There are lots of reasons why you might want to grab a clipping of the whole or part of your screen. Whether you are writing instructions for a handbook or a procedure, or just trying to capture an error message to pass on to your local support person.
Both Windows and Mac operating systems have built in screen clipping functionality.
Windows
To invoke screen clipping on a Windows 10 or 11 system press the Windows, Shift and S keys at the same time. You will be presented with a floating bar which allows you to choose to clip the whole screen, or you can click and hold the left mouse button while selectig the area to “clip”.
Once clipped you can choose to open the clipping in an editor where you can add ink and highlighter marks, and you can save your clipping as a picture file for later use. You can also copy your edited clip including inking and paste that into a document or email.
Find out more about Windows screen clipping on Microsoft’s support pages.
Mac OS
You can grab the whole screen by using the Command, Shift and 3 keys at the same time.
If you just want to select part of a screen then press Command, Shift and 4 at the same time, then use the mouse cursor to select the area that you wish to clip.
Find out more about Screen clipping for Mac OS at Apple’s support pages.