How to fix Snipping Tool not working in Windows 11

Windows 11 users can capture part of the entire screen by pressing Win + Shift + S. It will be copied to the clipboard. The function is generally effective. However, sometimes this doesn’t work. In this guide, we will explain how to fix when Windows + Shift + S is not working in Windows 11.

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1 Fix Windows + Shift + S not working in Windows 11

Fix Windows + Shift + S Not Working in Windows 11

This issue can occur when the Snipping Tool, Snip and Sketch Tool conflict. This can also happen when OneNote keyboard shortcuts conflict. This can be solved in several ways. Third-party processes can also interfere with its operation.

By pressing “Win+Shift+S”you will see a white and gray overlay on your computer screen. Instead of a mouse cursor, you will see a plus sign (+). This indicates that the capture mode is active. Select an area, then release the mouse button. The screen area is automatically copied. If it doesn’t, here are the steps you need to take to get Win+Shift+S working:

Enable clipboard history | This application does not open.

Click the “Start”button. Select “Settings”.

Select the System tile. Scroll down to Sound. Select Clipboard.

You can click on it. Check the “Clipboard History”toggle in the right pane.
Turn the switch to the On position if it is not already on.

Changing the OneNote hotkey

The Windows + Shift + S shortcut can be changed to another shortcut with a registry hack.

Start by pressing the Windows key. Type “regedit”.

In the search results, click “Registry Editor”.

The use of the Registry Editor on your computer is confidential. We ask that you back up your computer’s registry before creating or changing a new key.

Click “Continue”after opening the Registry Editor. Select “Export”. To back up an existing registry key.
On your computer, go to the following folder:

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice16.0OneNoteOptionsOther

Select the right pane by right clicking. Click the Create button. Select a DWORD (32 bit) value.

Find the shortcut key ScreenClipping”.
Double click the key.

Select “Hexadecimal”as base.
Install 5A as well. Select “OK”to save your changes.

In this case, the Windows key + Shift + S will be the new shortcut key. Finish by closing Registry Editor and restarting your computer.

Take a screenshot by pressing the Windows + Shift + S keys after the system reboots.

Reset slices and thumbnails

If the above methods don’t work, try resetting Snip & Sketch. Follow these steps.

Go to settings. Click Applications. Scroll down to Apps & features. Click Slice & Sketch.

If you click on an option, a link called “More options”should appear. Select it. On the next screen, select Reset.

From the Microsoft Store, you can also uninstall and reinstall the app. Click “Settings”. Select Applications. Click Apps & Features. Snip & Sketch will have a “Delete”button. You can remove it now. Later, you can reinstall it from the Microsoft Store.

Use PrntScrn instead of Win+Shift+S

Alternatively, you can press PrntScrn instead of Win+Shift+S.

Open Settings by pressing Win+I.
Select “Ease of Access”. Select Keyboard. D
You can open fragmentation by pressing the PrtScrn button. Make sure it’s enabled.

Make sure the keys are clean

Make sure none of the Win, Shift, or S keys are stuck. Remove the keys from the keyboard and clean them.

Update Windows 11

This issue has been faced by many users using Windows 11 and if you are experiencing this then you are not alone. If you are unable to use the Snipping Tool on your PC, please try updating it to the latest version. To update your computer, follow these steps:

Open the Settings app on your PC. You can find the Settings app in the Start menu and then open it, or you can press the key combination Windows + I to open the Settings app on your PC.
In the Settings app , navigate to the Windows Update section on the left sidebar.
Now, on the right side of the Windows Update section , click Check for Updates.

Download and install the updates that your computer finds, and then restart your computer to apply the changes.
After installing the updates, try running the Snipping tool again and then check if it opens or not in Windows 11.

Change to another date and go back

You should try changing the current date and time to some random date and time and then back to the original. Many users claim that it has worked for them. Below are the steps to change the date and time settings.

Press the key combination Windows + I to open the Settings app on your PC.
On the left sidebar, navigate to the Time & Language section.
Now, on the right, click on “Date and time” and then turn off the” Set time automatically”toggle , as well as” Set time zone automatically”.
Now click the Change button next to Set date and time manually . Set a random date and time.
Once you’ve changed the date and time, try launching the Snipping Tool or pressing the Windows + Shift + S keyboard shortcut . The Crop Tool should now work on your PC.
Now go back to the “Date and time “section in the settings and turn on the toggle for” Set time automatically”and “Set time zone automatically”.

Run an SFC and DISM scan

An SFC and DISM scan can be helpful if you want to check your PC for any issues. SFC and DISM scan your computer for errors and fix them.

To run an SFC scan, follow these steps:

Run command prompt as administrator. To do this, search for CMD in the Start menu. Right-click Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.
Now, at the command prompt , type sfc /scannow to run an SFC scan.

Wait for the scan to complete and then restart your computer.
After that, try using the Snipping Tool again and check if it works.

If the SFC scan did not help you, you should run DISM on your PC. To do this, you will need to run Command Prompt as an administrator. We have already discussed how you can do this in the steps above, so you can follow them to run Command Prompt as an administrator.

At the command prompt, type the following command to run DISM-
- exe/Online/Cleanup-image/Restorehealth
Wait for the process to complete and then restart your computer. Try running the Snipping Tool on your PC again and you should be able to use it without any problems this time.

Restore and reset the application

If you have a problem with the Snipping Tool, you can try repairing or resetting your settings. These are the two most common fixes to try if you are having problems with any application on your PC. To restore or reset an application, follow these steps:

Open the Settings app by pressing the key combination Windows + I.
Click on the Apps section on the left sidebar and then on the right side, click on Apps & features.
Here find the Scissors tool and then click on the three ellipses (dots) next to the Scissors tool . From the menu that opens, click Advanced Options.
Scroll down to” Reset here”, click the” Restore”button . This will fix any issues with the app. Wait for the process to complete and then try running the Snipping tool again .
If the restore doesn’t work, click the Reset button to reset the Scissors tool.

Reinstall the Scissors Tool

If any of the above fixes failed to resolve the issue for you, the last resort would be to reinstall the Snipping tool. To reinstall the Snipping Tool, follow these steps:

Press the key combination Windows + X on your keyboard.

Select Windows Terminal (Admin) from the menu that opens. This will open Windows PowerShell with administrator rights.
You will have to use Windows PowerShell to reinstall the crop tool. To remove the Scissors tool, enter the following code in the terminal:
- get-appxpackage *Microsoft.ScreenSketch* | remove-appxpackage
This will remove the Snipping tool from your PC.
To reinstall the Snipping tool, enter the following command in the Windows terminal:
- Get-AppXPackage *Microsoft.ScreenSketch* -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}

This should fix the issue for you and you should now be able to use the Snipping tool without any problems.

Conclusion – “This Snipping Tool App Can’t Open”Fixed

This was all about how Windows + Shift + S does not work in Windows 11. We hope that after reading this article, you will be able to solve the problem. The above steps are enough to resolve this error. You can try them one and one and check which one works for you. If you are still facing some issues, you can leave a comment below and we will try to help you. You can also comment if you know of any other working method than the methods mentioned in this article.