# Windows 7 dual monitor - I want a screen shot of just my primary monitor **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 8, 2014, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-7-dual-monitor-i-want-a-screen-shot-of-just-my-primary-monitor/697874 "2014-09-08T15:46:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-7-dual-monitor-i-want-a-screen-shot-of-just-my-primary-monitor/697874/1 "2014-09-08T15:46:13Z")
At work I have Windows 7 with a dual monitor configuration. I want to get a screen shot of just my primary monitor - the entire desktop. It seems like I am only able to get either both monitors (using PrtScn) or just the window that has the focus (using Alt+PrtScn). I’ve googled this and I’ve seen suggestions that Ctrl+Alt+PrtScn should work, but it doesn’t work for me. I suppose I can capture both desktops and then cut out the one I don’t want, but I’d rather not have to do that much work for something so seemingly simple. I’d really like a key combo that will capture the primary monitor so I can paste it into a Word doc or an email. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-7-dual-monitor-i-want-a-screen-shot-of-just-my-primary-monitor/697874/2 "2014-09-08T15:47:19Z")
Start\>Search\>Snipping Tool ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-7-dual-monitor-i-want-a-screen-shot-of-just-my-primary-monitor/697874/3 "2014-09-08T16:07:14Z")
Snipping tool will do in a pinch I guess. I was really hoping for a PrtScn key combo of some sort that would do it. ---
**Author:** ![arseNal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@arseNal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arseNal)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-7-dual-monitor-i-want-a-screen-shot-of-just-my-primary-monitor/697874/4 "2014-09-08T16:16:27Z")
FWIW, ctrl+alt+prtsc doesn’t work for me either (win7). It appears to just do the same as alt+prtsc (e.g., focused app only). ---
**Author:** ![vd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b19c9b/32.png) [@vd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vd)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-7-dual-monitor-i-want-a-screen-shot-of-just-my-primary-monitor/697874/5 "2014-09-08T16:20:24Z")
If I didn’t have to do this too often, I would just disable the second monitor temporarily. (WindowKey-P Disconnect, PrtScrn, WindowKey-P Extend). But then you have to put your windows back in the right place. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-7-dual-monitor-i-want-a-screen-shot-of-just-my-primary-monitor/697874/6 "2014-09-08T16:29:11Z")
Just put the “snipping tool” on the taskbar. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-7-dual-monitor-i-want-a-screen-shot-of-just-my-primary-monitor/697874/7 "2014-09-09T00:15:53Z")
Couldn’t you just turn off the second monitor? ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-7-dual-monitor-i-want-a-screen-shot-of-just-my-primary-monitor/697874/8 "2014-09-09T01:29:02Z")
[FastStone Capture](http://www.faststone.org/FSCaptureDetail.htm#History) will do that, and it’s free for the first 30 days. It has lots of little dohickeys that make screen shots easy. $19.95 to buy, it’s well worth it. But if you just need one screen shot, you ought to be able to do that in 30 days, right? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-7-dual-monitor-i-want-a-screen-shot-of-just-my-primary-monitor/697874/9 "2014-09-09T03:22:19Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > [FastStone Capture](http://www.faststone.org/FSCaptureDetail.htm#History) will do that, and it’s free for the first 30 days. It has lots of little dohickeys that make screen shots easy. $19.95 to buy, it’s well worth it. But if you just need one screen shot, you ought to be able to do that in 30 days, right? 🙂 I came here to mention that. I use it all the time. You can override the behavior of the various print screen key strokes, and set up to copy sections to the clipboard or a file. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-7-dual-monitor-i-want-a-screen-shot-of-just-my-primary-monitor/697874/10 "2014-09-09T03:23:12Z")
Capture the whole desktop, use any image editor to crop it to the panel you want. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-7-dual-monitor-i-want-a-screen-shot-of-just-my-primary-monitor/697874/11 "2014-09-09T03:50:33Z")
[IrfanView](http://www.irfanview.com/). Free forever. Options-\>Capture/Screenshot. Has a bunch of different modes, including capturing from just a single monitor. Image appears right in the editor so that you can save it immediately.