SNIPPING TOOL HAS BECOME UNUSABLE RECENTLY. WHAT HAPPENED?

The Snipping Tool is causing the entire Windows system to become unresponsive. A forced shutdown is required to recover and restart the device.

Welcome Thomas Fields,

I understand how frustrating it can be when the Snipping Tool on Windows 11 has recently become difficult to use or is no longer functioning as expected. 

Before we proceed, I have a couple of quick questions to better narrow this down: 

• Does the Snipping Tool fail to open, crash, or open but not capture screenshots correctly? 
•  Did this behavior start after a recent Windows update or application update? 

In addition to the previous suggestions, you could also explore these options:  

Option 1:  Make sure Windows is fully up to date 

• Open Settings 
• Go to Windows Update 
• Select Check for updates and install all available updates 

Option 2: Repair the Snipping Tool app 

• Open Settings > Apps > Installed apps > Find Snipping Tool 
• Select Advanced options 
• Choose Repair 

Option 3: Reset the Snipping Tool if repair does not help 

• Stay on the Snipping Tool Advanced options page 
• Select Reset 

Option 4: Check if the issue occurs with the Print Screen shortcut 

• Press Windows key + Shift + S 
• See if the snipping toolbar appears and works correctly 

Option 5: Restart Windows Explorer 

• Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc 
• Select Windows Explorer 
• Choose Restart 

I hope this information helps resolve your issue. If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me again in this thread. 

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Hello

What is the symptom the tool is experiencing if you don't mind describing the issue a bit?

Also have you tried uninstalling it and reinstalling it?

To do so go to Windows Settings > apps > installed apps, find the app and uninstall it.

Restart the computer, then install it back from Windows App Store.