Microsoft surface is designed to be a powerful machine in a compact design. The keyboard layout on the surface has been redesigned to reflect Windows functions and multimedia. For older Surface Type Covers, you will never find the “print screen” key.

You might get stuck when you have just switched from desktop or laptop. However, Microsoft Surface with Windows 10 has many alternatives methods to do more than a screenshot. Read on to find out the best method for you.

Table of contents

  1. Method 1: taking a screenshot by using Surface hardware buttons
  2. Method 2: taking a screenshot with Surface Type Cover
  3. Method 3: taking a screenshot with Surface Pen
  4. Method 4: taking a screenshot with Windows Snipping Tool

1Method 1: taking a screenshot by using Surface hardware buttons

On the most 2-in-1 device like Microsoft Surface, you can take a screenshot by using hardware buttons. This method is useful when you are in a tablet mode without connection to type cover.

Surface RT/2, Surface Pro/2, Surface 3 and Pro 3: to take a screenshot:

  1. Press and hold the Windows logo button on the front of the device.
  2. While you hold down Windows logo button, push the volume-down button on the side of the device.

The screen will dim and back to bright again to let you know, a screenshot is recorded.

Taking screenshot on Surface 3 and Pro 3

Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book: as there is no Windows logo button on these devices, there is a slightly-action change here.

  1. Press and hold the power button.
  2. While you hold down the power button, press volume up button on the side of the device.

The screen will dim and back to bright again to let you know, a screenshot is recorded.

Note All screenshots you took with this method, will be saved in a folder named Screenshots under Pictures library.

screenshots-folder

2Method 2: taking a screenshot with Surface Type Cover

For Surface Pro 4/(2017) Type Cover, Surface Book/2 and Surface Laptop Keyboard

Starting from Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book, Microsoft has decided to include a dedicated PrtSn (Print Screen) key on the keyboard. Just like general keyboard, to take a screenshot you have 2 options.

Option 1: Capturing all entire screens and store in the Windows Clipboard.

  1. Press PrtSn key to taking a screenshot.
  2. Paste to your preferred programs like Paint or Word.

Take entire screenshots on Surface Pro 4/Book

Option 2: Capturing just the active window and store in the Windows Clipboard.

  1. Press Alt + PrtSn key to taking a screenshot of the active window.
  2. Paste to your preferred programs like Paint or Word.

Take active window screenshots on Surface Pro 4/Book

For Surface RT/2, Surface Pro/2/3, Surface 3, or newer Type Cover

Note The following methods also work on newer models like Surface Pro 4, Surface Pro (2017), Surface Book, Surface Book 2, and Surface Laptop as well.

On older Surface Type Cover, there is no dedicated print screen key, however, you can take screenshots by using special key combinations.

Option 1: Capturing all entire screens and save to a PNG file.

  • Press and hold down the Fn key and the Windows key, then press the Space key (Fn +  + Space).

The screen will dim and back to bright as method 1. the screenshots you took with this method, also saved in a folder named Screenshots under Pictures library.

Option 2: Capturing all entire screens and store in the Windows Clipboard.

  • Press and hold down the Fn key, then press the Space key (Fn + Space).
  • Then you can paste into your preferred programs like Paint or Word.

Taking a screenshot using Surface Type Cover - Method 2

Option 3: Capturing just the active window and store in the Windows Clipboard.

  • Press and hold down the Fn key and the Alt key, then press the Space key (Fn + Alt + Space).
  • Then you can paste into your preferred programs like Paint or Word.

Taking a screenshot using Surface Type Cover - Method 3

3Method 3: taking a screenshot with Surface Pen

Surface Pen has been developed and getting much better functions in Windows 10. In Windows 10 anniversary update, there is a new feature called Screen sketch. This function will capture the device’s screen and pop up with tools for drawing, cropping, and others.

You can take a screenshot by using the Surface Pen with this function. To activate the screen sketch function, double-click the eraser button on the top of your Surface Pen. Now you can edit, crop, and save the screenshot by click on the “Save as” button on top right of the screen.

Take a screenshot using the Surface Pen

4Method 4: taking a screenshot with Windows Snipping Tool

In Windows, there is a built-in screenshot program called Snipping tool that has more controls and functionalities than above methods. To open this tool:

  • Open the Start menu and type “Snipping Tool”, or you can type into Cortana textbox directly.
  • You can also open this tool by opening Start menu and locate the Snipping Tool under Windows Accessories folder.

Take a screenshot using Snipping Tool

When you launched the tool, you can take a screenshot in 4 ways such as Full desktop, specific program windows, any size of rectangle shape, and any form you draw manually.

After you select an area you want to take a screenshot, it will display in a new window. You can draw or highlight on the screenshot before saving them. This tool allows you to save the screenshot as a JPEG, PNG, GIF, or HTML file as your desire.

Those are the four ways you can take a screenshot on your surface computer. What is your favorite choice? Or do you have any other ways? Share with us in the comment section below.