I just spent about 20 minutes trying to figure out how to take screen shots in Windows XP on my MacBook Pro (using Boot Camp). I thought I would write up the simplest answer of how to do this, in the sense that you don’t have to install anything or remap your keyboard. Here’s all you have to do:
Under the Start menu, select All Programs, then Accessories, then Accessibility, and then On-Screen Keyboard. When you do this the Windows XP on-screen keyboard will appear on your screen. This on-screen utility includes the PrintScreen button (labelled psc in the same position as where the F13 key should be located. That’s it.
If you want to take a screen shot of only the active window (using the Alt+psc command), make sure that the on-screen keyboard isn’t in the area of the active window, otherwise it will be included in the screen shot.
Anyway, I searched around for far too long to find that little piece of information, so hopefully someone in the same predicament will easily be able to find this post (and the answer)! Since the Apple external keyboards actually include the F13 key (while the MacBook and MacBook Pro built-in keyboards do not), you can use PrintScreen slightly easier with the plugged-in keyboard.
UPDATE: As pointed out by Stuart in the comments below, if you’re using Boot Camp v. 1.3, Fn + F11 now maps to print screen. You can print only the active window with Option + Fn + F11. Thanks for the tip!
Tags: Boot Camp, Macbook Pro, Print Screen
Thanks for posting this. I’m nowhere near an external keyboard and hadn’t run across the On-Screen Keyboard app.
Just so you know, you absolutely did not waste your time posting this. Thanks! After a few minutes of trying to find out how on my own I typed in “macbook pro print screen shot” into google and your post was the first entry. I wish my website was search engine optimized as well as that!
Excellent. Thanks so much. I’ve been frustrated wondering about this for some time now…
Thank you Soooooooo much for this info. I have been trying to find out how to do this for some time now. The instructions that yo have here were very helpful to me. Thanks again
Very fine workaround. Thank you:-)
Thanks.
Just found your post via Google. Thanks for posting this!
Alternatively with the Bootcamp 1.3 (and possibly earlier) you can just hit Fn+F11 and that maps to print screen
)
what’s Fn? where is it?
Ohhhh.. thank you for the Fn+F11 hint. It works… thanks for the original post too.
To add to this mix, I recommend installing a freebie “PrintKey 2000″ http://www.webtree.ca/newlife/printkey_info.htm. You can know edit and print and customize your Prn-Scr function in umpteen different ways.
hmm.. I meant, you can NOW edit and print.. (a bit too early in the morning to be giving out tech advice
Thanks for the post!
Help- I only have accessibility>accessibility wizard with no option to view the on screen keyboard. Has anyone else experience this problem? Thanks for the help.
Excellent at least people are still out there thinking of others with a fast answer rather than 50 posts in macforum and still no answer
Hi I am using Macbook for windows. I have tried Fn+F11, but i didn’t work.
Whats the problem.
Chris, this might be a dumb question, but what version of Boot Camp do you currently have installed on your Macbook?
Hello all! Thanks for the printscreen tip. I purchased snagit to overcome the obstacle. Should have googled this months ago!
I am running XP on my MacBook Pro through Bootcamp. Does anyone know of a way to launch a PowerPoint presentation to an external projector from the MacBook Pro? I love my laptop, but will be forced to replace it due to my need to present in meetings. I have yet to try the onscreen keyboard, but I tried an external keyboard and it still didn’t work. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Chris
Just try to use “alt Option+F11″. it will work.
Many thanks to Logic Nest for this useful tip
. its really helpful
none of above methods work here, on Windows XP under bootcamp.
weird
alt – F13 does not always work. I am running bootcamp 1.2 on a macbook pro with mac external keyboard and second monitor attached. this worked at times in the past, but it is failing me now for some reason.
kris
usman – Thanks!
The onscreen keyboard is a good idea, but how do you take a screen shot without also capturing the onscreen keyboard??
Anyway, after about 20 minutes the “alt Option+F11″ did the trick.
THANKs
OOPs – No it didn’t. I’m using a brand new macbook pro with Leopard and the alt Option+F11 does NOT work.
Hi. Thanks a lot. This was a big help. really had problems looking for the Print on screen button. And luckily your blog was there to the rescue. Thanks man!
Hi, great site. I’m runing Vista on a MacBook Pro via Bootcamp and still can’t seem to acheive a ScreenShot [printscreen]. Tried your on-screen keyboard solution though could not find a saved file anywhere [so not sure if it has worked]. Maybe you or some of your viewers know how to make it work on Vista – all the best…
Can’t do print screen on a macbook running bootcamped vista. BootCamp version 2.0 / Leopard / Vista
thank you very much.
i am using mac book
in order to print screen use the ‘alt option’and ‘F11′ only these two keys and no Fn key
Fn+F11 (and Option+Fn+F11) doesn’t work for me. They list that as the key combo in the Bootcamp manual, but it just doesn’t work for me!
