Today there are over 25 million Chrome OS users and more being added each day, wondering on the missing ‘Print Screen’ button? and Where do the screenshots go on a Chromebook? So here is a simple guide on how to take a screenshot on a Chromebook or Chromebox or any Chrome OS device.

Don’t worry, its fairly simple to take a screen shot.

How to Take Screenshots (Print Screen) on Chromebook?

On Chromebook use ctrl + window switch key, On Chromebox use ctrl + F5 to take a full screenshot and use additional Shift key to take partial screenshot.

1) Using a keyboard on Chromebook

To capture your entire screen

Hold down ctrl + || window switch key
Applicable for : Pixelbook, ASUS Chromebook Flip, Samsung Chromebook Pro, Dell Chromebook 11, Acer Chromebook Spin 11, Acer Chromebook 15, Acer Chromebook R11, HP Chromebook 13,14, google chromebook

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2) How do you take a cropped screenshot on a Chromebook?

Applicable for : Pixelbook, ASUS Chromebook Flip, Samsung Chromebook Pro, Dell Chromebook 11, Acer Chromebook Spin 11, Acer Chromebook 15, Acer Chromebook R11, HP Chromebook 13,14, google chromebook
Hold down ctrl + shift + || window switch key.
Now the Chrome’s cursor will be shown like a cross-hair (temporarily).
Simply press and hold on the trackpad and drag your cursor to select the area of the partial window to capture then release the trackpad or mouse button.

Now you will get a pop-up notification to open the saved screenshots

You can click on the pop-up notification to see the screen shot or choose in between the options at the bottom of the screenshot notification window will allow you to copy the image, and / or annotate it.

While using an external keyboard

Applicable for : Pixelbook, ASUS Chromebook Flip, Samsung Chromebook Pro, Dell Chromebook 11, Acer Chromebook Spin 11, Acer Chromebook 15, Acer Chromebook R11, HP Chromebook 13,14, google chromebook
External keyboard option is available while you use the Chrome-powered desktop (also known as a Chromebox) or when you have plugged in an external keyboard into your Chromebook.
In both cases, the keyboard mostly uses a standard function key row instead of Chrome’s dedicated button row.
In which case the function keys do the same job as Chromebook top row buttons, and hence F1 goes back, F2 goes forward, and F5 button works as the “switch window” button on standard keyboards.
And so the screenshot command functions using Ctrl + F5.
Use the key combinations as ctrl + F5 and ctrl + shift + F5, respectively.

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3) Chromebook Tablet mode – Using the side buttons to capture screen

Now while you are using the Chromebook on a 360-degree hinge like a Pixelbook in TABLET mode and want to capture the screen, then what?
I am sure you will not like to swing the keyboard back around simply to press keys and take a screenshot!
In such a case, you can simply take a screen shot by pressing the
power + volume down keys simultaneously.
These keys are located on the side of Chromebook, this works exactly like you do on your Android phone.
However using this workaround, you will only be able to capture the entire screen 🙁 for capturing cropped screen, you will have to use the keyboard!
Note : to use this method you must be running Chrome OS 64.0.3282.134 or later

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4) Using a chrome extension to get screenshot

Since the built-in image capture and editor tools for Chrome OS are a bit cumbersome, I am suggesting some alternatives like using apps and extensions on Google’s Chrome Web Store to help adding extra flavor on functionality.
Here are my best picks:
You can try using a chrome extensions like Nimbus Screenshot & Screen Video Recorder, which provides more power to capture video too along-with the static screen shots.
As the name implies, Nimbus has additional capabilities like instant uploading and sharing, customization of hot keys, managing screen shots, adding watermarks and mainly capture screen (entire or fragment) selected or scroll.
Download the Chromebook screen capture alternative extension Nimbus Screenshot & Screen Video Recorder

My second pick is Clipular Chrome App which allows you to save, edit, and annotate screenshots. Best part I like is that it can also save screenshots directly to Google Drive!
Third choice is FireShot Chrome App which can save an entire page as an image without multiple screenshots.
Fourth App choice is File System for Dropbox best for you to put things into Dropbox folder in the standard file browser. Just copy your screenshots over from the Downloads folder.

