How to take a screenshot in Google Chrome

Chrome has no screenshot button of its own on the desktop, which is why the question gets asked so often. You have three routes: the keyboard shortcut of your operating system for what is on the screen, four commands hidden in Chrome's developer tools for the visible part, an area, one element or the whole page, and an extension when you want the whole page in one click with an editor. Here is each, with where the file ends up.

Updated September 28, 2026By the FullPage Capture team, the people who build the extension

The FullPage Capture result tab with the Wikipedia article on Google Chrome captured in three parts, a notice that it was too tall for a single image and split into 3, and Edit, Copy, Print and Save buttons. — The Wikipedia article on Google Chrome captured whole by FullPage Capture: 41,801 pixels tall, in three parts because Chrome caps an image at 28,800 pixels a side.

Keyboard shortcuts: Windows, Mac, Chromebook, Linux

These belong to the operating system, so they work in Chrome and everywhere else, and they capture what is on the screen at that moment.

Windows. Win+Shift+S opens Snipping Tool: rectangle, window, full screen or freeform, copied to the clipboard with a notification to edit and save. PrtScn copies the whole screen; Win+PrtScn saves it to Pictures\Screenshots; Alt+PrtScn takes the active window.
Mac. Shift+Cmd+3 captures the screen, Shift+Cmd+4 an area you drag (press Space for a window), Shift+Cmd+5 opens the Screenshot app with recording. Add Ctrl to any of them to copy instead of saving. Files land on the Desktop by default.
Chromebook. Ctrl+Show windows captures the screen; Shift+Ctrl+Show windows opens the Screen capture toolbar for an area, a window or a recording. Screenshots go to Downloads and to the Tote on the shelf.
Linux. PrtScn on most desktops; GNOME opens its screenshot tool with PrtScn and Shift+PrtScn for an area, KDE uses Spectacle. Files go to Pictures.

Chrome's own commands: visible part, an area, one element, the whole page

Chrome does have screenshot commands; they live in the developer tools, and they capture the web page rather than the screen, without the browser frame around it.

Open DevTools. Press F12, or Cmd+Option+I on a Mac, Ctrl+Shift+I on Windows, Linux and a Chromebook.

Open the command menu. Press Cmd+Shift+P on a Mac or Ctrl+Shift+P elsewhere, and type "screenshot".

Pick one of four commands. Capture screenshot takes the visible part of the page. Capture area screenshot lets you drag a rectangle. Capture node screenshot takes the element selected in the Elements panel, a table or a chart on its own. Capture full size screenshot takes the whole page, top to bottom. Each saves a PNG to Downloads.

Chrome DevTools docked on the right with the command menu open; the query reads 'screenshot' and the four commands are listed: Capture area screenshot, Capture full size screenshot, Capture node screenshot, Capture screenshot. — The command menu after typing “screenshot”: the four commands Chrome has.

Two things to know. The full-size command stops at panels that scroll inside the page and often misses images that load on scroll; the full page guide covers that. And with the device toolbar (Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+M) the same commands capture the mobile layout of a site.

The whole page, in one click

When the screenshot has to be the entire page, and especially when it is a web app, a dashboard or something you will annotate, an extension is the tool. FullPage Capture, a free Chrome screenshot extension, captures the whole page on one click or Alt+Shift+K, keeps sticky headers once, unrolls panels that scroll inside the page, waits for lazy images, and opens the result with an editor and PNG, JPEG and PDF export. Free, no account, nothing uploaded.

Try it on this page. Free, no account, nothing is uploaded.

Add to Chrome

The whole capture of the Google Chrome article shown as ten vertical strips side by side, from the header at the top left to the footer at the bottom right. — The whole capture, cut into ten strips to fit on this page: header to footer, 41,801 CSS pixels of article.

Where the screenshot goes

Win+Shift+S	Clipboard, plus a notification to save from Snipping Tool
PrtScn / Win+PrtScn	Clipboard / Pictures\Screenshots
Mac shortcuts	Desktop (or the clipboard with Ctrl held)
Chromebook	Downloads, and the Tote on the shelf
DevTools commands	Downloads, as PNG
FullPage Capture	A result tab and the Files list in the extension; downloads to Downloads or a folder you choose

Chrome on a phone

Android: press Power and Volume down together; on recent versions Chrome's Share menu also has a Screenshot tool with a long screenshot option. iPhone: Side button and Volume up; the Full Page option in the screenshot preview works in Safari, not in Chrome for iOS. Extensions do not run in mobile Chrome.

Questions

What is the shortcut to take a screenshot in Chrome?

Chrome itself has none on the desktop; you use the system shortcut. Windows: Win+Shift+S for a snip, PrtScn for the screen. Mac: Shift+Cmd+4 for an area, Shift+Cmd+3 for the screen. Chromebook: Ctrl+Show windows for the screen, Shift+Ctrl+Show windows for an area. Edge has Ctrl+Shift+S built in. An extension adds its own; FullPage Capture uses Alt+Shift+K for the whole page.

How do I take a screenshot on a Chromebook in Chrome?

Press Ctrl+Show windows (the key with a rectangle and two lines, above the 6) for the whole screen, or Shift+Ctrl+Show windows to pick an area or a window; the Screen capture toolbar also offers a recording. Screenshots go to the Downloads folder and appear in the Tote on the shelf.

Where does Chrome save screenshots?

It depends on what took them. System shortcuts save to the Desktop on a Mac, to Pictures\Screenshots with Win+PrtScn on Windows, to Downloads on a Chromebook, or only to the clipboard with plain PrtScn. DevTools commands save a PNG to your Downloads folder. FullPage Capture opens the result in a tab and keeps a copy in its Files list; downloads go to Downloads or a folder you choose.

How do I screenshot a whole page in Chrome, not just the screen?

With the DevTools command Capture full size screenshot for a plain article, or with a full page screenshot extension for anything with sticky headers, panels that scroll inside the page or images that load on scroll. Full page screenshot in Chrome, three ways

How do I screenshot one element, like a table or a chart?

Open DevTools, select the element in the Elements panel (right-click it on the page and choose Inspect), then run Capture node screenshot from the command menu. Or capture the page with the extension and crop to exact pixel sizes in its editor.

Can I screenshot a video or a protected page?

A paused video frame usually captures with any method. Pages that use DRM (streaming services) come out black by design, and browser pages such as the Web Store and chrome:// settings cannot be captured by extensions; use the system shortcut there.

How do I screenshot the mobile version of a site in Chrome?

Open DevTools, press Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+M for the device toolbar, choose a phone, then Capture full size screenshot from the toolbar's three-dot menu.

Try it on the page you are reading. Free, no account, no watermark. Nothing is uploaded.