---
title: "How to screenshot with no Print Screen key"
url: "https://screenshot-laptop.com/windows/no-print-screen-key/"
platform: "Windows"
section: "Windows laptops"
updated: "2026-09-15"
license: "CC-BY-4.0"
attribution: "screenshot-laptop.com"
shortcuts:
  - "Win + Shift + S"
  - "Win + Alt + R"
---

# How to screenshot with no Print Screen key

*Compact and gaming keyboards often drop this key, and keys break. Not one of the five methods below needs it.*

URL: https://screenshot-laptop.com/windows/no-print-screen-key/

## The short answer

- `Win` + `Shift` + `S` — The direct replacement
- `Win` + `Alt` + `R` — Game Bar recording, no PrtSc needed
- Pin Snipping Tool — Screenshot with a mouse click

## 1. Win + Shift + S

Your replacement, and an upgrade. It gives you a region selector with four modes, so you get exactly the area you wanted rather than a full screen to crop later. Nothing about it involves Print Screen. [Full guide](https://screenshot-laptop.com/windows/windows-shift-s/).

## 2. Pin the Snipping Tool to your taskbar

For a mouse-only workflow, or when several keys have failed:

1. Press `Win` and type *snip*.
2. Right-click **Snipping Tool** and choose **Pin to taskbar**.
3. Click it whenever you need a capture, then click **New**.

Once it's pinned you can also right-click the taskbar icon for a jump list with capture modes on it.

## 3. Game Bar

`Win`+`G` opens an overlay with a camera button. Click it for a full-screen capture saved to **Videos › Captures**. It's also the only built-in route to video recording on Windows 10.

It refuses to capture File Explorer and the desktop, treating them as system surfaces. Fine for apps and browsers, useless for showing someone your folder structure.

## 4. The on-screen keyboard

If the key exists in Windows but is physically dead, you can press it with a mouse:

1. `Ctrl`+`Win`+`O` opens the on-screen keyboard.
2. Click **Options** and enable the numeric keypad if the layout looks cut down.
3. The **PrtScn** key is at the top right. Click it.

Slightly recursive — the keyboard itself appears in the capture — but it works, and it's the quickest test of whether your problem is a dead switch or a software conflict. If the on-screen key produces a capture, the hardware key is broken.

## 5. Map Print Screen onto a key you don't use

Microsoft's PowerToys has a Keyboard Manager that remaps single keys. Point an unused key — Scroll Lock, Menu, right `Alt` — at Print Screen and you have a physical key again.

Worth it if a specific app you depend on responds only to Print Screen and doesn't recognise the modern shortcuts. Overkill otherwise.

## Which keyboards are missing the key

- **Gaming laptops** reassign the space to macro keys or RGB controls.
- **Compact and travel laptops** cut the function row's extras to save width. [Galaxy Book models](https://screenshot-laptop.com/samsung/) shift the row leftward when a numeric keypad is fitted.
- **ThinkPads** moved it out of the function row entirely, [to the cluster near the arrow keys](https://screenshot-laptop.com/lenovo/).
- **Mac keyboards used with Windows laptops** never had it. `F13` often behaves as Print Screen; otherwise use `Win`+`Shift`+`S`.
- **Some Chromebooks running Windows** through a conversion have no equivalent key at all.

> If the key is present but unresponsive, that's a different problem with a different fix. [Print Screen not working](https://screenshot-laptop.com/fix/print-screen-not-working/).

None of the five methods above need the key, and [the wider Windows guide](https://screenshot-laptop.com/windows/) covers what each one captures.

## Questions

**Is there a screenshot button in the Windows Start menu?**

Not a button as such, but Snipping Tool is there and behaves like one. Press `Win`, type *snip*, press `Enter`, then click New. Pinning it to the taskbar makes it a genuine one-click capture.

**Can I screenshot with a touchscreen and no keyboard?**

On a Windows tablet or a detached 2-in-1, hold the Windows logo button and press Volume down. Surface devices use Power and Volume up instead. [Surface specifics](https://screenshot-laptop.com/surface/).

**Will a USB keyboard fix this?**

Yes, and it's the cheapest diagnostic available. Full-size external keyboards have a dedicated Print Screen key with no Fn layer over it, so if the external key works, the problem was your laptop's key rather than Windows.