Final and best choice is Screen Capture Extension By Google ( download link )

Now this is the Google-made, Screen Capture extension which will assist you taking a screenshot of your browser window for the visible part of a tab, the whole page, or a user-defined region.
It allows you to scroll up or down while defining a region, so your Chromebook’s small screen isn’t a problem.
This extension also intelligently filters out the floating objects during scrolling, so you capture the image of that object only once. After your screenshot is taken, you can edit it immediately in the browser.
Save To Google Drive ( bonus extension suggestion by me!)
Save to Google Drive extension will let you save the image directly to your Google drive. This is specially useful when you are using the Chromebook in guest login mode, making you risk free of loosing the screenshots after logout.
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5) Using a stylus to get screenshot

If you have a Samsung Chromebook Plus or Pro or sprung for the Pixelbook and its pen, you have an additional option available.
First remove the stylus from the side of tab. Then from the Stylus tool menu (which is available at the lower right corner of screen) select “capture screen” to capture the whole screen, or select “capture region” and draw a selection using pen to capture just partial area of the screen.
See below screenshot of available stylus menu from stylus tools.

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6) Use built-in menu of Chrome OS laptop running Chrome OS

Here is Step by Step approach to use built-in menu of Chromebook to take a screenshot
1) Log on to your Chrome OS laptop.
2) Open the Image or Photo or Video Story that you wish to screenshot.
3) Now click Gear icon displayed at the bottom-left corner of the desktop screen. (See image below)
4) You will get list of menu options, select over the Accessories menu to get submenu of Screenshot (See image below)

5) You will get options like, Grab the whole desktop / Grab the current window / Select area to grab.
6) Select desired option (Radio button) – If you select grab area, you can select an area manually by dragging the mouse over it.
Tip : Uncheck the Include pointer checkbox, this will not display the mouse pointer in the screenshot 🙂
7) Finally you can click Take Screenshot from the bottom-right corner to capture the screen.
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7) Use Screenshot Apps

Another alternative is to use the screenshot apps like:

• Awesome Screenshot – download app
• Lightshot – download app

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8) Use Google Assistant

Using Voice commands

This is the most simplest method I have ever used!
All that you have to do is invoke your friend the Google Assistant.
Give a voice command “Okay Google, take a screenshot” and the Pixelbook will take the screenshot for you as well as prompt you to open the screenshot in any of the supported apps installed on Pixelbook.
If you don’t use any of the App to open it, screenshot will automatically get vanished after few seconds and will not be stored.

Using Keyboard

Alternatively you can use the dedicated Assistant key on your Pixelbook.
And then type in “take a screenshot”. and the Pixelbook will take the screenshot for you as well as prompt you to open the screenshot in any of the supported apps installed on Pixelbook.
Similar to the voice command, the screenshot is not saved unless you do so using an app.
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9) Using the Pixelbook Pen

Your Pixelbook Pen, if you have purchased this accessory, can help you take screenshots From the Pixelbook pen menu that appears on the drawer, select:
Capture screen – to take a screenshot of the entire screen
Capture region – to take a screenshot of an area of the screen.
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10) OTHER TIPS AND TRICKS

10.1) How to paste screenshot on Chromebook?

While you work on Windows and use the “Print screen” button, the screen capture automatically gets copied into the windows clipboard. Thus you can simply go to any other application like word, PowerPoint or paint and paste the screenshot from memory.
However unfortunately the Chrome OS doesn’t save screenshots as copied images to memory (clipboard)
So to copy the screenshot to clipboard on Chromebook for using say into an image editor, look at the notification window above the system clock and click on Copy to clipboard button, now press ctrl + V to paste it to another application.

10.2) How to edit screenshots?

You can use the Chrome’s built-in image editor to edit the screenshots, which allows modifications like crop, rotate, brightness adjustment etc.
Steps to follow for editing image –
Step 1: Open the Downloads folder, Select the screenshot image you wish to edit and double-click it to open in the image viewer.
Step 2: You will see a pen icon  in the bottom right corner of the window, click it to enter in the image editing mode.
Step 3: Use the available tools like crop, rotate, and brightness adjuster which will be available in the edit mode (located at the the bottom of the window.)
Step 4: Edit the image as desired using all tools, once done simply click the pen icon to finish your edits.
Note : This built-in editor will overwrite on original image, I mean you do not have any save-as option. So I suggest to make a copy of original image before editing it.