I’ve always had to plug in an external keyboard.
Your method of using the on-screen keyboard is my only hope.
Thank you very much!!
On-screen keyboard solved my Print Screen problem.
But thanks to aravinthan, I came over that alt+f11 also Print Screen on my MacBook Pro …
Note for BootCamp 2.0 there appears to be no built-in keyboard solution for MacBook [Pro], but F14 works on external keyboard, see:
http://lifehacker.com/software/boot-camp/apple-keyboard-windows-key-mapping-327179.php
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304270
F14 works on an iMac running Windows under Bootcamp with Leopard. Yes! Thanks so much.
Thanks for the On-screen keyboard tip, which I’ve found really useful. Alt + Option F11 works too as mentioned by “usman” (thanks). Just to add, so that people know, the MacBook Pro does not have an actual F13 key.
Tested with my brandnew Macbook pro and leopard 10.5.2.
In windows(Bootcamp),
Fn+shift+F11 == Print Screen
Fn+shift+Alt+F11 == Print Active Window
Hope this helps
That works!
Thank you
THANK YOU – this has driven me NUTS trying to prepare slides for a prezo – its the SHFT + FN + that only works on my MacBook Pro running XP… THANK YOU THANK YOU
Thanks! Altough I have used the onscreen applete it did not occur to me before I landed on your site. And the keyboard shortcuts mention was very helpful too. Note: If you have checked “Use the F1/F12 key…” in BootCamp then of course the Fn key should not be used when using the keyboard shortcuts.
THANK YOU PICKBOY!! Finally a key combo that works for Macbook Pro + Leopard + Boot Camp 2 + XP…
Fn+shift+F11 == Print Screen
Fn+shift+Alt+F11 == Print Active Window
works perfectly – thank you again all…
Thanx….. pickboy….. i have macbook + leopard + xp and the command sequence u gave absolutely worked for me…..
Fn+shift+F11 == Print Screen
Fn+shift+Alt+F11 == Print Active Window
hehe n i thought i was stupid for using the screen keyboard
as its been updated, FN + F11 works perfect!!
now the real question is why we running windows :/
Thanks. I’ve been trying for days to find a solution without having to use the onscreen keyboard – which isn’t much use when you’re trying to get screen shots of menu items.
Fn+Shift+F11 works for me! although only the left shift key…go figure.
Nice buddy… thanks a ton.
We had to take a screenshot of our project submission but the friend who owns mac wasn’t sure how to take the screenshot. Your tip of on-screen keyboard was good.
cheers
BootCamp 2.1 and
Fn+Shift+(Alt+)F11 still works
Fn+F11 doesnt do shit
Thanks a lot. i have been baffled by the lack of keys :!
Great site but still no results…..can anyone help me out?
I have macbook pro running windows xp and need to do a screen print. Have boot camp beta 1.1, with apple keyboard.
have tried everything including the instruction book but to no avail.
Thanks ! ure really v v v v v SMART !
Fn +f11 dont works out
Bt th onscreen keyboard CAN ! ! ! ohmy
Thanks thanks^^
it works great with the on-screen keyboard! thanks!
But, i’m using bootcamp v2.0 and the Fn+F11 key combination does not work with this new version! did apple assign it to a different key or did they take it out of this new version?!
thanks!
Something I’d like to add for Mac users. In OS X we are used to have a file created on the desktop from the screen capture. In Windows you have to make it your self (afaik) which means it is in the clipboard only. So in order to do that you must open lets say Paint and paste the printscreen in a new window then save as file. Maybe this helps those who couldn’t figure what was going on.
The app works for me but how about screenshots within games ? Nothing seems to respond once in full screen. And I can’t use F1-F12 keys they are assigned already.
Simple and fast solution.
Ian i must thank you for the nice and useful tip!!
andrealc
On an MBP, [f11] acts just like the regular [PrntScrn] key on a Windows keyboard and you can use the [alt/option] modifier just like you would in Windows. My experience differed from those above where I didn’t need the [shift] key. So:
Fn+F11 == Print Screen
Fn+Alt+F11 == Print Active Window
then [ctrl]+V into your favorite app.
My question is – Can I have my [f11] back so that I can [alt]+[f11] in my Office apps to get to the MS Visual Basic Editor while running in Parallels? I wouldn’t mind keeping my Expose on [f11] with no modifier as I still find this useful. Moving the [PrntScrn] functionality even to [f12] or the eject button would work for me.
Any suggestions would be welcome.
Jake
it stil didnt answer my question i want to know how to use print screen on generla mac computers?
Guys, if you’re running Windows XP 64Bit Pro on a Mac Pro with the alluminum keyboard, then all you need to use is the F14 button.
