A screenshot of an error message tells a technician more in 2 seconds than a written description in 200 words. But unhelpful screenshots — blurry, cropped to nothing, or showing the wrong window — make tickets longer, not shorter.

How to take a screenshot

### Windows<br>- Whole screen: PrtScn key (copies to clipboard, paste in your ticket)<br>- Active window: Alt + PrtScn<br>- Snip a region: Windows + Shift + S → drag the area — best for cropping out sensitive content<br>- Save as a file: Windows + PrtScn saves to Pictures\Screenshots

### macOS<br>- Whole screen: Cmd + Shift + 3 (saves to Desktop)<br>- Snip a region: Cmd + Shift + 4 → drag<br>- Specific window: Cmd + Shift + 4 then Space, click the window

### Phone<br>- Android: Power + Volume Down, usually<br>- iOS: Side button + Volume Up

What to capture

  1. The full error message including the title bar. Truncating the title removes context — "Error" is useless; "Outlook — Cannot connect to the server" is gold.
  2. The application name visible. Either the title bar or the taskbar icon, so the tech knows it's Outlook, not Teams.
  3. The time of day if it's visible (system tray clock). Helps correlate with logs.
  4. Just enough surrounding context — if it's a specific record, file, or person involved, include the row above and below.

What NOT to capture

  • Other people's data on your screen (open in another tab)
  • Credit card / passport numbers visible in a form
  • Other people's emails or chats
  • Bookmarks bar with personal sites

Crop them out with the region screenshot tool or annotate over them in the built-in Photos / Markup app before attaching.

Annotating

Most operating systems open the screenshot in a quick markup tool. Use it to:

  • Circle or arrow the error
  • Add a one-line caption
  • Black out sensitive bits

A circled error message labeled "this is what I see when I click Send" is the single most useful screenshot you can attach.