---
title: "Where the Print Screen key is, and how to make it work"
url: "https://screenshot-laptop.com/windows/print-screen-key/"
platform: "Windows"
section: "Windows laptops"
updated: "2026-09-16"
license: "CC-BY-4.0"
attribution: "screenshot-laptop.com"
shortcuts:
  - "F12"
  - "Fn + PrtSc"
  - "Fn + Esc"
---

# 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.*

URL: https://screenshot-laptop.com/windows/print-screen-key/

## The short answer

- Top row, right of `F12` — The usual position
- `Fn` + `PrtSc` — If tapping it alone does nothing
- `Fn` + `Esc` — Toggles 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](https://screenshot-laptop.com/lenovo/) it sits between the arrow cluster and the function row rather than in it, and [Samsung shifts the row](https://screenshot-laptop.com/samsung/) 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.

> `Fn`+`PrtSc` working while `PrtSc` alone doesn't isn't a fault. It's the intended behaviour of the mode your firmware is set to.

## 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](https://screenshot-laptop.com/hp/), [Dell](https://screenshot-laptop.com/dell/), [Lenovo](https://screenshot-laptop.com/lenovo/), [Asus](https://screenshot-laptop.com/asus/), [Acer](https://screenshot-laptop.com/acer/), [Samsung](https://screenshot-laptop.com/samsung/) and [MSI](https://screenshot-laptop.com/msi/) each have their own page. [Surface](https://screenshot-laptop.com/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](https://screenshot-laptop.com/windows/no-print-screen-key/).

Once the key responds, [the six Windows capture methods](https://screenshot-laptop.com/windows/) explain what each combination actually does with the image.

## Questions

**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.