Where the Print Screen key is, and how to make it work
On a laptop this key is almost never labelled the way guides assume. It's abbreviated, shared with another function, and frequently locked behind Fn.
The short answer
- Top row, right of F12The usual position
- Fn + PrtScIf tapping it alone does nothing
- Fn + EscToggles Fn Lock on many laptops
What to look for#
Scan the top-right of your keyboard, in the row with the F keys. You're looking for any of these:
- PrtSc or PrtScn — most common
- PrtScr or Prt Sc — Dell and Lenovo often split it
- Print Screen in full — rare on laptops, space doesn't allow
- Sys Rq printed underneath — a leftover from 1980s terminals, ignore it
On many laptops it shares a keycap with Insert, and the two labels sit one above the other. On several Lenovo layouts it sits between the arrow cluster and the function row rather than in it, and Samsung shifts the row when a numeric keypad is fitted.
The Fn key is the usual problem#
Laptop function rows do two jobs. Each key has a media job printed as an icon — brightness, volume, aeroplane mode — and a traditional job printed as a small label. Only one of those is active at a time, and which one depends on a firmware setting.
If tapping Print Screen changes your volume or does nothing, your keyboard is in media mode. Hold Fn and press it again.
Stop needing Fn every time#
Two ways, depending on your machine.
Fn Lock. Look for a small padlock icon on either the Fn key or the Esc key. If it's there, pressing Fn+Esc toggles the whole row between media and traditional mode, and the setting survives a restart. Some HP and Lenovo models use Fn+Shift instead.
Firmware. Restart, press the setup key during boot (F2 on most machines, F10 on HP, F1 on ThinkPad), and look for a setting called Action Keys Mode, Function Key Behavior, Hotkey Mode or F1–F12 as primary function. Set it so the traditional labels are primary. The setting's name and the key to reach firmware differ by maker: HP, Dell, Lenovo, Asus, Acer, Samsung and MSI each have their own page. Surface has no Print Screen key at all.
What the key actually does#
By itself, it copies your entire screen — all monitors — to the clipboard. On Windows 11 it opens the snipping overlay instead, unless you've changed the setting. Add Win to save a file, add Alt to limit it to one window.
It does not print anything. The name is from the 1981 IBM PC, where it genuinely sent the screen's text to a line printer.
If the key is physically missing or broken#
Print Screen is entirely optional on Windows. Win+Shift+S does more than it ever did, and the Snipping Tool can be pinned to your taskbar and clicked with a mouse. Five methods that don't involve the key.
Once the key responds, the six Windows capture methods explain what each combination actually does with the image.
Questions people actually ask
Does Print Screen work on an external keyboard?
Yes, and usually more simply — full-size external keyboards have a dedicated Print Screen key with no Fn layer, so tapping it works immediately. That's a quick way to test whether the problem is your laptop's key or Windows itself.
Why is Print Screen printed in a different colour to the other labels?
Colour-coding marks which layer a label belongs to. Labels in the same colour as the Fn key require Fn to reach. Check what colour your Fn key is printed in and the pattern becomes obvious.
My key says PrtSc SysRq. Does SysRq matter?
No. System Request was a way to signal the operating system directly on early PCs. Nothing in Windows uses it and you can treat the key as Print Screen only.