedit. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer to the right ScreenshotIndex right clicking and clicking Modify... changing the Value Data to 0 or 1 also does the trick!

But still of-course the bat file is definitely a more convenient option as it does the exact same thing by changing the value data to it back to 1 that way you avoid the hassle of going to Value Data and changing it every time manually with regedit. :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
You're most welcome. :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
I also use "Paste as file" utility with shell context menu extension so to insert the clipboard content in any folder or desktop as file. It can insert both images and text.

h_1515205719_3677711_d219ae8106.png
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows
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