Why do Snipping Tool screenshots pasted into Paint appear scaled down depending ...

In Windows 11, screenshots taken using the Snipping Tool behave differently depending on the capture method. When using Print Screen (PrtSc) or Win+Shift+S, the resulting screenshot appears smaller or scaled down when pasted into Microsoft Paint. However, the same captures appear correctly in other applications, and saved PNG files are always full resolution. This indicates that the issue is not with the actual screenshot quality, but with how Microsoft Paint interprets the clipboard image data and DPI scaling information.

I checked the settings, but there is nothing related to screenshot resolution, and I am certain I have not changed my display resolution. The issue started suddenly without any settings change.

This issue appears to have started approximately 1–2 weeks ago. Around that time, Windows 11 also received an update on my system. My current system details are: Windows 11 Pro version 25H2 (OS build 26200.8655) with Feature Experience Pack 1000.26100.315.0.

Display settings:

• Main monitor: 3440 × 1440 @ 100% scaling (never changed)
• Secondary monitor: 1920 × 1080 @ 150% scaling (never changed)
• HDR: Off

Snipping Tool:

• Format: PNG (auto-saved to disk) (never changed)
• Clipboard image appears lower resolution (~65% of saved PNG)
• Full print screen is full resolution while region selection is 65%

GPU:

• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090
• Driver version: 32.0.15.9186
• DirectX:12 (Feature Level 12.2)

This issue only occurs when a screenshot taken using Region Selection is pasted directly into Microsoft Paint. In all other applications, the image pastes correctly and retains its expected resolution.

Workaround:

Set both monitors to 100% display scaling. If you don't want to change the scaling, another workaround is to paste the screenshot into GIMP or another image editing application. You can also use Alt+PrtScn and crop the image afterward. Alternatively, open the Snipping Tool directly and click the New button to take the screenshot.

After using any of these methods, pasting into Microsoft Paint will work correctly.

Why do Snipping Tool screenshots pasted into Paint appear scaled down depending on capture method in Windows 11?

I had this exact same issue (66% size, also started randomly some weeks ago) and just discovered something: the issue only happens when I paste the screenshot in PAINT (Windows 11). It seems that PAINT is the culprit somehow (possibly by ignoring some metadata regarding the scaling of the thing being pasted?). I assume you're also pasting your screenshots in Paint because you mentioned "clipboard images", but YMMV.

I would suggest you to do these 2 tests:

1. Open the Snipping Tool app directly (not with the keyboard shortcuts) and take the screenshot with it. It shows a preview in the app window. Does it look OK?

2. Take the screenshot with the keyboard shortcut but then paste it in a document in Google Docs or in any other application (or even here in SU directly). Does it look OK? It does for me.

I hope this helps. This was driving me crazy.