Snipping Tool is a

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

screenshot A screenshot (also known as screen capture or screen grab) is an analog or digital image that shows the contents of a computer display. A screenshot is created by a (film) camera shooting the screen or the operating system An operating sys ...

and screencast

utility In economics, utility is a measure of a certain person's satisfaction from a certain state of the world. Over time, the term has been used with at least two meanings. * In a normative context, utility refers to a goal or objective that we wish ...

included in

Windows Vista Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, released five years earlier, which was then the longest time span between successive releases of Microsoft W ...

and later. It can take still screenshots or record videos of an open

window A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof, or vehicle that allows the exchange of light and may also allow the passage of sound and sometimes air. Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent ma ...

, rectangular

area Area is the measure of a region's size on a surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an open surface or the boundary of a three-di ...

s, a free-form area, or the entire screen. Snips can then be annotated using a mouse or a tablet, stored as an image file ( PNG,

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, or

JPEG JPEG ( , short for Joint Photographic Experts Group and sometimes retroactively referred to as JPEG 1) is a commonly used method of lossy compression for digital images, particularly for those images produced by digital photography. The degr ...

file) or an MHTML file, or

e-mail Electronic mail (usually shortened to email; alternatively hyphenated e-mail) is a method of transmitting and receiving Digital media, digital messages using electronics, electronic devices over a computer network. It was conceived in the ...

ed. The Snipping Tool allows for basic image editing of the snapshot, with different colored pens, an eraser, and a highlighter.

History

Before Windows Vista, the Snipping Tool, originally known as the Clipping Tool, was included in the Experience Pack for Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005. It was originally released as a PowerToy for the Microsoft Tablet PC launch on November 7, 2002. In Windows 10 version 1809, a new Universal app version of Snipping Tool known as Snip & Sketch was introduced. It was first named Screen Sketch, and was initially a component of the Windows Ink Workspace. Snipping Tool was modified to contain a notice warning of the application's

deprecation Deprecation is the discouragement of use of something human-made, such as a term, feature, design, or practice. Typically something is deprecated because it is claimed to be inferior compared to other options available. Something may be deprec ...

, which encouraged users to move to Snip & Sketch. Despite this, the app was never removed from Windows 10. In April 2021, Microsoft released Windows 10 Insider build 21354, which made the Snipping Tool updateable from the Microsoft Store by being packaged with Snip & Sketch.

Windows 11 Windows 11 is a version of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system, released on October 5, 2021, as the successor to Windows 10 (2015). It is available as a free upgrade for devices running Windows 10 that meet the #System requirements, Windo ...

insider build 22000.132, released on August 12, 2021, introduced an update to Snip & Sketch that renames it to Snipping Tool and ports it to WinUI 3.0 and brings an interface closer to the legacy Snipping Tool. The legacy snipping tool was removed with this build. Since the update on March 14, 2023, Snipping Tool has a screen recording function.

References

External links

Support document
{{Windows Components Windows components Windows Vista Windows 7 Windows 8 Windows Server 2008 Windows Server 2008 R2 Screenshot software

History

See also

References

External links