Solved Snipping tool.......keeps needing to be fixed to work

Vimes · Nov 15, 2025

Hi

I am running Windows 11 25h2 26200.7171 and I used to the find that the snipping tool (ST) worked consistently, well I thought I did.
But I find myself more often these days going to its advanced options to either repair or reset it. Then it seems to work fine for a little while and then.....it doesn't.
A reboot does not matter, removing and reinstalling just delays the time before it stops functioning again.

I can use ShareX, I'll give that a go, but I would have preferred just using the ST as it did what I wanted really.

Has anyone else noted the ST to be less than reliable..?

Thanks

Edwin · Nov 15, 2025

Vimes said:
Has anyone else noted the ST to be less than reliable..?

No, but it seems to happen a lot with MS apps!
I'd stick with ShareX, but that's me!

Vimes · Nov 15, 2025

Thanks, perhaps I am taking it a little too far if I note that Windows 11 seems generally to be fragile overall.

ShareX seems to do what I need, when the horse has died, time to stop flogging.

nikki605 · Nov 15, 2025

I'll give your original post a "me too." After doing a few resets or repairs like you, I found that the settings were sometimes changing for no reason. I put the settings back to where I originally had them and ST would again work for awhile but eventually fail. I even did an unininstall/reinstall of the app but it did not fix the problem. I am just living with it.

I also sometimes have problems with the photos app throwing an error message when I try to open a photo file. These apps are just not stable.

tecknot · Nov 15, 2025

Hi @Vimes,

I am just curious, did you do an update to 25H2 or did you do a clean install? Same question to you, @nikki605?

Kind regards,

tecknot

KevTech · Nov 15, 2025

Vimes said:
Has anyone else noted the ST to be less than reliable..?

No but I normally open it with print screen or the shortcut I have in the start menu.

Shortcut:

Code:

C:\Windows\explorer.exe ms-screenclip:

Vimes · Nov 15, 2025

Hi @tecknot This installation was done within the week, using a copy of 25h2 created then from the media creation tool.

As noted, it will work fine again for a while, after a repair or reset. The print screen function will still take a screenshot, as I could paste that into Paint, but the snipping tool will no longer open to mark and share.

tecknot · Nov 15, 2025

Vimes said:
Hi @tecknot This installation was done within the week, using a copy of 25h2 created then from the media creation tool.

Hi Vimes,

Well, that throws my theory out the window.

Kind regards,

tecknot

Edwin · Nov 15, 2025

The Snipping Tool process is far too convoluted, 90% of the time, when I want a screenshot, I hit PrtScrn and it lands on the Desktop. Period.

Vimes · Nov 15, 2025

Ah, but credit where it is due......................................causing the problems for me as it has done has encouraged me enough to look for options.........................

"Hello ShareX"

Meet and greet has been done, install of one and removal of the other..!

OldMainframeGuy · Nov 15, 2025

Depending on what kind of snipping you do, you might want to try Greenshot (it's free). I believe it does everything the Windows snipping tool does except for making recordings. I've used it for years.

Greenshot

Greenshot - a free screenshot tool optimized for productivity

getgreenshot.org

Edwin · Nov 15, 2025

OldMainframeGuy said:
... try Greenshot

The last 3 RELEASES of Greenshot have been glitchy as heck for me, can't figure out why!

cheaterslick · Nov 15, 2025

I think the old snipping tool is still around. Try here;

How to restore old Snipping Tool in Windows 11

If you want to restore the Windows 10 classic old Snipping Tool in Windows 11, you can follow the instructions outlined in this post.

www.thewindowsclub.com

Old snipping tool

I have lost track on where I am up to getting the old snipping tool back and have the Snippingtool.exe on a USB stick but cannot find the mui command - SnippingTool.exe.mui anywhere. The Snipping Tool.exe on my stick opens but just sends a samll window - see pic. Any ideas on how to get that...

www.elevenforum.com

How to Get Old Snipping Tool on Windows 11 - TechBloat

Steps to Restore the Old Snipping Tool in Windows 11

www.techbloat.com

OldMainframeGuy · Nov 15, 2025

Edwin said:
The last 3 RELEASES of Greenshot have been glitchy as heck for me, can't figure out why!

I haven't had any problems though I notice that it's updated quite frequently lately; it seems that it went years without updates.

Vimes · Nov 15, 2025

@cheaterslick Now that would be tempting to try the old one.....But, it is like having vanilla plain cake and then finding one with icing and sprinkles......using ShareX :)

Thanks

Edwin · Nov 15, 2025

OldMainframeGuy said:
I haven't had any problems though I notice that it's updated quite frequently lately; it seems that it went years without updates.

The last stable version that worked for me was 1.2.10.6...,
All the 1.3.xxx versions refused to open a capture at 100% zoom! Couldn't fix it or figure out why!

joeandmarg0 · Nov 15, 2025

Have you tried ---Settings>Apps>Installed Apps>Snipping Tool and click on it,then select Advanced Options [accessed via the three [ ... ]at the far right ]>Repair ?

Edwin · Nov 15, 2025

OldMainframeGuy said:
I haven't had any problems though I notice that it's updated quite frequently lately; it seems that it went years without updates.

I installed the latest stable, 1.13.304, seems to be okay!

Vimes · Nov 15, 2025

joeandmarg0 said:
Have you tried ---Settings>Apps>Installed Apps>Snipping Tool and click on it,then select Advanced Options [accessed via the three [ ... ]at the far right ]>Repair ?

Yes, that got to be a regular occurrence, to either repair or to reset.
It happened previously when I was on the 24h2 build that updated to 25h2.
This clean install of 25h2 is doing the same.

It seems to be only that one application. But I have, for now, uninstalled it and just started to use ShareX.

Marked as solved.......................but only by uninstalling the snipping tool and using ShareX.

Scott · Nov 15, 2025

I'm on version 11.2509.30.0 and never had any issues with it.

Solved Snipping tool.......keeps needing to be fixed to work

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