How to take a screenshot on a Chromebook

Whether you're giving someone a tutorial or just need to send off a quick picture, Chrome OS makes taking screenshots simple.

There are plenty of reasons why you'd need to take a screenshot on any operating system, and Chrome OS is no different. Luckily Google has included comprehensive support for the function in Chrome OS, and with just a few easy keystrokes you can take and manage screenshots on your Chromebook.

Your Chromebook offers full-screen and limited selection screenshots, as well as quick and easy access to the files including the ability to copy screenshots directly to your clipboard. Read along and learn a few quick tips on how to take and manage screenshots on your Chromebook.

Simple full-screen screenshot

If you simply want to capture a still image of your entire screen, hold the "control" (ctrl) key and press the window switching key (f5, above the 6 key, shown above). You'll notice a notification pop up in the notification tray indicating a screenshot was captured. You can click the notification to open up the default directory for screenshots, or click the bottom portion of the notification to simply copy the .png file to your clipboard to paste elsewhere.

Limited selection screenshot

If you'd prefer instead to just capture a small portion of your screen, you don't need to take a full screenshot and then crop it after the fact. Instead, just hold down the "shift" key when making a screenshot, and you'll notice your cursor turn into a "+" sign — click and drag over the area you want to take a screenshot off, release the click and it will be captured and saved the same way as the full-screen screenshot was.

Working with your screenshots

By default, whenever you capture a screenshot it will be placed in your "Downloads" folder. Screenshots are taken in the universally-accepted .png format, which can be manipulated in any way you would change or edit any other photo. Open them, crop them, send them and save them wherever you need your screenshots. Be sure to drag them out of Downloads and into Google Drive if you'd like to have an off-site backup as well.