Simple Tips For Assigning Keyboard Shortcut To Snipping Tool In Windows Vista
Snipping Tool (ST) utility is a great screen capture option which comes built-in as a free application with the Windows Vista package. It offers a user-friendly functionality and is one of the most admirable features in Windows Vista. Snipping Tool works better than the normal Windows Print Screen option which is normally used to capture screen-shots.
This highly customizable Snipping Tool however is not assigned or associated with any accelerator key or keyboard shortcut sequence by default. Due to this, users are unable to run Snipping Tool quickly as and when required without going to the desktop or opening the Start Menu.
Nevertheless, it is possible to associate or assign accelerator key or keyboard shortcut so as to allow instant access to Snipping Tool whenever required. There are two methods to do it.
Method 1
In this method, you can set a shortcut key in the properties option of ST icon or shortcut present on the desktop or in the Start Menu respectively. For doing this setting, you need to follow the steps mentioned below.
1. Right-click on the icon of Snipping Tool on the desktop or the ST shortcut placed in the Start Menu (within Accessories). Select the option “Properties”.
2. You will see a field called “Shortcut key” within the “Shortcut” pane. Click on text field next to “Shortcut key”. However, you won’t be able to type any text there. Instead, you need to press keyboard accelerator keys which you wish to assign as a keyboard shortcut for the Snipping Tool.
3. By doing this, the shortcut key assigned automatically appears within the text field. You need to note that you may use only a certain combination of keyboard accelerator keys.
Method 2
In this method, you can use keyboard shortcuts on the “Quick Launch” toolbar. To go ahead with this method, you need to apply the following steps.
1. You have to first place Snipping Tool shortcut into the Quick Launch toolbar. (On first run, you will be probably prompted to display ST icon in the launch bar. If not prompted, you will have to set the preference within ST options).
2. The moment you are able to see ST icon on the Quick Launch toolbar, you just need to count its location starting from the left end of the toolbar and then press “Alt + (position number of the ST icon in the Launch bar)” in order to launch the Snipping Tool instantly.