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Grey Screen in Snipping Tool: 4 Ways to Get it to Work
Keep your drivers up to date to prevent this issue from occurring
3 min. read
Updated onOctober 4, 2023
updated onOctober 4, 2023
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Key notes
Sometimes, you may get a grey screen while opening the Snipping tool in Windows 10. This can be a problem and prevent you from creating screenshots.
This isn’t a major issue, but if you tend to rely on this tool for your screenshot needs, it’s important to know how to fix it, and this guide will show you the best ways to do it.
Why does a grey screen appear in the Snipping Tool?
How can I fix the grey screen of Snipping Tool in Windows 10?
1. Update the display driver
Restart the computer after the driver is updated. For more information about driver updates, check our guide on how toupdate outdated drivers. Launch the snipping tool, and check if the grey screen error still exists.
Sometimes Windows has difficulty installing the latest drivers available on the market, and downloading and updating them manually also can be quite an arduous task.
That’s why we recommend using a tool that automatically updates drivers for you every time a new version is released.
Outbyte Driver Updater
2. Perform System File Check
If after updating the drivers the issue persists, use the System File Checker utility to scan and fixcorrupted system files.
3. Diagnose in Safe boot mode
Open Snipping Tool, and if the app opens without the grey screen, it means one of the third-party software, hardware or driver is causing the issue with the app.
In this case, start by removing any newly installed external hardware and uninstall newly installed software. Check again until you find the conflicting software.
4. Other solutions to try
If the issue persists, try the following troubleshooting tips to fix the issue. You should reboot the system and check if the Snipping tool is now accessible.
Also, if you want an alternative to the built-in snipping tool, check out our comprehensive guide with thebest snipping tools for Windows 10.
We hope our solutions helped you fix the Snipping tool grey screen issue in Windows 10. For more suggestions or questions, please access the comments section below.
More about the topics:Screenshot tools & guides
Tashreef Shareef
Tashreef Shareef is a software developer turned tech writer. He discovered his interest in technology after reading a tech magazine accidentally. Now he writes about everything tech from Windows to iOS and streaming services to IoT at WindowsReport.
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