- April 22, 2019
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Valiant Technology - 2 min
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Adding images to your documents, whether it be a report, an agenda, or an informative KB like this one, can add a lot of context. Word has built-in tools for this, but one of the newer and overlooked ones is “insert screenshot”.
Insert Full Window
You can find the insert screenshot feature in the top toolbar under the “insert” tab.
Once in that table, select “screenshot”. The icon looks like a camera next to a dotted square.
This will show you which windows are available for you to capture. Click your desired one, and it will appear in your document where your cursor was.
Insert Screen Clipping
Don’t want the whole window? No problem. You can click the insert screen clipping option instead.
Instead of clicking the available window you want, click “screen clipping”.
This will minimize your word document window and allow you to grab a clipping of whatever is behind it.
(Tip: If you try to snip and your desired image is not behind word, just tap the esc key to exit out of the snipping tool.)
A set of crosshairs will appear. To capture your image click where you want one corner of the image to start, drag to the opposite corner an release.
Your snippet will appear in your word document where your cursor was.
Caveats
This feature still seems to be in development. Here are a couple of flaws I’ve found.
- It won’t capture anything minimized, which to me is counter-intuitive as I tend to minimize when switching Windows (but if you’re an alt + tab person, you would be fine).
- Sometimes one of my options is just a black screen.
- It’s not available in Word Online.
- I can’t seem to get it to recognize Chrome as a full window it can capture. I can capture Firefox.
Overall assessment
This is a helpful tool that adds a lot to your documents. It may need a little work, but definitely a time saver if it applies to your needs. Try it out the next time you are in working in Microsoft Word.
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