FAQ #: 142
How do I print a screen in Windows?

In Windows, in order to print a screen, you must first capture the screen on the Windows clipboard, and then paste it into a document that can handle a picture file and print from there. Microsoft Word and Wordpad are ideal programs to use when needing to print a screen.

1. Focus the screen you wish to print. To "focus" a screen, make sure it is the "active" screen (has the toolbar brightened). Press the CTRL and the ALT keys down and while holding them down, press the PRT SCRN key. This captures the active screen.

2. Pull up Wordpad, Microsoft Word, or another editor that handles pictures and right-click the mouse at the cursor position and select Paste to paste the screen image from the Windows clipboard. You can save your document, add text, print, etc.

You can also hold down the CTRL and the SHIFT key and press the PRT SCRN key to capture the whole screen, not just the active or focused window. Typically, this makes your print out of the screens smaller, but is convenient if you need to capture the whole screen and not just one window.