Win + Shift + S, explained properly

The best screenshot shortcut on Windows, and the one most people use wrong — because it deliberately doesn't save a file.

Updated 15 September 2026

What happens when you press it#

The screen dims, the cursor becomes a crosshair, and a toolbar appears at the top centre with four modes. Drag a rectangle, release, and the screen returns to normal.

Your capture is now on the clipboard. That's the whole transaction — no file has been created anywhere.

Why there's no file, and why that's fine#

Most screenshots exist for about eight seconds. You take one, paste it into a message, and never think about it again. Writing a PNG to disk for every one of those would leave you with a folder of hundreds of numbered files you'll never open.

So this shortcut optimises for the common case. Press it, drag, Ctrl+V. Done, nothing left behind.

When you do want a file, click the notification that appears bottom-right and press Ctrl+S. Or set the Snipping Tool to auto-save every capture — three dots, Settings, Automatically save original screenshots.

The four modes#

The mode you pick is remembered for next time, which occasionally surprises you a week later when it opens in freeform.

Getting a more precise selection#

• The pixel dimensions of your selection appear next to the cursor while you drag. Handy when you need a capture at a specific size.
• Drag from any corner — there's no required direction.
• Esc cancels. So does right-clicking.
• The overlay honours display scaling, so on a high-DPI laptop you get more pixels than the dimensions suggest. Why that matters for sharpness.

If it stops working#

The dim-and-crosshair either happens or it doesn't, which makes this quick to diagnose:

1. Nothing at all happens. Check that Snipping Tool is still installed — Win, type snip. If it's gone, reinstall it from the Microsoft Store.
2. Screen dims but the toolbar never appears. The app is failing to start. Repair steps.
3. It works, but pasting gives old content. Clipboard history or a clipboard manager is intercepting. Check Win+V.
4. Works in most apps, not in one. That app blocks screen capture deliberately. Common in banking apps and streaming video. Why you get a black rectangle.

Windows 10 needs one setting change#

The shortcut works out of the box on both versions. But if you want the plain PrtSc key to open this same overlay, Windows 11 does it by default while Windows 10 needs the toggle in Ease of Access › Keyboard. How to turn it on.

Worth memorising, this one — though Windows has five more methods, and two of them save a file without asking.