10.3) Where is the switch window button on Chromebook located?

The Switch window button is represented by multiple squares and typically located in the topmost row, in between the
Full-screen and Brightness down buttons.
However please note that the keys referenced above may appear in different locations depending upon the manufacturer and/or model of your Chromebook.

10.4) Where do the screenshots go on a Chromebook?

By default, your screenshot image files on Chromebook are locally saved to the “Downloads” folder and available also in offline mode. The images in the download folder are automatically labeled with the date and time they were recorded.
So simply go to the downloads folder, and open up the screenshot or edit it or copy it to another folder.
The extension of screenshot image file is PNG. So your image file will looks something like “Screenshot 2020-08-25 at 4.21.18 PM.png” by default, so if you wish, you can always rename it to new name.
Tip while using the guest account on Chromebook
While you have logged in using the guest account, the “Downloads” folder is emptied after the guest logs out, so all those screenshots will be deleted.
So to preserve the screenshots during guest use, make sure you copy the files to an SD card or upload it to Google Photos or Google Drive before you logout from guest account.
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11) Chromebook Screenshot Not working

There can be multiple reasons for screenshot not working on your chromebook, here are some suggestions to check things to make it happen.

11.1) Wrong keyboard and language settings

If the ctrl + || window switch key combination is not working, one of the possible reasons it to have wrong keyboard and language settings, which changes the behavior of keys.
Go to the keyboard settings and make sure that the box is Unchecked for “Treat top-row keys as function keys.” With the function key box checked, you may get the error specified above.
Please refer to the guide on 
— How to Choose keyboard language & special characters on Chromebook? — See official Ref guide here
— How to Change language on Chromebook? — See official Ref guide here

11.2) Screenshots do not work if you have a context menu open.

11.3) Error message — “An error occurred Failed to save screenshot”

Trial 1 — Please check if the hard disk drive is full, you may not have FREE space left for saving the screenshots
Trial 2 — This can be an access (authorization) issue. Log out and try the screenshot using Guest mode. If that works then contact your Admin or check your accessibility settings.
Trial 3 — Check your default download directory.
chrome://settings-frame/ > Show Advanced Settings > Downloads: > Download Location: > Downloads
Go into settings and change the directory to the pre-configured download directory on your chromebook.

Trial 4 — Enable an extension called: ‘Save to Google Drive”.
Trial 5 — Sometimes when the Downloads are set to Drive, then Chromebook will try to save it to Google Drive, and if you have network connection problems, then it will throw this error. So try changing settings to the local Downloads folder and see if it works.
Trial 6 — if you are using a micro-sd card or USB, reasons can be the download folder is USB drive and you have a faulty USB port, faulty drive, or not getting enough power to the medium, due to which Chromebook is unable to save it to the specified drive. Again in such case changing the download folder by removal of micro-sd card and / or USB would work.
Trial 7 — If you have tried all the above solutions and still problem persists, as a last resort you can try Reset Chrome settings to default  — See official Ref guide here
Trial 8 — Reset your Chromebook hardware, Remember that this is to be tried as a last resort ONLY if you do not have any option left and you have tried all above trials. — See official Ref guide here

How to take a Screenshot on Chromebook?

Well you have bought a HP Chromebook 11 or Samsung Chromebook Series 3 which surely are cheap alternatives to Windows or Mac laptops.
However cheap alternative will have its own pros and cons, like Chromebook do required a Wi-Fi connection to do most of the operations.
Or you will not find a simple Print Scr Key! Which helps in taking a screen shot like a breeze!
So my pictorial guide above will surely help you learning ways to take a screenshot on Chromebook.
If you have liked this guide, do put in comments below, since this website is simply dedicated to taking screen shots on various gadgets, it will help me understanding if I shall do such more websites on particular subjects.
Cheers !!