Where Are Screenshots Saved on Windows 10 and 11?

Where are my screenshots? There is no single screenshots folder in Windows, which is the reason the question is asked so often. The location depends entirely on which shortcut you pressed, and one of the most common methods saves no file at all.

If you have just taken a screenshot and cannot find it, the fastest way to find screenshots is to work out which of the five methods below you used. The short version: This PC > Pictures > Screenshots is the right place to look for most of them, and the full path is C:\Users[your username]\Pictures\Screenshots.

Where each method saves your screenshot

Method	Saves a file	Location
Print Screen alone	Depends on the Windows 11 setting below	Clipboard only, or Snipping Tool
Alt + Print Screen	No	Clipboard only
Windows key + Print Screen	Yes	Pictures > Screenshots
Windows key + Shift + S	Clipboard, and a file if auto-save is on	Pictures > Screenshots
Windows key + Alt + Print Screen	Yes	Videos > Captures

What the Print Screen key does now

This is the most likely reason a screenshot appears to have vanished, and the answer changed recently, which is why guides disagree.

In the traditional behavior, pressing Print Screen by itself copies the whole screen to the clipboard and creates no file at all. Nothing appears in any folder and nothing visible happens on screen. The image exists only in memory until you paste it with Ctrl + V, and it is replaced the moment you copy anything else.

On current Windows 11 builds, the default is different: Print Screen opens the Snipping Tool overlay instead. If Snipping Tool has automatic saving enabled, that capture does produce a file in Pictures > Screenshots. So whether Print Screen saves anything now depends on two settings rather than none.

Alt + Print Screen still copies only the active window to the clipboard.

If you pressed Print Screen, saw nothing happen, and then went hunting through folders, you are on the traditional behavior and the image was on your clipboard. Open Paint or a document and press Ctrl + V before doing anything else.

On many laptops the Print Screen key is a secondary function, so it may need Fn held down first. Microsoft also documents Fn + Windows key + Space Bar as an alternative on keyboards with no Print Screen key at all.

Where Windows key + Print Screen saves screenshots

This is the most reliable shortcut for producing a file, because unlike the Snipping Tool routes it does not depend on an automatic-saving setting being switched on. It copies to the clipboard as well.

Press Windows key + Print Screen. The screen dims briefly to confirm the capture. The file appears in:

This PC > Pictures > Screenshots

The full path is C:\Users[your username]\Pictures\Screenshots, and files are numbered in sequence. Devices without a standard Print Screen key have their own button combination, which the manufacturer documents, and those captures land in the same folder.

If the Screenshots folder does not exist, it has simply never been created. Take one screenshot with this shortcut and Windows creates it.

Where Snipping Tool screenshots go

Windows key + Shift + S opens the Snipping Tool overlay, where you drag a rectangle, draw a freeform shape, or pick a window or the full screen.

What happens next depends on one setting. The capture always goes to your clipboard and raises a notification you can select to open the editor. Current versions of the Snipping Tool also save the file automatically to the same Pictures > Screenshots folder, provided automatic saving is turned on.

To check, open the Snipping Tool, select the three dots menu, then Settings, and look for Automatically save screenshots. The same three dots menu has an Open screenshots folder option, which is the quickest way to confirm where yours are actually going.

If that setting is off, your snips exist only on the clipboard and in the editor until you save them manually with Ctrl + S.

Why your Print Screen key now opens the Snipping Tool

Worth knowing because it surprises people who have used Windows for years.

On current Windows 11 builds, Microsoft changed the default so that pressing Print Screen opens the Snipping Tool overlay rather than silently copying the whole screen. If your Print Screen key now brings up a selection crosshair, that is why, and nothing is broken.

You can change it back. Open Settings, then Accessibility, then Keyboard, and look for the Print Screen key option. Turning it off restores the old clipboard behavior.

This change also explains a common complaint that the Screenshots folder is suddenly filling up. If you press Print Screen out of habit and the Snipping Tool has automatic saving enabled, every one of those presses is now producing a file.

