How to screenshot on your Chromebook

We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more

There are two simple keyboard shortcuts that allow you to take partial or full screenshots on your Chromebook, both of which involve using the Show windows key. We’ll also show you how to find and open your screenshots by going into your Files folder.

• Visit TechZerg’s homepage for more stories.

Taking screenshots on a Chromebook is slightly different than a PC or Mac, but it’s still very much simple to do.

Screenshots can be handy for plenty of reasons. You can show a colleague what your current work screen looks like, capture a viral social media post you think will be deleted soon, or snapshot error messages on your screen to support services for help.

If you’ve never used a Chromebook before, it may be a little confusing to understand some of its keyboard shortcuts. But once you become familiar with the primary setup process, basic things like taking screenshots will become easy to do.

The screenshot methods in this article will apply to most Chromebook brands — including Google Pixelbook, Toshiba, Hewlett Packard (HP), Dell, Lenovo (Yoga), Samsung, ASUS, and Acer.

To take full or partial screenshots on your Chromebook, follow the steps below.

How to screenshot on a Chromebook (fullscreen)

The most usual way to take a screenshot is to capture the full screen, and your Chromebook can easily do this by using the Ctrl + Show windows key at the same time. The show windows key, which looks like a rectangle with two trailing lines on the right side, and is positioned on your keyboard’s top row between full-screen and reduce brightness keys. It functions similar to the F5 key on a PC.

How to screenshot on a Chromebook (partial screen)

To take a screenshot of a part of your Chromebook’s screen, press the Shift + Ctrl + Show windows keys. Your mouse cursor will change to a crosshair, click it and drag the part of the screen you want to screenshot, and then let go.

Have a Chromebook that can turn into a tablet? Just press the “power and volume down” keys at the same time.

Another way to screenshot on a Chromebook is via the Chrome browser menu. Select Menu (the three horizontal dot on the top-left) > More tools > Take screenshot. However, you won’t be able to crop or capture a window directly using the Chrome browser menu function.

After you’ve taken the screenshot, you’ll see a pop-up image of the screenshot appear at the bottom-right of your screen – right-click or double-click the pop-up and then select the screenshot from your “Files” folder.

All your screenshot will always end up in the Download folder. To locate the folder or see an older screenshot, Click the Launcher (circular button) in the bottom-left corner of your screen > Click the Files icon (if you don’t see it, select the up-carrot button and click “Files”). Clicking the file icon will open your file manager. Find your downloads folder under “My Files” on the left. You’ll see your screenshot there.

For more help getting the most out of your tech, check out our how-to guides as well as more helpful articles below.