How to Take a Screenshot on a Chromebook

Whether you’re on a laptop, tablet, or smartphone, you likely take screenshots all the time to quickly share information with friends, coworkers, or the wider internet—and it’s no different when you’re on your Chromebook. If you’re just getting used to one of these machines, you’ll know taking a screenshot is slightly different than on Windows and Macs. Luckily, it’s easy to do.

Screenshots via keyboard shortcuts

To take a screenshot of part of your Chromebook screen using your keyboard, press Ctrl + Shift + Show Windows. (This button looks like a rectangle with two lines next to it.) If your Chromebook’s keyboard doesn’t have a Show Windows button, or if you’re using an external keyboard, press Ctrl + Shift + F5.

To capture your whole screen, press Ctrl + Show Windows to screen capture everything visible on your Chromebook screen.

Some Chromebooks even have a dedicated screenshot key. If yours does, it looks like a rectangle with a circle in it, resembling a camera.

Screen Capture tool in Quick Settings

Another option is to use the built-in Screen Capture tool in the Quick Settings. To use it, open Quick Settings by clicking on the time, then click on Screen Capture.

From here, a toolbar will open up, which gives you the option to capture the entire screen, a selection of the screen, or a single window. You can also screen-record your Chromebook by clicking on the video icon.

Where to find your Chromebook screenshots

Once you take a screenshot or screen recording, it’s automatically available in your device’s Clipboard. The Clipboard will store the last five captures you saved to it.

To see where the rest of your captures are, open the Files app. For screenshots, open the Images folder, and for screen recordings, open the Videos folder.