How To Use Firefox’s Killer New Screenshot Tool

How To Use Firefox’s Killer New Screenshot Tool

If you’re not taking screenshots of your computer screen much, remembering which key combos to hit might be more confusing than convenient. If you hate keyboard shortcuts, Mozilla’s new Firefox Quantum browser makes it incredibly easy to capture what’s on your screen thanks to its built in Firefox Screenshots service. It syncs wherever you use the new browser, and is smart enough to help you figure out what you’re actually trying to capture.

The Firefox Screenshots service not only lets you capture what’s inside your browser’s window, but can also capture the entire web page from top to bottom, even if it isn’t visible on your monitor. You can also capture sections of the screen suggested by Firefox itself, saving you the need to spend time cropping an image.

How to Start Syncing Screenshots

To sync your screenshots wherever you use Firefox, you’ll need a Firefox account. You can make one after you download the browser. Just enter your email and a password and select the option to use Firefox’s simple import tool to bring in your personal and browsing information from the browser you were using previously.

Hit the Page actions icon (the three periods) in your address bar and click Take a Screenshot. Your browser window will dim and you’ll have the option to save the entire page, only the visible portion, or to visit your already captured shots. You can click and drag to select whatever portion of the web page you want, or click the outlines suggested by Firefox as you pass over different items on the page.

You can save those captured images either locally or to your Firefox Screenshots account. The screenshot tool currently doesn’t work when you’re using Firefox in Private Browsing mode, though Mozilla says it’s working on a fix.

In practice, Firefox Screenshots is a real time-saver. I’m partial to capturing amusing tweets and comments from friends, and have more than one folder for screenshots both humorous and utilitarian (there are quite a few recovery code images in there). Capturing them required third-party software, remapped key commands, and other methods that felt surprisingly complex for something so simple. The fact that Firefox Screenshots lets me choose to either share or store my images without needing some third-party app or keyboard shortcut is a plus.


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