<P> Under command - line based operating systems such as MS - DOS, this key causes the contents of the current text mode screen memory buffer to be copied to the standard printer port, usually LPT1 . In essence, whatever was currently on the screen when the key was pressed will be printed . Pressing the Ctrl key in combination with Prt Sc turns on and off the "printer echo" feature . When echo is in effect, any conventional text output to the screen will be copied ("echoed") to the printer . There is also a Unicode character for print screen, U + 2399 ⎙ print screen symbol . </P> <P> Newer - generation operating systems using a graphical interface tend to save a bitmap image of the current screen, or screenshot, to their clipboard or comparable storage area . Some shells allow modification of the exact behavior using modifier keys such as the control key . </P> <P> In Microsoft Windows, pressing Prt Sc will capture the entire screen, while pressing the Alt key in combination with Prt Sc will capture the currently selected window . The captured image can then be pasted into an editing program such as a graphics program or even a word processor . Pressing Prt Sc with both the left Alt key and left ⇧ Shift pressed turns on a high contrast mode (this keyboard shortcut can be turned off by the user). Since Windows 8, pressing the ⊞ Win key in combination with Prt Sc (and optionally in addition to the Alt key) will save the captured image to disk (the default pictures location). This behavior is therefore backward compatible with users who learned Print Screen actions under operating systems such as MS - DOS . </P> <P> In KDE and GNOME, very similar shortcuts are available, which open a screenshot tool (KSnapshot or GNOME Screenshot respectively), giving options to save the screenshot, plus more options like manually picking a specific window, screen area, using a timeout, etc . Sending the image to many services (KDE), or even screen recording (GNOME), is built - in too . </P>

What is the printscreen key on a laptop
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