Clever Clogs tip # 745
3 September 2024


Directly add a screenshot of any open window to your document or email (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook version 2010 and later) *

Hello and welcome to September; hope you had a good August. According to latest statistics from the Met Office the UK has seen its coolest summer for nine years. Any periods of heat have been fairly short-lived, but apparently the hottest day of the summer was Monday 12 August, when temperatures in Cambridge reached 34.8C . And I had the day off! Happiness is!!

Today being the first Tuesday of the month means it’s Clever Clogs Tip Time!

As you are no doubt aware, there are lots of ways to capture screenshots and I've written quite a few tips about them. (See the Related tips section below.) But the one that never made it as a tip but - in my opinion - deserves a mention, is the built-in Screenshot option you can find on the Insert tab. I typically use it in Word and Outlook and occasionally in PowerPoint, but you can even add a snapshot of any open window in Excel.

So why the fuss? Well, if you want to add the whole window to your document straightaway, this method can save you a couple of clicks.

Here's how:

  1. Put your cursor where you want to insert the screenshot.
  2. Click the Screenshot button on the Insert tab.
  3. In the list of thumbnails of all open windows click the one you want to insert.

    4. The snapshot of the whole window is immediately inserted and can be formatted, as normal.

If you want to capture a specific area of your screen only, you can use the Screen Clipping option at the bottom of the Available Windows.

Wait until your screen dims and draw a rectangle over the area you want to capture. As soon as you release the mouse button, the selected area will be inserted in your document or email.

Oh, and why not right-click the button and add it to your Quick Access Toolbar?

Related tips

  1. Have your favourite buttons easily accessible: tip_664.php
  2. View and paste your copied items from one place: tip_615.php
  3. Set the Print Screen key to open screen snipping: tip_603.php
  4. Capture, edit, save and share snippets of your screen - tip_386.php

Last month's CleverClogsTipTime on LinkedIn (newest posts first)

  1. Do you see one or two bells?
  2. Notes versus Comments
  3. WIN + V revisited
  4. Send and receive Teams chats from new Outlook
  5. Use CTRL + F to create a copy of a draft email message
  6. Autocorrect or AutoINcorrect
  7. No more second-guessing whether it's on or off


* Unless stated otherwise this tip is written for Microsoft 365 desktop apps and Windows 11 users, but might also be useful in Office 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2019.