How to Take a Screenshot on a Chromebook
Chromebooks handle screenshots a little differently than Windows PCs or Macs — but once you know the shortcuts, it's genuinely faster and more flexible than most people expect. Whether you're capturing a full screen, a specific region, or a single window, ChromeOS has built-in tools that cover all of it without needing third-party software.
The Basic Full-Screen Screenshot Shortcut
The quickest way to capture everything on your screen is to press Ctrl + Show Windows. The Show Windows key is the one that looks like a rectangle with two lines beside it — it sits in the top row of your keyboard, usually where F5 would be on a standard keyboard.
When you press this combination, ChromeOS captures your entire screen instantly. A small notification appears in the bottom-right corner confirming the screenshot was saved, and the file drops automatically into your Downloads folder as a PNG.
If your Chromebook is in tablet mode (or you're using a detachable like the Lenovo Chromebook Duet), the shortcut mirrors what you'd expect from a touchscreen device: press the Power button + Volume Down button simultaneously to capture the full screen.
Partial Screenshots and Region Capture 📐
Full-screen grabs aren't always what you need. ChromeOS makes it easy to select a specific area:
- Ctrl + Shift + Show Windows opens the screenshot toolbar at the bottom of the screen
This toolbar is where things get more useful. It gives you three capture modes:
| Mode | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Full Screen | Captures everything on the display |
| Partial Screen | Click and drag to define a custom region |
| Window | Click any open window to capture just that window |
The partial screen option is particularly handy for capturing a specific section of a webpage, a chart, or a piece of text without cropping afterward.
Where Screenshots Are Saved
By default, all screenshots go to the Downloads folder. You can access them through the Files app, which works similarly to File Explorer on Windows or Finder on macOS.
If you're using Google Drive sync, your Downloads folder may automatically mirror to Drive depending on your account settings — but screenshots don't go directly to Drive unless you've configured that or manually move them.
The notification that pops up after each screenshot also gives you a quick shortcut: tap Edit to open it directly in the built-in image editor, or tap the thumbnail to view it immediately.
Screen Recording vs. Screenshots
ChromeOS blurs the line between screenshots and screen recording through the same toolbar. When you open Ctrl + Shift + Show Windows, you'll notice two tabs at the top of the toolbar: Screenshot and Screen record.
Screen recording lets you:
- Record the full screen, a partial region, or a specific window
- Optionally enable microphone audio for narration
- Save the recording as a .webm file to your Downloads folder
This is a native ChromeOS feature — no extensions or apps needed. The recording starts after a brief countdown, and you stop it by clicking the recording icon in the system tray.
Using the Stylus (On Supported Devices) ✏️
Some Chromebooks — particularly convertibles and Chromebook tablets — ship with or support an EMR or USI stylus. On these devices, you may see an additional shortcut in the stylus menu that lets you capture the screen directly from the pen interface without touching the keyboard.
The stylus capture option typically appears when you pull out or tap the pen menu icon in the shelf, and it feeds into the same screenshot toolbar as the keyboard shortcut.
Clipboard Behavior and the Screenshot Editor
Unlike Windows (where Print Screen dumps the image to your clipboard), ChromeOS screenshots are saved as files first — but the notification gives you a one-click option to copy the image to the clipboard if you want to paste it directly into a document, chat, or email.
The built-in image editor accessible from the screenshot notification lets you:
- Crop the image
- Annotate with text, arrows, or freehand drawing
- Resize the file before sharing
For light editing this is enough. For more complex annotation workflows, some users add extensions like Awesome Screenshot or use Google Drawings — though whether that's worth it depends heavily on how often you annotate and what level of markup you need.
A Note on ChromeOS Version and Device Variations 🖥️
Google updates ChromeOS on a rolling basis, and the screenshot toolbar has evolved over time. Older Chromebooks that haven't received recent updates may have a slightly different interface or lack certain features like window-specific capture.
A few other variables that affect your experience:
- Keyboard layout — some Chromebooks, particularly older models or those made for specific markets, position the Show Windows key differently
- External keyboards — if you're using a standard USB or Bluetooth keyboard without a Show Windows key, you may need to remap a key using the ChromeOS keyboard settings, or use the Ctrl + F5 equivalent depending on your keyboard's function row behavior
- Multiple monitors — when an external display is connected, the partial-screen and window-capture modes work across both screens, but full-screen capture may behave differently depending on which display is active
The shortcuts are consistent across most modern Chromebooks, but your specific hardware configuration, whether you're using a stylus, an external keyboard, or running an older ChromeOS build, shapes exactly which method works best for you.