Earlier today I was participating in a Windows 7 Tech Chat on Twitter (#Win7Tech hashtag) which is held most Tuesdays from 3 to 4 PM Eastern time. Each chat covers a specific subject area and today’s chat was about using that new PC which folks received for Christmas.
At one point I commented about one of my favorite Windows 7 utilities the Snipping Tool and one user responded back with this comment:
Although there is no assigned hot key to invoke the Snipping Tool by default there is a way to create a shortcut key which uses one of the features of the Windows 7 Taskbar. Simply place a shortcut for the Snipping Tool on your Windows 7 taskbar anywhere in the first ten slots starting right after the Start Button and moving left to right count them from 1 to 0.
Now the Windows Key and the positional number of that shortcut is a hot key combination to start up the Snipping Tool or any of the programs you have in those first 10 slots – just replace the number you type after the Windows Key to start that specific program.
I have it in the tenth position so Windows Key + 0 brings up the Snipping Tool on my system. This process can be used of course with any program as long as it is in one of the first ten slots on your taskbar.
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Richard is the Owner of WindowsObserver.com and has been involved in tech for over 25 years. His first website – AnotherWin95.com – came online in 1995. Back then he used GeoCities Web Hosting for it and what you see here today is the result of the work he has continued on the site since 1995. In January 2010 his community contributions were recognized by Microsoft when he was awarded the Most Valuable Professional (MVP) Award for Windows Desktop Experience. In January 2011 he was renewed as a Microsoft MVP but in a new category called Windows Expert - Consumer and in January 2012 he received the award for the third time.
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Thanks for the great tip. It should be noted that you cannot use the 10-key pad (the adding machine/calculator-type keys on the side of your keyboard) with this shortcut. Only the number keys on the basic section of the keyboard will work.
That is a good point and one that I was not aware of – thanks for posting it here.
Nice tip. I too use the Snipping Tool a lot as a teaching tool. Any idea how to include the mouse cursor or retain a highlighted section? Currently, any highlighted text changes to a grey background when the Snipping Tool is evoked. For serious work I use Faststone Screen Capture (last free version).
Thanks for the comment. The Snipping Tool is a very basic tool and I do not believe you can get beyond those limitations you mentioned such as the mouse and highlighted text. Still for a quick screen shot it is quite handy.
Your welcome Dustin – glad it helped trigger the thought! I am a mouse and keyboard kind of guy so I also forget about having these short cuts available as well.
I knew about that shortcut (Win key + number), and have my Snipping Tool down there, but I never really thought about using a hot key to access it.
Thanks!
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