Snipping Tool, Screenshots, and Screen Recordings (23H2)

Microsoft provides the Snipping Tool app in Windows 11 so that you can capture, save, edit, and share screenshots--still images that represent the contents of your PC's display--and screen recordings, video representations of what's happening on-screen. Snipping Tool is a modern app that should meet most users' needs. But Windows 11 also supports other methods for capturing screenshots and screen recordings, some of which have been included with Windows for quite some time.
Get to know Snipping Tool
Snipping Tool is a versatile screenshot and screen recording utility. That said, it confuses matters by using its own language for screenshots and screen recordings: It refers to screenshots as "static image snips" and screen recording as "video snips." The Snipping Tool also offers two different user interfaces, depending on how you access it.

If you launch Snipping Tool with a Start shortcut or Search, it appears as a small floating window that provides just a handful of commands via toolbar buttons.

These buttons are:

New screenshot/recording. The "+ New" button is used to capture a new screenshot or screen recording, depending on which capture mode the app is currently configured to use.
You can also type "CTRL + N" to capture a new screenshot or screen recording.
Capture mode. The "Snip/Record" toggle button is used to switch the app between its two available capture modes.

Snipping mode. The "Snipping mode" button is available when Snipping Tool is configured to take a screenshot. It lets you choose between "Rectangle," "Window," "Full screen," and "Freeform" snipping modes.

Delay timer. The "Delay snip" button is available when Snipping Tool is configured to take a screenshot. It lets you optionally delay the start of a screenshot capture by 3, 5, or 10 seconds.

See more ("..."). This item provides access to secondary commands like "Open" and "Settings."

After you capture a screenshot or screen recording, a thumbnail of the capture appears in the Snipping Tool window, along with several new controls related to editing, sharing, and saving the capture. Those options are different for each type of capture.

Note that the Snipping Tool window is resizable, and that you can maximize it to better view and edit the capture.

We examine these capabilities in more detail later in the chapter.
New to Windows 11 version 23H2, Snipping Tool also appears by default when you type PRINT SCREEN, and it does so using a unique minimalist user interface in which the screen dims a bit and two buttons--the "Snip/Record" toggle button and "Snipping mode"--appear in a floating toolbar. (OK, three: There's a "Close" button as well.)

After it completes the capture, a banner notification appears, explaining that the image has been saved to disk and copied to the Windows Clipboard.

You can click the banner to bring Snipping Tool back to foreground if you wish to edit it or capture a new screenshot (or scre...