How to Screenshot On a Lenovo Laptop

Also learn to take screen captures on Lenovo tablets

By

Matthew S. Smith

Updated on March 17, 2021

Reviewed by

Ryan Perian

Windows

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What to Know

Find and press the Print Screen button (often abbreviated to PrtSc) to open Snip & Sketch.
Alternatively, press Print Screen+Function (PrtSc+Fn) simultaneously to copy a screenshot to the clipboard.
You can paste the screenshot to an image editing app or directly to most social media sites.

This article covers how to take a screenshot on a Lenovo laptop. Depending on the laptop model you have, there are several ways to do it.

Screenshot on Lenovo With Print Screen

Pressing the Print Screen key, which is often abbreviated to PrtSc on the keyboard of a Lenovo laptop, is the quickest way to take a screenshot. You can also identify this key by the small scissor icon printed on the key.

Lenovo laptop keyboard with Print Screen highlighted — Matthew S. Smith / Lifewire

This will open the Snip & Sketch tool, a built-in Windows program that lets you capture some or all of your screen and then save the image. Once it's open, select the New button in the app's upper left corner.

You can then snap a screenshot using the Rectangular or Freeform tools, and the screenshot will appear in Snip & Sketch. The screenshot can be edited, copied to the Windows clipboard, or you can save it to your laptop by selecting the Save As icon, which looks like a floppy disk, in the app's upper right corner.

A screenshot of Snip & Sketch application open and editing an image — Matthew S. Smith / Lifewire

Snip & Sketch is straightforward for snapping a screenshot, but it has advanced features, including touchscreen and markup support. You can read our Snip & Sketch guide for the full scoop on its inner workings.

The Print Screen key's location depends on whether you're using a Lenovo IdeaPad or Lenovo ThinkPad. IdeaPads place this key in the upper right-hand corner of the keyboard, in the function key row. ThinkPads place this key in the lower right-hand corner near the arrow keys.

How to Screenshot on ThinkPad With Windows + Shift + S

Pressing Windows + Shift + S on your laptop's keyboard opens Snip & Sketch and directly captures a screenshot.

Once captured, the screenshot appears in Snip & Sketch, just as with the first method.

Grab a ThinkPad Screenshot with Function + Print Screen

The quickest way to save a screenshot is to press the Function + Print Screen buttons on the keyboard. Lenovo laptops commonly abbreviate these buttons to Fn + PrtSc.

This saves a screenshot of your entire Windows desktop to the Windows' clipboard. Once there, you can paste the screenshot to an image editor or directly into most social media sites.

This method does not save a copy of your screenshot to a file by default. However, you can change that behavior if you sign up for OneDrive. After that, you can use this method to save a copy of a screenshot to OneDrive in the OneDrive > Pictures > Screenshots folder.

What About Lenovo Tablets?

Windows 2-in-1s and tablets from Lenovo don't have a unique screenshot shortcut through the touchscreen. However, you can access Snip & Sketch through the Notification Center.

Select the Notification Center, which is located on the far right side of the Windows taskbar.
Select the Expand All option near the bottom of the Notification Center.
Select the Screen Snip option. This automatically opens Snip & Sketch and proceeds straight to snapping a screenshot, as described above.

Lenovo also makes Android tablets. The standard method of taking a screenshot on an Android phone or tablet will work on these devices.

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