Where Xbox Game Bar captures go

Windows key + Alt + Print Screen takes a screenshot through the Xbox Game Bar, and it saves somewhere different from everything else:

This PC > Videos > Captures

This trips people up because the folder is under Videos rather than Pictures. If you are missing a screenshot from a game or a full-screen application, look here before anywhere else.

How to change where screenshots are saved

Windows does not offer a setting for this directly. Instead, you move the Screenshots folder itself, and Windows follows it.

1. Open File Explorer and go to This PC > Pictures.
2. Right-click the Screenshots folder and select Properties.
3. Open the Location tab.
4. Select Move, choose the new folder, and select Apply.
5. Confirm when Windows offers to move the existing files.

From then on, both Windows key + Print Screen and the Snipping Tool save to the new location.

If the folder is empty and you are certain you saved something

Three things to check, in order.

OneDrive may have it. If your Pictures folder is backed up to OneDrive, the Screenshots folder moved with it. Look under OneDrive > Pictures > Screenshots rather than the local path.

Search by file type instead of name. In File Explorer, search a likely folder for .png files and sort by Date modified. This finds a screenshot that was saved manually somewhere unexpected or renamed.

Check the Snipping Tool settings. If automatic saving was turned off, or the default folder was changed, the file never landed where you expected.

A faster way to find settings that moved

Screenshot behavior is a good example of a wider problem: Microsoft changes defaults between Windows builds, and the guide you find online was written for a different one. Instead of working out which version you have and which article matches it, Guidy reads the window on your screen and points at the actual setting in front of you, in the same way a colleague leaning over would. It works the same way across the rest of the software in your day, which is covered on our AI assistant for work page. It is a one-time purchase rather than a subscription, and the pricing page has the details.

Key takeaways

• On current Windows 11, Print Screen opens the Snipping Tool by default. With the traditional behavior restored, it copies to the clipboard only. Alt + Print Screen remains clipboard only either way.
• Windows key + Print Screen is the most reliable direct-save shortcut for a full screen, going to C:\Users[your username]\Pictures\Screenshots without depending on the Snipping Tool auto-save setting.
• Windows key + Shift + S goes to the clipboard, and also to the Screenshots folder if Automatically save screenshots is on in Snipping Tool settings.
• Windows key + Alt + Print Screen saves to Videos > Captures, not Pictures.
• On current Windows 11, the Print Screen key opens the Snipping Tool by default. Change it under Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard.

FAQs

When you screenshot on a PC, where does it save?

If pressing Print Screen appeared to do nothing at all, you are on the traditional behavior where it copies to the clipboard and creates no file, and the image was replaced the next time you copied something. If it opened a selection overlay instead, you are on the current Windows 11 default and the capture may have been saved to Pictures > Screenshots if automatic saving is on. Windows key + Print Screen avoids the ambiguity entirely.

How do I open the Screenshots folder quickly?

Open File Explorer with Windows key + E and go to This PC > Pictures > Screenshots. If you use the Snipping Tool, its three dots menu has an Open screenshots folder option that takes you straight there, which is more reliable because it reflects any change to the save location.

Are screenshots saved as PNG or JPG?

Windows saves screenshots as PNG files by default, which keeps text and interface edges sharp. If you need a smaller file, open the image and save a copy as JPG, accepting some quality loss on fine detail.

Does Windows Shift + S save screenshots?

Windows key + Shift + S always copies to the clipboard. Whether it also saves a file depends on one setting: Automatically save screenshots in the Snipping Tool settings. Current versions have it on, older versions did not save at all, which is why guides disagree. Check it on your own machine, since it decides whether your captures exist as files.

Where do screenshots go if I use OneDrive?

If your Pictures folder is included in OneDrive backup, the Screenshots folder moves into OneDrive with it, and the path becomes OneDrive > Pictures > Screenshots. The local Pictures path may then appear empty even though nothing is lost.