Does Ubuntu Have a Snipping Tool?

Yes. Ubuntu includes a built-in screenshot tool that performs the usual snipping-tool job. Press Print (also labeled PrtSc or PrtScn) to capture a selected area, the whole screen or a window. Ubuntu normally saves the image in Pictures/Screenshots and copies it to the clipboard.

The exact overlay and shortcuts can vary with your Ubuntu release, GNOME version or another desktop environment, but the standard GNOME workflow is available without installing a separate application. Ubuntu’s screenshot and screencast documentation describes the built-in feature.

How to take a screenshot in Ubuntu

1. Press Print on your keyboard, or open the system menu and choose the screenshot button.
2. Choose a capture mode: a rectangular area, a window or the entire screen.
3. Select Capture (or press Enter or Space).

Ubuntu saves the file with a name beginning with Screenshot and a date and time. Look in Pictures/Screenshots. The same capture is copied to the clipboard, so you can paste it into an email, document or image editor with Ctrl+V.

Useful keyboard shortcuts

Shortcut	Result
Print	Open the screenshot interface.
Alt+Print	Capture the focused window.
Shift+Print	Capture the entire screen.
S	Select an area in the screenshot interface.
W	Choose a window.
C	Choose the screen capture mode.
P	Toggle pointer visibility.
V	Switch between screenshot and screencast modes.
Enter, Space or Ctrl+C	Capture the current selection.

To start a short screencast, Ubuntu documents Shift+Ctrl+Alt+R. You can also switch the screenshot interface to screencast mode, then select a screen or region.

Where Ubuntu saves screenshots

The default location is:

~/Pictures/Screenshots

Open Files, choose Pictures, then open Screenshots. If you do not see the folder, take one capture first; Ubuntu creates it when needed. You can also paste the clipboard copy directly into another application instead of opening the saved file.

Does every Ubuntu version have an app called “Snipping Tool”?

Ubuntu’s official documentation calls this feature the screenshot tool, not “Snipping Tool.” The practical answer is still yes: a standard Ubuntu desktop lets you select a region and capture it without installing another app. The name and controls may differ on Xfce, KDE Plasma, Ubuntu flavors or heavily customized installations.

Command-line screenshots with gnome-screenshot

If you need scripts or repeatable captures, the gnome-screenshot utility can capture the whole screen, the active window or a user-defined area. The Jammy manpage documents options for delays, pointer visibility, clipboard output and writing to a chosen file.

# Full screen, save to a file
gnome-screenshot -f "$HOME/Pictures/full-screen.png"

# Active window
gnome-screenshot -w -f "$HOME/Pictures/active-window.png"

# Let the user select an area
gnome-screenshot -a -f "$HOME/Pictures/selection.png"

# Copy a full-screen capture to the clipboard
gnome-screenshot -c

Option names and package availability depend on your Ubuntu release. Check the local manual with man gnome-screenshot before putting a command in automation. The cited Ubuntu Jammy manpage documents version 41.0-2.

When Flameshot is a better fit

Install an additional tool when you need annotations, a system-tray workflow or more capture controls. Flameshot provides an interactive region selector with annotation tools, as well as full-screen and per-monitor modes, clipboard output, delays and custom save paths.

# Start the interactive selector
flameshot gui

# Capture the whole screen and save it
flameshot full -p "$HOME/Pictures"

Package names and versions vary by release. The Ubuntu Flameshot manpage documents the Questing package version 12.1.0+ds-2 and its command-line modes.

Fix shortcuts that do not work

1. Open Settings → Keyboard → View and Customize Shortcuts.
2. Search for Screenshot and inspect the assigned keys.
3. Replace a conflicting shortcut or restore the default.
4. On a laptop, try the hardware function modifier, such as Fn+Print.

Ubuntu documents the shortcut editor in its keyboard-shortcut guide. If you use KDE, Xfce or another flavor, open that desktop’s own shortcut settings because the GNOME bindings may not apply.

