How to screenshot on a Microsoft Surface

Surface keyboards have no Print Screen key. Microsoft replaced it with Fn + Space, which almost nobody knows exists.

Updated 15 September 2026

Surface devices run full Windows, so every Windows method works. But the keyboard is unusual enough to need its own explanation.

Fn + Space replaces Print Screen#

Type Cover and Surface Laptop keyboards don't have a Print Screen key — there's no room in the row. Microsoft mapped the function to the space bar's Fn layer instead:

• Fn+Space — whole screen to the clipboard, the equivalent of plain PrtSc
• Fn+Alt+Space — active window to the clipboard, the equivalent of Alt+PrtSc

Neither creates a file. Paste with Ctrl+V.

This is genuinely obscure — it isn't printed on the key and doesn't appear in most Windows documentation. If you've been wondering why your Surface seems to have no screenshot key, this is the answer.

The Fn key has a light#

Surface keyboards put an LED on the Fn key. The light tells you which layer of the top row is currently active, and pressing Fn by itself toggles between them.

Worth checking before concluding a shortcut is broken, because it changes what the F-keys do and therefore what combinations you need.

Tablet mode: Power + Volume up#

With the Type Cover detached or folded back, hold Power and press Volume up. The screen dims briefly and a PNG is saved to Pictures › Screenshots.

Note the direction — Surface uses Volume up, while most other Windows tablets use Volume down. Getting it wrong usually opens the power menu instead.

Original Surface models with a physical Windows logo button on the bezel used Windows button + Volume down. That button was dropped from later generations.

Surface Pen#

The Pen's top button is configurable in the Surface app, and a single click, double click or press-and-hold can each be assigned a different action. Depending on your Pen model and what's installed, the available actions include opening a snip and annotating it directly.

Open the Surface app, go to Pen, and see what your model offers. When it's available, the double-click-to-snip action is the fastest capture-and-mark-up route on any Windows device.

The methods that always work#

Because Surface is a Microsoft device, the standard Windows shortcuts are fully supported and don't depend on the Type Cover at all:

• Win+Shift+S — region capture, the best everyday option
• Win+PrtSc — only works with an external keyboard that has the key
• Snipping Tool — pin it to the taskbar and tap it with a finger, which is the best route in tablet mode with no keyboard

Touchscreen selection#

Region selection with a fingertip is imprecise. With the Pen it's excellent — the crosshair follows the nib exactly, so you can select an area to the pixel. If your Surface came with a Pen, use it for captures that need to be neat.