Windows 11’s Snipping Tool gets smart about copying table data

Microsoft’s Snipping Tool has become progressively more useful, with the ability to make screen recordings as well as screenshots. Today Microsoft begins testing a new addition: the ability to copy data formatted as a table directly to a spreadsheet.

Put another way, if Snipping Tool thinks that you’re copying data in rows and columns, like a spreadsheet, it will preserve the formatting. It’s a simple but useful addition that, once you use it, you’ll probably appreciate.

Formally, the new additions will be added to version 11.2409.22.0 of Snipping Tool in conjunction with the Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2122 (Dev Channel) build released today. Dev Channel builds are true test builds, so there’s no guarantee that it will be released with the next updates to Windows or the Windows native apps.

“To get started, capture a screenshot with table data, select ‘Text actions,’ and select ‘Copy as table,’ Microsoft’s build notes say. “You can paste the structured table data from there! Please note: the current implementation of the feature works best when your screenshot only includes one table.”

You can see an example in the primary image at the top of this page.

About the only note that I’d add is that this particular set of formatting is a feature of Snipping Tool, not the CTRL+C, CTRL+V shortcuts for Copy and Paste. You probably instinctively use those shortcuts while copying data. However, this new feature is designed for when there’s some confusion as to what format the data is in. I still use the standard Copy and Paste commands to copy data from one spreadsheet to another, and I’d expect that behavior to persist.

The new copy function coexists along with Snipping Tool’s screen recording function, which is more useful than you might think.