Each new Windows version brings new things and features to the OS. Often, Microsoft even changes the default behavior of certain things. The recent change is opening Snipping Tool when you press the Print Screen key on your keyboard. If you don’t like this or want to use another screenshotting tool to take screenshots on your computer, you can stop Snipping Tool from opening when you press the Print Screen button by disabling it in Settings. This article shows you how.
Generally, pressing the Print Screen button takes a full-screen screenshot and copies it to the clipboard. You can then paste it into any supported application, like Paint, and save it to disk. If you want more control over how you take screenshots, then you can use the built-in Snipping Tool application.
Since using the Snipping Tool is way better than the default print screen behavior, Microsoft changed the default action when you press the Print Screen key to open Snipping Tool. For the most part, this is a good thing for a vast majority of users. However, if you don’t like this new behavior or want to use another screenshotting tool, you might want to disable it. Otherwise, third-party screenshot tools may be unable to bind the Print Screen key to take screenshots.
In this quick and easy guide, let me show you how to disable or stop Snipping Tool from opening when you press the Print Screen key on your keyboard.
Disable Print Screen Opening Snipping Tool
To stop the Print Screen key opening Snipping Tool, you have to disable it in the Settings app. Here’s how to do it in simple and easy steps with screenshots.
1. Open Settings on Windows 11.
To open the Settings on Windows 11, press the Windows key + I keyboard shortcut. If you are looking for another way, open the Start menu, search for Settings, and click on the result. Or, click on the Network icon on the taskbar and click/tap on the Settings icon at the bottom of the Quick Settings flyout panel.
2. Click on the Accessibility option on the sidebar.
Once the Settings app opens, click on the Accessibility option on the Setting app’s sidebar. This takes you to the Windows 11 Accessibility settings page. This is where you will find most of the accessibility settings like the text size, visual effects, contrast themes, cursor size & color, sticky key settings, etc.
3. Click/tap on the Keyboard option under Interaction.
In the Accessibility page, screen down to the Interaction section and click on the Keyboard option. This action takes you to the keyboard accessibility options page in the Settings app.
4. Turn off the ‘Use the Print Screen button to open screen snipping’ option.
On the keyboard accessibility options page, find the ‘Use the Print Screen button to open screen snipping’ option and turn it off. i.e., toggle the switch to the off position, as shown in the image below.
5. Snipping Tool no longer opens when you press Print Screen.
That is it. With the above change, the Snipping Tool will not open when you press the Print Screen key on your keyboard. Since the Print Screen key is no longer blocked, you can also use third-party applications like ShareX to take screenshots.
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As you see, though the relevant option is somewhat hard to find, it is pretty easy to disable or stop Snipping Tool from opening when you press the Print Screen key.
I hope this simple and easy Windows how-to guide helped you.
If you are stuck or need help, email me, and I will try to help as much as possible.
