How to take a Screenshot – Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 2 Adaptive Keyboard

Adaptive keyboard sounds cool right?  It does make for a very clean, uncluttered and easy to use keyboard. But it also makes accessing some functions harder, more time consuming and without knowing the special commands you’d be forgiven for thinking several common keyboard functions were completely dropped. Welcome to Planet Lenovo!

Affects Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 2  – type 20A7 or 20A8 released 2014-2015 The only X1 model with an Adaptive Keyboard – Fun!
Adaptive Keyboard - X1 Carbon Gen 2

Issue: Print Screen and other common standard keyboard functions appear to be missing from Lenovo’s Adaptive Keyboard. Where are they? They’re there, just hidden! Lets find them and check out some other commands and screen capture options for the Thinkpad X1 Carbon Adaptive Keyboard.

Solutions!

Using the Adaptive Keyboard (see video below)

  • Full Screen Screenshot – Press and hold the FN key, tap the T key for a full screen capture
  • Active Window Screenshot – Press and hold the FN key, the Alt key and tap T for an active window capture
  • See the Lenovo video below for all six hidden key commands
    • FN + B = Break
    • FN + I  = Insert
    • FN + K = ScrLk
    • FN + P = Pause
    • FN + S = SysRq
    • FN + T = PrtScrn

Using the Windows Snipping Tool

Using the Lenovo On-Screen Keyboard

  • Search Programs for Keyboard & launch the On-Screen Keyboard
  • Click (or press on touch screen) the Alt + PrtScn keys

Using Third Party tools

  • Excellent free screen capture tool – GreenShot

Hidden Keys! This video reveals the magic keys which work with FN on planet Lenovo.

21 thoughts on “How to take a Screenshot – Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 2 Adaptive Keyboard

  1. It works on mine just that you won’t know till you go to a blank space and paste. once you’ve done so, the screenshot image will appear.

  2. For it to work press FN until the function keys appear then tap T. the go to ms Word and paste with ctrl V. It has just worked for me

  3. Hi all, FN+T works. The screenshot is copied on you mouse, you must paste it on another application (Paint, OneNote, email, etc) to see it.

  4. I like getgreenshot tool because it also takes a screenshot with complete scrolling the page or window.

  5. FN T does work, I’ve done it before. But where does the screen print go? Now I can’t find it.

    1. after doing FN T,
      you need to type Ctrl V to paste the website.
      FN T is just for copying the website , not pasting it.

  6. When you use the above method, the screen grab is copied. Open a program like PowerPoint, right click and paste.

    1. The 4th gen doesn’t have an Adaptive Keyboard thus the steps here wouldn’t apply, standard screenshot methods should work.

  7. Hi Lars are you sure you’re on an Adaptive keyboard? Carrie – there is no Print Screen on the adaptive keyboard (PrtScrn is FN + the letter ‘T’ ). You can use ALT + PrtScrn on the visual keyboard. X1 Carbon gen 3’s have gone back to a standard keyboard and even better a normal touch pad instead of a “trampoline”.

  8. The capture sctive windoww description does not seem to work:
    “Press and hold the FN key, the Alt key and tap T for an active window capture”. I press and hold Fn, then pressing (and holding Alt), and then tapping T. But is does not work. Any comments?

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