What is the shortcut to take a full-screen screenshot on Windows?

As someone frequently needing to capture my entire desktop for documentation, tutorials, or saving error messages, I’m looking for the quickest native method—without relying on third-party tools. What is the keyboard shortcut to take a full-screen screenshot on Windows that captures everything visible, including multiple monitors, without cropping?

The shortcut to take a full-screen screenshot on Windows is pressing the Print Screen (PrtScn) key on your keyboard. This captures the entire screen and copies it to the clipboard, allowing you to paste it into applications like Paint, Word, or email (using Ctrl + V) to save or edit the image.

For automatic saving without pasting:

• Press Windows Key + Print Screen (PrtScn). This captures the full screen and saves it directly to the Screenshots folder (typically located at C:\Users\[Username]\Pictures\Screenshots).

Additional notes:

• Laptop keyboards: On some devices, you may need to press Fn + Print Screen to activate the screenshot function.
• Clipboard behavior: Pressing Alt + Print Screen screenshots only the active window, not the full screen.
• Windows versions: These shortcuts work on Windows 10, Windows 11, and most earlier Windows versions. Screensaves are stored as PNG files named with sequential timestamps (e.g., Screenshot(2024-05-20T10-15-30).png).