Common problems and fixes

Problem	Likely cause	Fix
Pressing Print does nothing	The key is unassigned, intercepted by firmware or mapped to another action.	Check the keyboard shortcut editor; try Fn+Print and the system-menu screenshot button.
Only a black or blank image is captured	The selected window is minimized, protected or rendered by a desktop-specific compositor.	Restore the window, capture the full screen, and test the desktop’s native tool before using a third-party utility.
The screenshot is not in Pictures/Screenshots	Your desktop flavor or older release uses a different default folder.	Search for files beginning with Screenshot, or use gnome-screenshot -f /path/file.png to choose the destination.
Clipboard paste is empty	The capture was saved but clipboard integration failed.	Open the saved file, or run gnome-screenshot -c and paste immediately into a graphics-capable application.
Annotations are needed	The built-in interface focuses on capture rather than markup.	Use Flameshot’s flameshot gui workflow.
gnome-screenshot: command not found	The optional package is not installed.	Install the package available for your Ubuntu release, or use the built-in screenshot interface.

Choosing the right Ubuntu capture method

Need	Best choice	Why
One quick region, window or screen	Built-in screenshot tool	Already integrated and available from Print.
Repeatable shell automation	gnome-screenshot	Supports explicit files, modes, delays and clipboard output.
Arrows, highlights and blur-like markup during selection	Flameshot	Provides an annotation-focused interactive workflow.
Capture a website on a server or in CI	ScreenshotNeo	Returns a website image or PDF through an API without configuring a desktop session.

Performance, reliability and cost considerations

The built-in tool is fastest for local desktop work because it captures what is already rendered. It depends on your active session, display server, permissions and desktop environment, so it is less suitable for unattended servers. Command-line tools improve repeatability but still require a usable graphical session.

For website screenshots in scheduled jobs, a browser-based API handles page loading, viewport settings and rendering remotely. Costs depend on the service and capture volume; local Ubuntu screenshots do not add an API charge.

Or skip the browser setup

For website captures, ScreenshotNeo provides one GET request that returns PNG, JPEG, WebP or PDF. Before capture it accepts cookie and consent banners and removes more than 60 known consent platforms, newsletter popups and chat widgets. Bot checks, CAPTCHAs, blank pages, timeouts, failed loads and cache hits are not billed, and response headers identify the page verdict and billing result. Its MCP server lets Claude, Cursor and other MCP clients call take_screenshot, get_page_info and capture_pdf.

See the ScreenshotNeo API documentation for all options.

cURL

curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://stripe.com -o shot.webp

Python

import requests

r = requests.get(
    "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot",
    params={"access_key": "YOUR_API_KEY", "url": "https://stripe.com"},
    timeout=90,
)
r.raise_for_status()
open("shot.webp", "wb").write(r.content)

Node.js

const q = new URLSearchParams({ access_key: 'YOUR_API_KEY', url: 'https://stripe.com' });
const res = await fetch(`https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot?${q}`);
if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`Screenshot failed: ${res.status}`);
const fs = await import('node:fs/promises');
await fs.writeFile('shot.webp', Buffer.from(await res.arrayBuffer()));

ScreenshotNeo includes full-page capture with lazy images loaded, element capture by CSS selector, dark mode, device presets, custom viewports, retina scale, PDF paper and page options, custom CSS and JavaScript, click and wait actions, request blocking, headers, cookies, user agents, authorization, timezone, geolocation, transparent backgrounds, resizing, caching, signed links, asynchronous webhooks, bulk capture and a usage API. Only clean shots are billed. The Free plan includes 1,000 shots per month with no card; paid plans start at $5 for 3,000 shots.

Create a free ScreenshotNeo account and get 1,000 screenshots a month with no card.

FAQ

Can I select only part of a window?

Yes. Press Print, choose area selection and drag around the region you want.

Can Ubuntu record a screen instead of taking a still image?

Yes. Switch the screenshot interface to screencast mode or use Shift+Ctrl+Alt+R for the documented short screencast shortcut.

Do I need to install Flameshot?

No. Ubuntu’s built-in screenshot tool handles ordinary region, window and full-screen captures. Flameshot is optional when annotations or extra controls matter.

Can I automate screenshots from a headless Ubuntu server?

The desktop tool expects a graphical session. For unattended website captures, an API such as ScreenshotNeo avoids maintaining a local display and browser session.