Gnome Screenshot Copy Clipboard not working on Ubuntu 20.04

Question

I've just upgraded to Ubuntu 20.04 from 18.04. Gnome screenshot command does not work anymore. The command does not copy the screenshot to the clipboard.

gnome-screenshot -a -c

Answer 1

After months of banging my head and fingers, it is like so:

Main behavior:
Prtscn => Saves Full screen to folder [default ~/Pictures]

Modifiers

• +Ctrl => Saves to clipboard
• +Alt => Saves current window
• +Shift => Draws area to save

And all combinations. [except alt + shift which behaves like alt alone]

For Example:
Ctrl + Shift + Prtscn will let you select area and save it to clipboard

Answer 2

Please try with CTRL + Shift + PrintSc

In my case, the solution is in configuration > key combinations > search the command and update the key combination. Currently, I take a screenshot area with shift + PrintSc and it is working for me!

Answer 3

I found a workaround in https://askubuntu.com/a/1212806/1074472

gnome-screenshot -acf /tmp/test && cat /tmp/test | xclip -i -selection clipboard -target image/png

You need to have xclip installed.

Answer 4

I think the issue has been there for a while. It is probably due to a bug in recent versions of gnome-setting-daemon, which clears data in clipboard when the app is closed. Thus, when the command gnome-screenshot -a -c runs and finishes, the screenshot is saved to clipboard and then cleared. That is the best guess for now.

For more information and updates, please refer to https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-screenshot/-/issues/66

Answer 5

My solution (Ubuntu 20.04.1) was to use only the first part of Faith Baltaci's answer:

gnome-screenshot -acf /tmp/test && cat /tmp/test

Answer 6

Why not try Ctrl + Alt + PrintScreen. This copies the image into the clipboard instead of saving it in Pictures.

UPDATE JANUARY, 2025 : The default shortcuts in Ubuntu 24.04 are:

1. To take a screenshot and save it in the Pictures/Screenshots folder, use Shift + PrintScreen.
2. To take a screenshot of a window and copy it to the clipboard, use Alt + PrintScreen.
3. To take a screenshot interactively, just use PrintScreen.
4. Recording a screencast can be done with Shift + Alt + Ctrl + R.

Answer 7

Ubuntu 22.04

shift + ctrl + alt + r opens Record a screencast interactiveley

go to Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard shortcuts > Screenshots

Answer 8

On my Ubuntu 22.04, the Ctrl Shift + Prt Scr shortcut does not work if the Screenshot program is closed. This seems to be a bug, which didn't happen on my last Ubuntu 22.04 machine.

My solution was to start the Screenshot program (gnome-screenshot) on startup, by adding this command as a startup application:

gnome-screenshot --interactive

I leave the application running in the background and I can now use the shortcut again, for quick and easy screenshots to clipboard.

Answer 9

Updated on 29 March 2025

It works for me on Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS using the following command:

sh -c 'gnome-screenshot -acf /tmp/tmp.png'

Note: you can use this command as a custom keyboard shortcut