FIX: Snipping Tool freezing/crashing/locking in Windows 10

by Ivan Jenic

Troubleshooting Expert

Last update:June 11, 2020

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The Windows Snipping Tool is a nice feature that can be used to take a quick snapshot of the screen. You can then share the image with others or just save it on your PC for future reference.

Unfortunately, the Snipping Tool, as it is with any other software feature, isn’t immune to errors and malfunctions.

And the most interesting thing here is that a software feature seemingly as innocent as the Snipping Tool has been found to even crash in Windows 10.

That said, the issue is also easy to resolve and can be done within just minutes. Read on.

What can I do if Snipping Tool is freezing in Windows 10?

1. Perform a health scan of your PC

1. Launch the Command Prompt (Simply type cmd in the Cortana search box and select from results shown).
2. In the Command Prompt windows, type the following commands followed by pressing Enter after each:

• Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
• Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
• Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

3. Allow each operation to complete before proceeding with the next.
4. Check if this solves the issue.

2. Check for any Windows 10 integrity violations

1. Launch Command Prompt as before.
2. Type sfc /scannow and press Enter.
3. Let the scanning process to complete. It can take a few minutes.
4. After it’s over, restart your PC.
5. Check if the issue is resolved.

3. Perform a clean boot

1. Launch Msconfig Just type msconfig in the Cortana search box and select from the search result.
2. In the System Configuration window that opens, select Services.
3. Under the Services tab, select the Hide all Microsoft services check box followed by clicking on the Disable all button.
4. Next, select the Startup tab and click on Open Task Manager.
5. In the Task Manager window, select Startup.
6. Select each item and then click Disable.
7. Close Task Manager.
8. Click OK in the System Configuration dialog box.
9. Restart your PC.
10. Once the computer restarts, it will do so with only the basic functionality.
11. You will next proceed to the troubleshooting step to single out the application causing the issue. Here are the steps.

4. Troubleshooting to single out the problematic application

1. Launch System Configuration again as before and select Services.
2. Click on Hide all Microsoft services.
3. Manually click on one-half of the applications, like say those forming the upper part.
4. Click on OK and then select Restart.
5. Once the computer restarts, check if the issue is still persisting.
6. If the issue is still there, one of the apps selected is the culprit.
7. In that case, repeat the above process but select one half of the application that you had selected the last time.
8. Restart again as before and check if the issue is persisting.
9. If yes, one of the selected apps is at fault.
10. Repeat the above process until you have zeroed in on the problematic app.
11. However, if the computer worked fine after the first restart, one of the apps not yet selected is at fault.
12. Repeat the steps but selecting the lower half of the app this time and proceed.
13. After you have found out the faulty app, update it, or get in touch with the developers with your issue. Or else, if nothing worked, you might have to uninstall it to ensure the snipping tool does not crash Windows 10 again.
14. You might have to make a trade-off between which is more important, the snipping tool, or the faulty application.

This should help deal with the Sniping Tool crashing Windows 10 error. Do you know any other quick fixes? Share them with us via the comments area below.

The above solutions apply in all these scenarios as well:

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• Snipping Tool crashes – Users describe how the Snipping Tool crashes every time they attempt to save something. If that’s your problem as well, one of our fixes should help you out.
• Snipping Tool hangs in Windows 10 – Since they made the switch to Windows 10, users describe that their Snipping Tool has started to hang; others claim that this happened out of the blue. One case or another, a health PC scan will do wonders.