How do you take a screenshot of a video (YouTube included)

How do you take a screenshot of a video

How do you take a screenshot of a video? Screenshots play an important role in our lives now. It’s pretty easy to have a screenshot captured of a post or still image so that you can save it as a picture for later. However, it becomes a little more complicated when you’re dealing with videos.

In this article, we’ll be telling you how you can take screenshots of videos, including those playing on YouTube! Save moments full of motion with ease now.

If you’re wondering “what’s the point?” then we’ve got you covered! Even if you already know how to take a screenshot, here’s why you should know how to screenshot videos:

  • Snapchat sneaky business: There are loads of ways you can use a screen recorder to save stuff without the other person knowing. To save the exact chat or snaps you want though, these ways could come in handy;
  • That one awesome moment in videos you want to show your friends, or save as a wallpaper, or add to your collection of cool pictures;
  • Creativity: make something really cool by combining together different pictures into a brand new video;
  • Saving memories;
  • Enhancing certain frames of videos: unless you own professional video sharpening software, it’s generally easier to make blurry images clearer. To capture a screenshot and enhance what you’re looking for.

Now that you have your priorities in order, let’s talk about how you can make the magic happen!

Table of Contents

  1. How do you take a screenshot of a video (YouTube included)
    1. Using the Game Bar on Windows 10
    2. Using the “PrtScr” key on Windows 10
  2. Taking screenshots on other platforms
  3. Wrap Up

How do you take a screenshot of a video (YouTube included)

Firstly, taking screenshots of videos depends on the operating system you’re using.

Using the Game Bar on Windows 10

If you’re on Windows 10, then you’ve already made it way easier for yourself to take screenshots of videos. One of the many cool features it offers is its dedicated gaming bar.

You can access it by pressing the Windows key (the one with the Windows logo on it) and the “G” key on your keyboard.

On this new menu, all you need to do is navigate to the camera icon to open up the capture menu, if it’s not already on your screen by default.

So when you’re watching a video on YouTube, or any other video for that matter, you can pause it at the exact frame you’re looking for and capture the moment.

Simple. Fast. Effective. If aspect ratios and sizes are an issue, you can easily edit your captures and crop out the parts you don’t want to keep.

Useful tip: If you take screenshot of YouTube video, you may want to manually increase the quality of the video after pausing it. You can rewind your video by a second if it gets stuck buffering, and pause it again. The screenshot would capture the frame of the highest quality. Save yourself the trouble of editing it later.

Getting things out of the way

A problem of pausing YouTube videos are the pop-up ads that show up. You’ll want to make sure to close all these. Place your cursor away from any interactive items so that the menus fade out and you only have the frame on your screen.

A final annoyance that can get your way is annotations on videos (that little grey bar of text that appears on the top right during certain timestamps). You can disable annotations through YouTube settings, and you’re ready to go!

The best part about using Windows 10 for screenshots is that you can even capture screenshots of live videos easily! The same capture menu we mentioned comes with a screen recorder option.

Since you can’t rewind live videos at the time, you can use the screen recorder to capture the bounds of the video first. After that, just open up the captured video and play it. Pause it at the moment you want to screenshot and capture it away.

Using the “PrtScr” key on Windows 10

An alternative to the game bar is the “print screen” key on your keyboard. This key is even working on older versions of Windows.

Useful Tip: You’ll want to make sure that your “PrtScr” key is set up properly before you use it. In some computers, the key works perfectly on its own. In others, you may need to press the “Alt” key or the “Fn” keys in addition to the “PrtScr” key to successfully take a screenshot.

Using the “PrtScr” saves your screenshot to your Windows clipboard. You can then go to any program like Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, or Paint, and paste your selection. Depending on the program you paste your screenshot to, you can then edit it and save it in the file format you want.

Useful Tip: When using Windows 10, you will have the option to link your files to a Dropbox folder. If you are unfamiliar with Dropbox, it’s a cloud storage service provider. If you choose to link your PC to Dropbox, then your screenshots through the “PrtScr” key will automatically be saved in a folder on your computer. You can access all your past screenshots easily and manage them accordingly.

The rules for other platforms are mostly the same:

  • Pause the video to the point you want to take a screenshot;
  • Adjust the quality of the video (especially for YouTube videos);
  • Clear any items you don’t want on screen to avoid spending time cropping later. Have your videos in full-screen mode where possible.

Taking screenshots on other platforms

Platforms may vary in their exact procure for taking screenshots. For example, if you want to take a screenshot of a video on your phone, then the exact method would depend on the phone you’re using.

A general rule of thumb is that phones take screenshots when you hold down the power button and the volume down button at the same time. Some phones come with dedicated screenshot buttons, while others have their own way.

If you’re having trouble with it, a quick lookup into how your exact phone model can take a screenshot should help you out!

PS4 and Xbox systems have built-in ways to take screenshots of videos. Each has its own menu and user interface for capturing content, live or otherwise.

You can usually take screenshots on your iPad or iPhone by holding down the power button and the home screen button. To take a screenshot on a Mac, you’ll generally have to hold down three keys at the same time: Shift, Command, and 3.

Wrap Up

So to conclude, there are plenty of ways to capture videos in screenshots. There are also plenty of reasons you may want to do this.

Keep in mind the useful tips we’ve mentioned. If you run into any trouble, looking up the procedure for your exact device (the make and model) will definitely solve everything. Happy screenshotting!

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