The Snipping Tool is the default screen-capture application built into Windows. Most users use this application for capturing screenshots. If you, too, use it quite frequently, then it’s always desirable to assign the tool, a hotkey to open it in an instant. But if you have reasons to disable it, this tutorial will show you how to enable or disable the Snipping Tool or the Print Screen button in Windows 11/10/8/7 using the Group Policy or the Registry Editor.
Disable Snipping Tool or Print Screen in Windows 11/10
Using Group Policy Editor or GPEDIT
Type ‘gpedit.msc’ in Start Search and hit Enter to open the Local Group Policy Editor. Next, navigate to the following setting:
User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Tablet PC > Accessories.
Here, on the right-side, double-click on ‘Do not allow Snipping Tool to run’ to open its Properties and select ‘Enabled’ option to disable the Sniping Tool in Windows 10.
This GPO prevents the snipping tool from running. If you enable this policy setting, the Snipping Tool will not run. If you disable this policy setting, the Snipping Tool will run. If you do not configure this policy setting, the Snipping Tool will run.
To enable the Snipping Tool again, select Not Configured and then click Apply button.
Read: Disable Print Screen button to open screen snipping in Windows 11
Using Registry Editor or REGEDIT
Run regedit to open the Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\ Microsoft\TabletPC
Double-click on DisableSnippingTool and change its value data from 0 to 1 to disable the Snipping Tool in Windows 10. To enable the Snipping Tool again, you may change its value back to 0.
If the TabletPC Key doesn’t exist, you will have to create it along with the DWORD (32-bit) Value DisableSnippingTool.
Read: Snipping Tool Tips & Tricks.
NOTE: Windows 11/10 allows you to uninstall (or reinstall) the Snipping Tool via Settings > Apps > Apps & features > Optional features.
Hope this works for you!
