To take a screenshot on a Chromebook, press the Screenshot key if your keyboard has one. If it does not, press Shift + Ctrl + Show windows, choose Screenshot in the menu at the bottom, then pick full screen, partial or window. The picture is copied to your clipboard and saved in your Downloads folder.
Every step on this page comes from Google’s Chromebook Help article Take a screenshot or record your screen.
Take a screenshot, step by step
- Press the Screenshot key, or Shift + Ctrl + Show windows. On an external keyboard that has no Show windows key, press Ctrl + Shift + F5.
- In the menu at the bottom of the screen, select Screenshot.
- Choose one:
- Full screen: captures everything on the screen.
- Partial: select the area you want.
- Window: select the window you want, for example your Chrome window.
No keyboard handy? At the bottom of the screen, select the time, then Screen capture. The same menu opens.
Adjust a partial screenshot with the keyboard
- Press Space to change the section you are capturing.
- Press Tab until one of the round corner handles is highlighted.
- Press the Up arrow or Down arrow to change the height, and the Left arrow or Right arrow to change the width.
Record your Chromebook screen
The same tool records video:
- Press Shift + Ctrl + Show windows.
- At the bottom, select Screen record.
- Choose to record the full screen, a part of the screen or one window.
- Optional: select Settings at the bottom to turn on Front Camera, choose audio (Device audio, Microphone, or both), or turn on Show clicks and keys.
- Start: for full screen, click anywhere on the screen; for partial, select the part to record; for a window, select the window.
- To stop, select Stop recording at the bottom right, or press Search + Shift + X.
Recordings are saved as .webm video files. When you record part of the screen you can choose Record GIF instead, which saves a .gif file. Google notes that GIFs do not capture sound or camera video.
Find your screenshots and recordings
Screenshots and recordings are saved to the Downloads folder. Open the Files app to see them.
To save them somewhere else:
- Press Shift + Ctrl + Show windows.
- At the bottom, select Settings, then Select folder.
- Pick the folder. New screenshots and recordings go there from now on.
Screenshot a whole web page on a Chromebook
The keys above capture only what is on the screen. To save the full length of a web page as one image, use Chrome’s built-in DevTools method described in Full-page screenshots in Chrome without an extension, or a screenshot extension from our list of extensions checked in the Chrome Web Store.
On Windows, Mac or a phone instead? See How to take a screenshot in Chrome. More Chromebook help is in Chrome on a Chromebook.