Ever been stuck with a problem on your desktop/laptop/mac or smart devices only to have go-to trouble shooters tell you to just send them the screenshot? Or maybe you were just completing a transaction on the internet, like booking a ticket online, and your machine or device becomes slow or does not print. You would definitely need a screenshot of the booking confirmation for reference later on. Not sure what a screenshot is or how to capture a screenshot? Read on.

What is a screenshot?
A screenshot, or a screengrab, is the term used to describe a picture or a “photo” of your screen. A screenshot is a handy way of capturing information on your screen, particularly when it can’t easily be printed or when you don’t need a printed copy.

How to capture a screenshot on different platforms?
Capturing a screenshot is a fairly simple non-geeky activity, which does not take more than a minute in-case you were worried.

Steps to capture a screenshot on your desktop/laptop using Windows operating system.

1. Locate the button on your keyboard. It can easily be found on the top right corner of the keyboard.
2. Clicking once on the PrntScrn(Print Screen) button captures the screenshot of your screen onto clipboard, the temporary storage area where it is kept till it’s copied and saved into a file. At a given point of time the clipboard can hold only one picture, so be sure to copy and save the screenshot before you capture another.
3. Next open an application like an image editor ex. Microsoft Paint or a word editor ex. Microsoft Word.
4. To paste the contents from the clipboard onto the application hold down the command key and press the V key. Alternatively go to the Edit menu option and choose paste.
5. Go the file menu and choose “Save As” option to save the file. In the file format type choose GIF as the option.
6. You have the screenshot saved in a file which you could easily email or maybe even take a print of.

Steps to capture a screen shot when using a MAC.

1. Macintosh Operating System makes it even more simpler to capture the screenshot.
2. By clicking on COMMAND+ SHIFT + 3 buttons the screenshot is directly saved as a file on the desktop.
3. If you would like to copy the contents to a clipboard or select the portion of the screen to capture, use the COMMAND+CONTROL + SHIFT+ 3+ 4 key combinations.

How to capture screenshot on smart devices.‍

Smart devices make our lives much simpler. We no longer need to be chained to our desks and laptops, but can use the smart devices to complete a wide array of tasks. This often throws up the need to capture screenshots of the applications we are using on these smart devices too. Read through the instructions for different devices.

How to capture screenshots on iPads and iPhones.

1. Press the menu button and the power or the lock button simultaneously.
2. The screenshot will be automatically saved under the photos app on the device, in an album called saved photos or camera roll.

How to capture screenshots on your Android smartphone.

1. Press the menu button and the power or the lock button simultaneously.
2. The screenshot is captured and saved on the clipboard.
3. Pull down the android notifications bar and you can save it to the photo gallery or share it over email.

Lastly, why do I even need a screen capture software?

Taking a screenshot on any platform/device is an easy process and takes only a few minutes. You may need one if you would like to write out your own comments in the screenshot to share your views, if you want to point out something on the screenshot, or capture only a part of the screen. In all these cases, just taking a screenshot does not meet all our requirements.

For situations like these applications like MangoApps Community Suite come in handy. With MangoApps Community Suite you don’t have to open up screenshots in editing software. The screenshot opens up directly on a screen with editing, and it’s even easier to share these screenshots with MangoApps Community Suite.