Is “Screenshot” One Word or Two?

Screenshot is one word. Use the closed spelling for the noun: screenshot, not screen shot or screensnap.

What is the correct spelling?

Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries lists screenshot as one word in its American English entry and defines it as an image of a computer or phone screen. Google’s developer documentation style guide also uses the closed spelling and explicitly says, “Not screen shot or screensnap.”

Examples:

• “Attach a screenshot of the error.”
• “The tutorial includes three screenshots.”
• “Send us a screenshot showing the full address bar.”

The standard plural is screenshots. The possessive forms are screenshot’s for one screenshot and screenshots’ for more than one.

Noun, verb, and adjective usage

As a noun

Screenshot is commonly used as a noun for the captured image:

Upload a screenshot with your support request.

As a verb

Many people use screenshot as a verb in everyday English:

I screenshotted the message.

Google’s developer documentation style guide gives a house-style preference: write take a screenshot instead of using screenshot as a verb. That is a rule for Google documentation, not a universal grammar rule. If you are writing product documentation, follow your publication’s style guide consistently.

As a modifier

Use the closed form in compounds such as screenshot tool, screenshot API, and screenshot workflow:

Our screenshot API returns PNG, JPEG, or WebP files.

Screen shot vs. screenshot

Form	Recommendation	Example
screenshot	Use this standard closed spelling.	“Add a screenshot to the issue.”
screen shot	Avoid it in current technical writing unless a specific house style requires it.	“Add a screen shot…”
screensnap	Avoid it; Google’s style guide lists it as an incorrect alternative.	“Add a screensnap…”

Search results, older documents, and informal messages may contain screen shot. Its presence does not change the recommended spelling for new documentation.

Which style guide should you follow?

Start with the style guide used by the publication, product, or team you are writing for. Dictionaries answer spelling and meaning questions; house style guides can add rules about grammar, capitalization, or preferred phrasing.

• Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries: lists screenshot as one word in its American English dictionary entry. Read the entry.
• Google developer documentation style guide: recommends screenshot, rejects “screen shot” and “screensnap,” and prefers “take a screenshot” in its documentation. Read Google’s word list.
• Associated Press: AP’s help page says its primary dictionary for spelling, style, and usage is Merriam-Webster. Use that reference when you need to resolve an AP-style question. Read AP’s guidance.

AP’s Stylebook is a broader writing reference, but you do not need to buy it to answer this spelling question. The cited dictionary and Google’s public style guide both support the closed spelling.

Practical editing checklist

1. Search the document for screen shot and replace it with screenshot where your house style permits.
2. Use screenshot as the noun: “Take a screenshot of the result.”
3. If your style guide follows Google’s documentation guidance, avoid the verb screenshot and write “take a screenshot.”
4. Use screenshots for the plural.
5. Keep terminology consistent in headings, API names, filenames, and UI labels.

Creating screenshots for documentation

If you need images for a guide, you can capture them with a browser automation tool, then crop or annotate the result. For repeatable website captures, an API avoids maintaining browser setup.

Or skip the browser setup

ScreenshotNeo is a website screenshot API and MCP server. It accepts one GET request and returns a PNG, JPEG, WebP, or PDF. Before capture, it accepts cookie or consent banners and removes more than 60 known consent platforms, newsletter popups, and chat widgets. Bot checks, blank pages, timeouts, failed loads, and cache hits are not billed; response headers identify the page verdict and whether the request was billed. Its MCP server includes take_screenshot, get_page_info, and capture_pdf for Claude, Cursor, and other MCP clients.

See the ScreenshotNeo API documentation for all options.

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

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

const q = new URLSearchParams({ access_key: 'YOUR_API_KEY', url: 'https://stripe.com' });
const res = await fetch(`https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot?${q}`);

Every feature is available on every plan. The free plan includes 1,000 screenshots per month with no card; paid plans start at $5 for 3,000 screenshots. Create a free ScreenshotNeo account.

Common questions

Is “screenshot” hyphenated?

No. The standard spelling in the cited references is the closed compound screenshot.

Is “screenshots” the correct plural?

Yes. Add s to form screenshots.

Can “screenshot” be a verb?

It is used as a verb in everyday English, but Google’s documentation style guide prefers “take a screenshot.” Follow your project’s house style.

Does this answer cover every variety of English?

The Oxford source cited here is specifically an American English entry. Other publications may maintain their own style rules, so check the authority your audience expects.