F14 == Print Screen
Alt+F14 == Print Active Window
Find out how to mimic print screen functionality in BootCamp (if you are limited to F12 like me) AND learn about the BEST. PRINTSCREEN APP EVAH! http://tr.im/1pc5
Thanks for the solution about using the psc key with on screen keyboard. I came a cropper though as I don’t have word with my xp. I had to paste the image into paint and Save As in ‘my pictures’. I could then save on a usb stick and from there load it into word for the mac. This took me ages to work out also, glad to pass it on.Bless
Thanks!
I’ve been trying to figure out this on-screen issue and finally found the solution in your website. How could Apple miss this problem?
Osonei
hey, i press the whole f11 thing on the mac.
and my open windows dissapear to the sides of the screen.
frustrating.
any ideas?
I have a Macbook Pro running windows on it. I have tried all your combinations and still can’t print screen without using the on-screen key board. Does anyone have any suggestions? I don’t have a F13 button & the F11 with the FN key doesn’t work. Are you using the F11 + FN then using the Ctrl + V in Word?
Thanks,
I know everyone is saying different commands on here for print screen.. I use fn + shift + f11. If that doesn’t work the easy way to find out how to use your key board functions on the Mac Book Pro under windows XP that will be related to your own individual computer is simple. Go to control panel, open your bootcamp, then click the keyboard tab and then click the keyboard online help. Its just a help box not a web site.. so in the search box type “PC key commands.” And it will give a table of the commands for built in apple keyboards and external apple keyboards to type that are in reference to pc commands. All of these other commands posted by everyone else on here didn’t work for me and after finding this from just searching on my computer I found that it worked. Good luck it was definitely a crucial command for me : )
Got it to work, thanks to the Captions link! I have to use the shift + FN + ALT + F11 … wow! Can they have made this less complicated!! Thanks all for posting your tips!!!!
You saved my life! I’ve been looking for this for ages.
If you are using MS Office Project 2007, the On-Screen Keyboard accesory works like a charm for capturing a screen image. Many thanks for the tip!
Well done! Clear, concise and the first hit in google!
Thank you soooo much!!!!I ’ve been trying to figure out this on-screen issue for sometime and finally found the solution in your website.i’m using imac, i can use the “screen keyboard” and “shift + FN + ALT + F11″, Thanx for all !!!!!
Thank you thank you thank you!
You just saved me a lot of time and frustration
Give this guy a medail
Shift + Fn + F11 (If your functions key controls the hardware)
Shift + F11 (If your function keys bahaves as normal functions keys)
If you want take a screenshot of the active window jus add the Alt key.
Alt + Shift + Fn + F11 (If your functions key controls the hardware)
Alt + Shift + F11 (If your function keys bahaves as normal functions keys)
thanks a lot!!!
Thanks so much for posting this. Trying to finish some documentation for a client and had to take some Windows screenshots from my MacBook Pro.
Map your key and more with this. Never knew how much I used printscreen until my Mac took it away. Who wants to do 3 keystrokes with two different hands? Try it with one, and it looks like a crippled Vulcan nerve pinch or something.
http://www.gadwin.com/printscreen/
Pickboy… you are the man. thanks…
Ugh. I feel so stupid I had to find this through google instead of just knowing it. Either way, thank you for posting this
I literally spent an hour trying to download various programs (with marginal success) to do this very thing. Again, thank you.
For Bootcamp version 2, there’s a list of PC key commands associating with Mac key listed with in the help file in Bootcamp under the topic “PC key commands”. Try using search option in the Boot Camp help file.
As for the print screen “Fn-Shift-F11″ on regular MAC keyboard with Boot Camp version 2 works for me.
I have Bootcamp version 3.0. Those combinations DO NOT WORK!!! Also my bootcamp help doesn’t work either. I don’t know how to do a print screen in Bootcamp 3.0, and I don’t know what to do! There’s got to be a different way to do it in this version because the things listed for Versions 1 and 2 aren’t working at all. WHAT DO I DO???????
In the newest version, its Fn+Shift+F11
alt – shift – fn – f11 works for macbook
at first i forgot to find a program to paste it into now ctrl v into paint and jobs a goodun
thanks
were do the shots go to, can’t find them
for those who are using Bootcamp Ver3.0, just read bootcamp’s help. It is stated there press:
SHIFT + FN + F11 for the whole screen
SHIFT + FN + OPTION + F11 for active window only
THANK YOU!
very useful!
So many people with macs and you actually need to run windows. One word: Lame.
smart!! Thanks.
Ok, so there are a LOT of “thank you”s here already. But, I gotta say this is exactly the piece of information I needed right now. I searched for “how to take a screenshot in Windows when you don’t have a prnt scrn key” and you came up about halfway down the page. Yeah!!!
amazing work, u saved me so much time!!! thanks