5 Ways to Use Windows Snipping Tool Beyond Taking Screenshots

Snipping Tool has been a staple of Windows for years, allowing you to capture and annotate screenshots. However, some recent changes have enhanced this basic application, allowing users to do more than just take screenshots.

Record video and audio via microphone

You can now record screen videos using the Snipping Tool in Windows. Previously, I could only record native screen on Windows 11 using the Xbox Game Bar . It barely worked and didn’t allow selecting specific parts of the screen. For this reason, many people have turned to OBS Studio for screen recording instead.

Using the Snipping Tool screen recording feature, you can freely select a portion of the screen, just like when taking a screenshot in Windows 11. Moreover, you can record audio through the lapel microphone or choose any other input device with a microphone.

You can also mute system sounds. This allows you to eliminate annoying clicking and other operating system sounds while recording the tutorial. The app also has a global setting to permanently disable system sounds and automatically save screen recordings.

Many people often accidentally close the Snipping Tool without saving the clip or screenshot they recorded. Enabling this setting really helps you avoid losing any captures.

Microsoft doesn’t provide any editing options within the Snipping Tool app. However, there is a ClipChamp shortcut within the app, so you can easily open the recording in the editor. You can also use any other video editing tool to add the finishing touches to your recording.

Annotate screenshots with shapes and emojis

You can also add a variety of annotations, including shapes and emojis. Both of these appear in the Shapes option after you take a photo.

Circles and rectangles can be used to edit captured screenshots and highlight something without having to use the pen tool to draw weird shapes anymore.

Previously, users had to open screenshots in Paint to add shapes, and it didn’t support emojis. To add shapes and emojis, right-click any image in File Explorer and select Open with > Snipping Tool . Now, find the emoji you want to add in the drop-down menu and click it.

Identify and copy text from images

Many apps, including Snipping Tool and Phone Link, now have Optical Character Recognition (OCR) capabilities. This feature allows you to copy text from images in Snipping Tool without installing PowerToys or using online tools to extract text from images.

After taking a photo, click the Text Actions tool to identify all text elements in the image. Use this feature to scan contact information from the photo.

You can select all text or use your mouse to highlight and copy selected text. You can also choose to hide phone numbers and email addresses from screenshots.

Scan QR code

Scanning QR codes from images on your PC using your phone is easy, but you can't do it in Windows. You can scan QR codes in the camera app, but that's an inconvenient way to use your webcam and doesn't work with images stored on your PC.

Snipping Tool uses OCR capabilities to scan the QR code text. You can then copy the text and even access the URL directly. This feature saves you from having to scan the QR code on your phone and then send it to your PC.

Perform an image search

This option isn’t used often, but it’s useful for capturing a catalog or footage from a video. To perform an image search, take a screenshot with the Snipping Tool, then click the three dots in the upper right corner. Select Visual Search with Bing and it will pull up the image search in a new window.

The results aren't always the most accurate, but it's nice to have the functionality built directly into the Snipping Tool app.

The Snipping Tool app is really useful for taking quick screenshots. These extra features are especially handy for taking more advanced screenshots. Not only does it reduce your reliance on third-party web tools, but it also saves you the time of downloading and installing additional software since Snipping Tool is built into Windows by default.