How to Save a Screen Shot as a jpg File on Your Computer Without Using Snagit or a Digital Camera

Techwalla may earn compensation through affiliate links in this story. Learn more about our affiliate and product review process here.

Often times, people find themselves needed to get a screen shot of something that's on their computer. Students, employees, or end-users may need to show others what was on their screen as part of a report, demonstration, or example of something that went wrong (in the case of end-users who need to email their tech support an example of a problem they're experiencing). You can do this easily, with a few key strokes.

Advertisement

Step 1

On the screen you'd like to save, hold down the "Shift" key on your keyboard, and then press the "Print Screen" key.

Video of the Day

Step 2

Open up Microsoft Paint (or similar program).

Advertisement

Step 3

In Microsoft Paint, click "Edit" on the top tool bar, and choose "Paste" from the drop down menu. In MS Paint, you can now edit your screen shot as needed. You may want to "highlight" certain areas, or use arrows to indicate to your reader what section of the screen you're referring to.

Advertisement

Step 4

Click on "File," on the top navigation bar, then choose "Save as" from the drop down menu.

Advertisement

Step 5

Microsoft Paint will default to wanting to save the file as a bitmap, but by clicking on "Save as type" below the file name, you can choose "jpg."

Step 6

Use your saved screen shot as you would use any other jpg file.

Video of the Day

Advertisement

Advertisement