This essay has simple methods or instructions to fix Print Screen not working in Windows 10.
There’s no better way to capture your desktop screen than to use the Print Screen button on your keyboard. This key is usually found near the broken key and the scroll lock key, and it will copy the snapshot to your clipboard. You can now copy and paste this screenshot into any app, such as Microsoft Paint or Photoshop. But what if the Print Screen function suddenly ceases to function? It is a widespread issue, but before we get there, let us first learn more about the Print Screen Windows 10.
Table of Contents
What are Print Screen and its uses?
How to Fix Print Screen Not Working in Windows 10
What To Do If Your Print Screen Key Doesn’t Work?
Method 1: Perform a Clean Boot
Method 2: Update your keyboard driver
Method 3: Make sure Windows is up-to-date
Method 4: Stop Background programs
Method 5: Configure Alternate Hotkeys for the Print Screen key
Method 6: Disable the F Lock or F Mode
Method 7: Use the Snipping Tool
What are Print Screen and its uses?
Print Screen (Prt Sc) saves a bitmap image of the current screen or screenshot to the Windows clipboard, whereas Alt + Print Screen (Prt Sc) captures the currently selected window. This image can then be saved using paint or another image editing software. When the Prt Sc key is pressed in conjunction with both the left Alt and Shift keys, it activates high contrast mode.
With the release of Windows 8 (also in Windows 10), you can take a screenshot by pressing the Windows key & the Prt Sc key simultaneously. This image is saved to the disc (the default picture location). The phrase “print screen” is usually abbreviated as:
Print Scrn Prnt Scrn Prt Scrn Prt Scn Prt Scr Prt Sc Pr Sc
How to Fix Print Screen Not Working in Windows 10
Before making any alterations to your system, create a restore point. Then, if something goes wrong, you will be able to restore your system to a previous state in which everything worked properly.
What To Do If Your Print Screen Key Doesn’t Work?
So, if you can’t take screenshots in Windows 10 or if the Print Screen key isn’t working, don’t worry; I’ll show you how to fix it today. Likewise, if the print screen does not work, try Windows Key + PrtSc; if that does not work, do not worry. So, without further ado, let’s look at how to fix the Print Screen not working problem using the troubleshooting guide provided below.
Note: Firstly, try again with the Print Screen key (PrtSc); press the Print Screen key (PrtSc), now open Paint, then press Ctrl + V to paste the captured screenshot; does this work? If not, you may need to use the function key in addition to the print screen key, so try Fn + PrtSc and see if it works. If it didn’t, try the fixes listed below.
Method 1: Perform a Clean Boot
Third-party software can occasionally interfere with the keyboard, resulting in the print screen key malfunctioning. To fix the problem, restart your computer and take a screenshot with the Print Screen key.
Method 2: Update your keyboard driver
1. Press Windows Key + R to open Device Manager, then type “devmgmt.msc” and press Enter.
2. Expand Keyboard, then right-click Standard PS/2 Keyboard and select Update Driver from the menu that appears.
3. Choose Automatically search for updated driver software and wait for Windows to install the most recent driver.
4. Now, reboot your computer to see if you can resolve the issue; if not, continue.
5. Go back to Device Manager and, this time, right-click on Standard PS/2 Keyboard and choose Update Driver.
6. This time, select “Browse my PC for driver software.”
7. On the next screen, choose “Let me select from a list of available drivers on my computer.”
8. Select the most recent drivers from the list and press the Next button.
9. Reboot your computer to save the changes and see if you could resolve the Print Screen not working in Windows 10; if not, move on to the next option.
Method 3: Make sure Windows is up-to-date
1. Launch Settings by pressing Windows Key + I, then select Update & Security.
2. Then, under Update status, choose “Check for updates.”
3. If a PC update is discovered, install it and restart your computer.
Method 4: Stop Background programs
1. To open Task Manager, press Ctrl + Shift + Esc at the same time.
2. Locate the following programs, then right-click on each of them and select “End Task”:
OneDrive
Dropbox
Snippet tool
3. When finished, exit Task Manager and check to see if you could resolve the Print Screen not working issue.
Method 5: Configure Alternate Hotkeys for the Print Screen key
1. Visit this website and download ScreenPrint Platinum.
2. Run ScreenPrint Platinum after it has been installed.
3. From the ScreenPrint Platinum menu, choose ScreenPrint and then click Setup.
4. Click the Hotkeys button at the bottom of the Configuration box.
5. Then, check the box next to “Enable Hotkeys,” and then, under Global Capture Hotkey, choose any character from the dropdown menu, such as P.
6. Check the boxes next to Ctrl and Alt under Global Capture Hotkey.
7. Finally, click the Save button to replace the Print Screen key with the Ctrl + Alt + P keys.
8. Take a screenshot by holding down the Ctrl, Alt, and P keys simultaneously, then paste it into Paint.
Although it did not resolve the Print Screen not working issue, it is a good workaround until a permanent solution is found. If you do not want to use a third-party tool, you can use Windows’ built-in Snipping Tool.
Method 6: Disable the F Lock or F Mode
Examine your keyboard to see if it has a F Mode or a F Lock key. The print screen key is disabled because such keys prevent you from taking screenshots. So, once more, press the F Mode or F Lock key and then the Print Screen key.
Method 7: Use the Snipping Tool
If you can still take a screenshot by pressing the Print Screen button, you should try the Snipping Tool in Windows 10. First, enter snipping into Windows Search and then click on the “Snipping Tool” result.
This built-in Windows tool is a lovely way to take a screenshot of a portion of the recently active window or the whole screen.
That’s all there is to it; you’ve successfully resolved the Print Screen Not Working in Windows 10 problem. Please leave any additional queries in the below comments section.