How Do I Fix the Snipping Tool Not Working in Windows 11?

Issue type: Windows system — Snipping Tool fails to open, crashes immediately on launch, or the Win+Shift+S shortcut produces no response

SEO focus: If you are looking for snipping tool not working windows 11, this guide starts with the fastest diagnosis, then moves to the exact fix that matches the symptom.

Short answer: Snipping Tool in Windows 11 is a Store app that updates separately from Windows itself. When it breaks, it’s almost always a corrupted app package rather than a system-level issue. Resetting the app from Settings resolves most cases in under a minute. If the keyboard shortcut specifically is the problem, the Print Screen routing setting controls whether Win+Shift+S is active.

Snipping Tool Not Working Windows 11: Quick Diagnosis

There are three distinct failure states that all appear as “Snipping Tool not working” but have different causes:

Win+Shift+S does absolutely nothing — no overlay, no crosshair, no sound: The shortcut is either disabled or the Snipping Tool app isn’t registered as the handler for it. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard and look for the “Use the Print Screen button to open screen snipping” toggle. This controls a related shortcut, but also affects whether the Win+Shift+S handler is active on some configurations. Toggling it off and back on resets the shortcut registration.

Win+Shift+S shows the overlay but nothing happens after selecting an area: The app opened the selection mode but crashed before capturing. This is a package corruption issue. The capture itself is handled by a background component that’s separate from the visible overlay.

Snipping Tool opens but crashes immediately when you click New or try to capture: The most common failure pattern after a Windows Update. The app package is partially corrupted — the shell registers fine but the capture engine fails to initialize. The app Reset in Settings is the targeted fix.

What to do first

1. Check the Print Screen shortcut routing setting. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard. Look for “Use the Print Screen button to open screen snipping.” If it’s on, toggle it off and back on. This resets the Snipping Tool’s shortcut registration in Windows without changing any other behavior. After toggling, press Win+Shift+S and test.
2. Reset the Snipping Tool app package. Go to Settings > Apps > Installed apps > search for “Snipping Tool” > click the three dots > Advanced options > click Reset. Reset deletes all local app data and reverts the app to a clean state without uninstalling it. Relaunch Snipping Tool after the reset completes. This resolves corruption in the capture engine that causes immediate crashes.
3. Update Snipping Tool through the Microsoft Store. Open the Microsoft Store > click the Library icon (bottom-left) > click Get updates. Find Snipping Tool in the update list and update it. Microsoft regularly pushes Snipping Tool updates that fix compatibility issues with new Windows builds — an outdated version can break after a cumulative Windows Update. If you’ve been having trouble with Microsoft Store updates getting stuck on pending, resolve that first before trying to update Snipping Tool.
4. Check clipboard access permissions. Snipping Tool writes screenshots to the clipboard immediately after capture. If clipboard access is blocked, the capture appears to succeed (the overlay closes) but nothing appears when you paste. Go to Settings > Privacy & security > Clipboard > confirm “Clipboard access” is on. Also check that Snipping Tool is listed under “Choose which apps can access your clipboard” and is toggled on. The direct relationship between Snipping Tool and clipboard history means both features rely on the same access permission.
5. Reinstall the Snipping Tool app package via PowerShell if Reset didn’t fix it. Open PowerShell as Administrator and run:
   Get-AppxPackage *ScreenSketch* -AllUsers | Remove-AppxPackage
   Then reinstall from the Microsoft Store — search “Snipping Tool” and click Get/Install. If the Store version isn’t available, run:
   Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers *ScreenSketch* | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)AppXManifest.xml"}
6. Run SFC to repair underlying system files the Snipping Tool depends on:
   sfc /scannow
   Restart after it completes. If SFC finds and repairs files, re-test the Snipping Tool without any other changes first — a corrupted system file is sometimes the root cause that makes the app reset in step 2 insufficient on its own.

Common mistake

Searching for and downloading “Snipping Tool” from third-party websites when it stops working in Windows 11. Snipping Tool is a Microsoft app distributed exclusively through the Microsoft Store and built into Windows — no legitimate third-party download exists. Files labeled “Snipping Tool download” on non-Microsoft sites are either repackaged versions of the old Windows 7–10 Snipping Tool (which doesn’t work in Windows 11) or potentially unsafe installers. Always use the Microsoft Store or PowerShell to reinstall it. The Store version is the only one that works correctly with Win+Shift+S and the Windows 11 clipboard integration.

Best next step

If Snipping Tool still fails after a full reinstall and SFC scan, check whether a third-party screenshot app is intercepting the Win+Shift+S shortcut before Snipping Tool can respond. Apps like ShareX, Lightshot, Greenshot, and OBS can register their own global hotkeys that conflict with Snipping Tool’s shortcut. Check your system tray for any screenshot utility and temporarily quit it — then test Win+Shift+S. If Snipping Tool responds when the other app is closed, configure the third-party app to use a different hotkey, or disable its global shortcut registration in its settings. Running two screenshot apps with overlapping shortcuts is the hidden cause of a non-responding Win+Shift+S that survives even a clean Snipping Tool reinstall.

Official reference: For official update guidance, check Microsoft’s Windows Update FAQ before using advanced repair steps.

Quick Q&A

Snipping Tool captures the screenshot but it doesn’t appear in clipboard when I press Ctrl+V. What’s wrong?

This is a clipboard access issue, not a capture failure. The screenshot was taken but Snipping Tool couldn’t write it to the clipboard. Check Settings > Privacy & security > Clipboard and confirm clipboard access is enabled. Also check whether another app has exclusive clipboard access — some clipboard managers and password managers temporarily lock the clipboard during their operations. Close any clipboard utility, take a screenshot, and immediately press Ctrl+V to test whether it lands in the clipboard correctly.

The old Snipping Tool had a delay timer option. The new one seems different. Did Microsoft remove it?

No — the delay timer is in the new Snipping Tool but in a different location. Open Snipping Tool (from Start menu), then click the three-dot menu or the settings icon at the top. Look for “Snip delay” — you can set a 3, 5, or 10-second delay before capture. The delay starts after you click New and select a region, giving you time to open a menu or hover state you want to capture. The new interface reorganized these options but didn’t remove them.

Snipping Tool works when I open it from the Start menu but Win+Shift+S still does nothing. How can both be true?

The Start menu launch and the Win+Shift+S shortcut use different mechanisms. Win+Shift+S triggers a background Snipping Tool component that’s registered as a keyboard hook — this registration can fail independently of the main app executable. Try re-registering it: go to Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard > toggle “Use the Print Screen button to open screen snipping” off, restart Windows, then toggle it back on. This resets the keyboard hook registration for the screenshot shortcut without affecting the app’s ability to launch normally.