How can I save a screenshot directly to a file in Windows?

Question

In Windows XP, one can press Alt-PrintScreen to copy an image of the active window, or Ctrl-PrintScreen to copy an image of the full desktop.

This can then be pasted into applications that accept images: Photoshop, Microsoft Word, etc.

I'm wondering: Is there a way to save the screenshot directly to a file? Do I really have to open an image program, like Paint.net or Photoshop, simply to paste an image, then save it?

Answer 1

There is no way to save directly to a file without a 3rd party tool before Windows 8. Here are my personal favorite non-third party tool solutions.

For Windows 8 and later

+ PrintScreen saves the screenshot into a folder in <user>/Pictures/Screenshots

For Windows 7

In win 7 just use the snipping tool: Most easily accessed via pressing Start, then typing "sni" (enter). or then sni enter

Prior versions of Windows

I use the following keyboard combination to capture, then save using mspaint. After you do it a couple times, it only takes 2-3 seconds:

1. Alt+PrintScreen
2. Win+R ("run")
3. type "mspaint" enter
4. Ctrl-V (paste)
5. Ctrl-S (save)
6. use file dialog
7. Alt-F4 (close mspaint)

In addition, Cropper is great (and open source). It does rectangle capture to file or clipboard, and is of course free.