Snipping Tool

Snipping Tool is a Microsoft Windows screenshot utility included in Windows Vista and later. It can take still screenshots of an open window, rectangular areas, a free-form area, or the entire screen. Snips can then be annotated using a mouse or a tablet, stored as an image file (PNG, GIF, or JPEG file) or an MHTML file, or e-mailed. The Snipping Tool allows for basic image editing of the snapshot, with different colored pens, an eraser, and a highlighter.

Snipping Tool

Snipping Tool in Windows 11
Developer(s)	Microsoft
Initial release	November 7, 2002; 22 years ago (2002-11-07)
Stable release(s) [±]
Windows 11 February 2025 Update (11.2502.18.0) / 25 March 2025; 25 days ago (2025-03-25)[1] Windows 10 August 2020 Update (10.2008.3001.0) / 2 April 2025; 17 days ago (2025-04-02)[1]
Operating system	Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 (Experience pack) Windows Vista Windows Server 2008 Windows 7 (excluding Home Basic and Starter editions)[2] Windows Server 2008 R2 Windows Home Server 2011 Windows 8.x Windows Server 2012 Windows Server 2012 R2 Windows 10 Windows Server 2016 Windows Server 2019 Windows 11
Type	Screenshot software
Website	support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/open-snipping-tool-and-take-a-screenshot-a35ac9ff-4a58-24c9-3253-f12bac9f9d44

History

Before Windows Vista, the Snipping Tool, originally known as the Clipping Tool, was included in the Experience Pack for Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005. It was originally released as a PowerToy for the Microsoft Tablet PC launch on November 7, 2002.^[3]

In Windows 10 version 1809, a new Universal app version of Snipping Tool known as Snip & Sketch was introduced. It was first named Screen Sketch, and was initially a component of the Windows Ink Workspace.^[4][5][6] Snipping Tool was modified to contain a notice warning of the application's deprecation, which encouraged users to move to Snip & Sketch. Despite this, the app was never removed from Windows 10.^[7]

In April 2021, Microsoft released Windows 10 Insider build 21354, which made the Snipping Tool updateable from the Microsoft Store by being packaged with Snip & Sketch.^[8][9]

Windows 11 insider build 22000.132, released on August 12, 2021, introduced an update to Snip & Sketch that renames it to Snipping Tool and ports it to WinUI 3.0 and brings an interface closer to the legacy Snipping Tool. The legacy snipping tool was removed with this build.^[10][11][12] Since the update on March 14, 2023, Snipping Tool has a screen recording function.^[13]

See also

• Features new to Windows Vista