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January 31, 2010

2

Capturing Only the Active Window with Print Screen



Print Screen takes a screenshot of the entire Windows desktop.

Print Screen takes a screenshot of the entire Windows desktop.

Ah, yes… Print Screen. I’ve been using the Prt Scr key for many years now – for a long time, it was my primary method of taking screenshots. However, when I started working as a developer, I quickly discovered the benefits of using specialized screenshot utilities. Presently, I use Snipping Tool and Jing much more than Print Screen. The problem was always that Print Screen would copy the whole desktop, which is particularly frustrating when you have multiple monitors. Soon after starting as a developer, I was told that pressing Alt + Prt Scr would copy only the active window to the clipboard. This proved convenient in the cases where I wanted exactly that – just one window. Compare both the screenshots in this post to get a better idea of what I mean.

Alt + Print Screen only takes a screenshot of the active window.

Alt + Print Screen only takes a screenshot of the active window.

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  • tc

    alt+print screen still shows my entire screenshot, not the active window.
    ideas?

    • Matt Refghi

      The fact that you get the full screenshot is pretty weird. If you were using Left ALT, try Right ALT. Is it possible your keyboard has a toggle key like Function-lock, which changes the meaning of certain keys? This is typically the case with laptops.

      Is it possible you have screenshot software that may be taking command of the ALT+Print Sceen combination?

      If none of the above help, which version of Windows are you using?