---
title: "How to screenshot on a Chromebook"
url: "https://screenshot-laptop.com/chromebook/"
platform: "ChromeOS"
section: "Chromebook"
updated: "2026-09-15"
license: "CC-BY-4.0"
attribution: "screenshot-laptop.com"
shortcuts:
  - "Ctrl + Show windows"
  - "Ctrl + Shift + Show windows"
  - "Ctrl + Alt + Show windows"
---

# How to screenshot on a Chromebook

*Chromebooks have no Print Screen key. The one you want has a rectangle with two lines beside it, and it sits where F5 would be.*

URL: https://screenshot-laptop.com/chromebook/

## The short answer

- `Ctrl` + `Show windows` — Whole screen
- `Ctrl` + `Shift` + `Show windows` — Open the capture toolbar
- `Ctrl` + `Alt` + `Show windows` — Active window only

## Find the Show windows key

Look at the top row, around the fifth or sixth key from the left. The icon is a rectangle with two vertical lines to its right — meant to represent overlapping windows.

Google's documentation calls it **Show windows**. Depending on your Chromebook's age it may be labelled Overview, or the key may be marked with a square-and-lines glyph and no text at all. On some models it's printed as `F5`. If you can't find it on your keyboard at all, the [Chromebook keyboard layout page](https://screenshot-laptop.com/chromebook/shortcut-keys/) shows where it sits and how the row differs from a Windows laptop.

On an external Windows keyboard, press `F5` instead — ChromeOS is based on Linux but its capture shortcuts are its own, not [the GNOME or KDE ones](https://screenshot-laptop.com/linux/). On some third-party keyboards you'll need `Fn`+`F5`. The [full shortcut table](https://screenshot-laptop.com/screenshot-keyboard-shortcuts/) lists the ChromeOS combinations alongside Windows and macOS.

## The three shortcuts

**Whole screen** — `Ctrl`+`Show windows`. Captures everything including the shelf, saves a PNG immediately.

**Part of the screen** — `Ctrl`+`Shift`+`Show windows`. Opens the capture toolbar, where you choose region, window or full screen, and drag out an area. [More on partial captures](https://screenshot-laptop.com/chromebook/partial-screenshot/)

**One window** — `Ctrl`+`Alt`+`Show windows`. Captures only the window in front, cropped to its edges.

## Where the files go

**Downloads**, always. ChromeOS doesn't offer a way to change this for screenshots, unlike Windows and macOS.

Right after a capture, a notification appears bottom-right, and the file also shows up in **Tote** — the small tray at the left end of the shelf that holds recent downloads and pinned files. Tote is the fastest way to drag a fresh screenshot straight into Gmail without opening Files at all.

> Downloads on a Chromebook is local storage, not cloud. A Powerwash or a device reset erases it. Move anything you want to keep into Google Drive, which appears in the same Files app sidebar.

## The capture toolbar does more than screenshots

`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`Show windows` opens a toolbar with two sides: a camera icon for stills and a camcorder icon for **screen recording**. Both then offer full screen, window or region.

ChromeOS has had built-in screen recording longer than Windows has, and it's simpler — pick a mode, press record, click the red stop button in the shelf. Recordings go to Downloads as WebM files. [Recording a Chromebook screen](https://screenshot-laptop.com/chromebook/screen-recording/)

## Tablet mode and detachable keyboards

With the keyboard folded back or detached, press **`Power` + `Volume down`** together. It's a brief hold, not a long one — hold too long and you get the power menu instead.

On a Chromebox or a Chromebook connected to an external display with no built-in keyboard, the capture toolbar is also available from the quick settings panel: click the clock, then **Screen capture**.

## Chromebooks in school

Many managed school Chromebooks have screenshots disabled by administrator policy. If none of the shortcuts do anything and the quick settings tile is missing too, that's usually why rather than a fault. The Files app will also be restricted, which is a useful confirmation.

## Questions

**My Chromebook has no Show windows key. What then?**

A few older and third-party models moved the key or dropped it. Use the quick settings route instead: click the clock in the bottom-right, then Screen capture. That gives you every mode without any keyboard at all.

**Can I change where Chromebook screenshots save?**

Not for screenshots specifically. You can change the general download folder in Settings › Downloads, and screenshots follow it — including to a Google Drive folder, which effectively gives you cloud-synced captures.

**Do Chromebook screenshots go to Google Photos?**

Not automatically. Downloads is local. If you want them backed up, either point your download location at a Drive folder or install the Google Photos app and upload manually.

**Why is my screenshot black when capturing a video?**

Protected content in streaming apps blocks capture at the hardware level. The capture succeeds, but the video layer is replaced with black. [Why protected video captures black](https://screenshot-laptop.com/fix/black-screenshot/).