Print Screen not working in Windows 10? Here’s the fix

by Ivan Jenic

Troubleshooting Expert

September 22, 2018

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Many of us are creating screenshots on our computers, but users report that pictures aren’t saved when users snap a screenshot. This is a minor problem for some, while others are having a hard time with the print screen not working on Windows 10.

Before Windows 7 you had to rely on third-party software to capture screenshots, and with Windows 8 and Windows 10, Microsoft decided to change a few things.

Now you can capture screenshots by pressing Windows Key + PrintScreen. This should save your screenshot to the Screenshots folder located in the Pictures library, but for some reason, this might not always work.

Of course, if the pictures aren’t saved you can always run Paint or some other image editor and press Ctrl + V to paste your screenshot in it and save the image that way, but in most cases, that’s just a tedious workaround. So what can you do if pictures aren’t saved when you snap a screenshot?

Table of contents:

1. Edit Registry
2. Check if you’re using the correct key combination
3. Update keyboard drivers
4. Run the hardware troubleshooter
5. Use third-party alternatives

Quickest solution: Use a dedicated tool for screenshots

Icecream Screen Recorder is a straightforward tool, simple, yet highly professional, with enough features to accomplish what you want but not confuse you.

If you plan to capture an image in order to highlight particular areas or a specific section, this tool will turn out to be quite an innovative program. It is the ideal solution if you use multiple browsers during your daily Internet sessions.

You can save your screenshots straight to your hard drive to the destination of your choosing. And, you will be able to store the screenshots in various file formats.

Feel free to check out more features on their official website. A fully-functional trial version is available, so you can try it out now.

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Fix – Print screen not working in Windows 10

 Solution 1 – Edit Registry

1. Run Registry Editor. You can run it by pressing Windows Key + R and typing regedit and pressing Enter to run it.
2. When Registry Editor opens navigate to the following key:
   • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
3. Now in the right pane, you need to find ScreenshotIndex. Since screenshots aren’t being saved you probably don’t have this DWORD. To create it right-click on an empty space, and choose New  > DWORD and enter ScreenshotIndex as its name. Double click the newly created ScreenshotIndex DWORD to see its properties.
4. When the Properties window opens under the Base section select Decimal, then change the Value data to 695. Now click OK to save changes.
5. Now on the left pane navigate to:
   • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders
6. On the right pane find  {B7BEDE81-DF94-4682-A7D8-57A52620B86F} entry and double-click it to see its properties.
7. Make sure that Value data is set to %USERPROFILE%\Pictures\Screenshots.
8. Close the Registry Editor and restart your computer. Screenshots should be now saved in your PicturesScreenshots folder.

Solution 2 – Check if you’re using the correct key combination

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If you’re using a Windows 10 laptop’s keyboard, the key combination for taking a screenshot is different. Usually, besides the regular ctrl + Print sc, you’ll also have to press the Fn key. So, keep that in mind.

Solution 3 – Update keyboard drivers

If there’s something wrong with your keyboard, we point to outdated drivers most of the time. Nevertheless, keeping all your drivers up to date is always a good idea. So, if the Print Screen feature is still not working on Windows 10 after tweaking the registry, go and update your keyboard drivers. If you’re not sure how just follow these instructions:

1. Go to Search, type devicemngr, and open Device Manager.
2. Expand the Keyboards section, and find your keyboard.
3. Right-click the keyboard, and go to Update driver.
4. Follow further on-screen instructions to finish installing driver updates.
5. Restart your computer.

Update drivers automatically

If you don’t want the hassle of searching for drivers on your own, you can use a tool that will do this for you automatically. Of course, as you’re not able to connect to the internet at the moment, this tool won’t be useful. However, once you get online, it will help you to keep all your drivers up to date, so you won’t be in this situation anymore.

Tweakbit’s Driver Updater (approved by Microsoft and Norton Antivirus) will help you update drivers automatically and prevent PC damage caused by installing the wrong driver versions. After several tests, our team concluded that this is the best-automatized solution.

Here is a quick guide on how to use it:

1. Download and install TweakBit Driver Updater
2. Once installed, the program will start scanning your PC for outdated drivers automatically. Driver Updater will check your installed driver versions against its cloud database of the latest versions and recommend proper updates. All you need to do is wait for the scan to complete.
   
3. Upon scan completion, you get a report on all problem drivers found on your PC. Review the list and see if you want to update each driver individually or all at once. To update one driver at a time, click the ‘Update driver’ link next to the driver name. Or simply click the ‘Update all’ button at the bottom to automatically install all recommended updates.
   
   Note: Some drivers need to be installed in multiple steps so you will have to hit the ‘Update’ button several times until all of its components are installed.

Solution 4 – Run the Hardware troubleshooter

If none of the previous solutions resolved the issue, we’re going to use Windows 10’s built-in troubleshooting tool. This tool can be used to address various kinds of issues, including hardware problems.

Here’s how to run Window 10’s hardware troubleshooter:

1. Open the Settings app and go to the Update & Security section.
2. Select Troubleshoot from the menu on the left.
3. Select Hardware & devices from the right pane and click Run the troubleshooter.
4. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the troubleshooter.

Solution 5 – Use third-party alternatives

If you still can’t take a screenshot regularly, turn to a third-party tool. At least until you find a valid solution to this problem. There are dozens of free screen-capture tools you can use to take screenshots in Windows 10. We compiled a list of the best ones, so you can refer to it for recommendations.

That’s about it. If Print Screen is still not working on Windows 10, or you have any comments or questions, just write them down below.

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on January 2017 and has been since completely revamped and updated for freshness, accuracy, and comprehensiveness.

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