# Alt-PrtScn (Print Screen-\>buffer) doesn't work in Vista
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alt-prtscn-print-screen-buffer-doesnt-work-in-vista/511301
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [September 23, 2009, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alt-prtscn-print-screen-buffer-doesnt-work-in-vista/511301 "2009-09-23T22:20:11Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)
#### Post date: [September 23, 2009, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alt-prtscn-print-screen-buffer-doesnt-work-in-vista/511301/1 "2009-09-23T22:20:11Z")
I recently got a new laptop with Vista Business on it. Alt-PrtScn doesn’t put a screen shot into the buffer like it does in all the other Windows versions I’ve used. I can use the capture utility (Snipping Tool), but that won’t get me pop-up menus, which I need when I’m writing doc.
Any hints?
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### Author:  [@unstrung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unstrung)
#### Post date: [September 23, 2009, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alt-prtscn-print-screen-buffer-doesnt-work-in-vista/511301/2 "2009-09-23T22:28:43Z")
> [@NoCoolUserName](#):
>
> I recently got a new laptop with Vista Business on it. Alt-PrtScn doesn’t put a screen shot into the buffer like it does in all the other Windows versions I’ve used. I can use the capture utility (Snipping Tool), but that won’t get me pop-up menus, which I need when I’m writing doc.
>
> Any hints?
I’ve noticed that sometimes the keyboard shortcut for this is Ctrl-PrtScrn, rather than Alt-PrtScrn. Not sure why it differs sometimes, but it is probably worth a try…
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### Author:  [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)
#### Post date: [September 23, 2009, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alt-prtscn-print-screen-buffer-doesnt-work-in-vista/511301/3 "2009-09-23T22:35:36Z")
The \-PrtSc key combination should capture the entire screen.
The \-PrtSc key combination should capture only the active window on the screen.
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### Author:  [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)
#### Post date: [September 23, 2009, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alt-prtscn-print-screen-buffer-doesnt-work-in-vista/511301/4 "2009-09-23T23:07:17Z")
What kind of laptop is it? Does it have a blue “fn” key to access additional key functions? On my Gateway laptop the PrtScn is in blue so you have to push fn+ALT+PrtScn.
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### Author:  [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2009, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alt-prtscn-print-screen-buffer-doesnt-work-in-vista/511301/5 "2009-09-24T00:31:39Z")
> [@Duckster](#):
>
> The \-PrtSc key combination should capture the entire screen.
Hitting PrintScreen captures the entire screen. Holding down Ctrl at the same time doesn’t do anything special.
> [@](#):
>
> The \-PrtSc key combination should capture only the active window on the screen.
Yes.
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### Author:  [@fubbleskag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fubbleskag)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2009, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alt-prtscn-print-screen-buffer-doesnt-work-in-vista/511301/6 "2009-09-24T01:38:56Z")
Just tested this on the wife’s computer, and Alt-PrtSc works as expected. I suspect this is specific to your laptop’s keyboard configuration, as suggested by **CookingWithGas**