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How to Take a Screenshot
How to Take a Screenshot

Learn to take a screenshot if requested by the SmartrMail team

Nicolas Vibert avatar
Written by Nicolas Vibert
Updated over a week ago

If you're having issues with SmartrMail our support may ask you to provide a screenshot demonstrating what the problem or issue is on your end.

The process of taking a screenshot is different based on your operating system. The following instructions are for Windows and Mac devices.

Windows

There are a few different methods for taking a screenshot on a Windows computer. Not all methods will work on all versions of Windows.
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Whole screen (Print Screen, Windows + Print Screen)

On your keyboard, press the PrtScn key. This will copy an image of everything on screen to your computer's clipboard. You will then need to paste this image from your clipboard into an image editing program, such as Paint. Once you have pasted the image into your image editing program, you can save the image file. This method works on all Windows versions, including Windows XP.

Alternatively, if you want to skip the extra step of opening an image editing program, you can press the Windows and PrtScn keys. This will take a screenshot of everything on your computer's screen, and automatically save that file to your computer's Pictures library, under a folder called Screenshots. However, this method only works on Windows 8.1 and Windows 10.

Note that in either case, these methods will both capture your entire screen, so if you don't want our support to see everything on your screen, please crop the image before sending it to us!

Active window only (Alt + Print Screen)

On your keyboard, press the Alt and PrtScn keys. This will copy an image of just the active application window to your computer's clipboard. You will then need to paste (CmdV) this image from your clipboard into your image editing program. Once you have pasted the image into your image editing program, you can save the image file.

This method works on all Windows versions, including Windows XP.
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Snipping Tool

The Snipping Tool is an application that comes with most versions of Windows that will allow you to take screenshots of the entire screen, of a specific window, or of just a specific section of the screen.

To open the Snipping Tool, go to the Start menu, then navigate to the Accessories folder, and then choose Snipping Tool. (You can also search for "snipping" using the search tool within the Start menu.) 

Once within the Snipping Tool, click the New button and select the type of snip you want to make.

If you've selected rectangular or free-form snip, you can select the area you wish to capture by clicking and dragging your cursor. The window snip will let you select a window (e.g., your browser) and capture that. The full-screen snip captures the entire screen and works much like the Print Screen method.

Once you capture the desired screenshot, it'll show up in the Snipping Tool window. You can then save the screenshot or edit it as you wish.

This Snipping Tool works on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10.

Mac

Depending on how much of the screen you wish to capture, there are a few different methods for capturing a screenshot on a Mac computer. 

Partial screenshot

To capture a section of your screen, press Cmd Shift 4. (If your computer's sound is on, you should hear a camera shutter noise.) Your cursor will turn into a crosshairs reticle. Click and drag your cursor to highlight the rectangular area you'd like to capture. (If you need to return your cursor back to normal without taking a picture, press Esc.)

The screenshot will appear on your desktop as a file named "Screen Shot," with the date and time.

Whole screen

To capture the entire screen, press Cmd Shift 3. As with the above method, the screenshot will appear on your desktop as a file named "Screen Shot," with the date and time.

This method will capture your entire screen, so if you don't want our support to see everything on your screen, please crop the image before sending it to us, or consider using the partial screenshot method instead! 

Active window only

To capture just one active window, press Cmd Shift 4, and then press Space. Your cursor will turn into a crosshairs reticle, then a camera. With the camera icon, click on the open window you wish to capture (the camera will helpfully highlight the windows blue as you mouse over them).

As with the above methods, the screenshot will appear on your desktop as a file named "Screen Shot," with the date and time.

 

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