At my current company laptop, I am very limited when it comes to installing additional tools to improve my productivity. From a company view understandable, it is very frustrating to me. One of the tasks I do several times a day, is creating a screenshot. Unfortunately, I am not able to install tool such as my beloved SnagIt.
I use Windows Snipping Tool instead a lot. However, pressing Ctrl + Esc, typing Snip and then pressing New gets annoying over time. So I decided to create an Instant Snip instead when.
So head to the Snipping Tool and right click it to navigate to its location on the disc.
![Snipping Tool Context Menu in the Windows Start Menu](https://www.hack-the-planet.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/image.png)
Copy the shortcut in this folder and rename it. In my case, I copied the shortcut to a Prg folder in my Home directory where I save programs, batch files and shortcuts.
![Copying the Windows Snipping Tool Shortcut from its original location to another folder](https://i2.wp.com/www.aheil.de/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/image-1.png?fit=625%2C288&ssl=1)
Now right click the shortcut and do the following small changes:
- Add the parameter /clip to the command line in the shortcut
- Optional: Add a keyboard shortcut in case you are not happy with the Windows default (in my case Windows+Shift+I)
![Properties of the Snipping Tool Properties UI](https://i1.wp.com/www.aheil.de/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/image-2.png?fit=625%2C861&ssl=1)
At the very end, I have put this shortcut to my taskbar to create instant clips with a single mouse click.
That way you can use the shortcut to create a clip directly. Using the /clip patemter you can use Snipping Tool in semi-automated processes but also the keyboard shortcut you have just defined.
In case you are only looking for the default keyboard shortcut you can use Windows+Shift+S to start the clip mode of Snipping Tool.
One point to bear in mind is the fact, when using the /clip mode, the clip is directly saved to the Windows clipboard and the Snipping Tool UI cannot be accessed right after the screenshot is made.
tl;dr
Windows Snipping Tool has a parameter /clip to create a instant clip from the command line without starting the UI dialog but also can be started using Windows+Shift+S to create such a clip.