`Print Screen` stopped opening the native GNOME screenshot UI on Zorin OS

General Help
1

On Zorin OS, the Print Screen key no longer opens the native GNOME screenshot UI.

The keybinding appears to be correctly configured, but pressing Print does nothing.

Environment

  • Zorin OS: 18.1

  • zorin-os-desktop package: 1.7.9

  • GNOME Shell: 46.0

  • gnome-screenshot: 41.0

  • Session type: Wayland

  • Desktop session: zorin

  • Kernel: Linux 6.17.0-22-generic

Expected behavior

Pressing Print Screen should open the native GNOME screenshot UI.

Actual behavior

Pressing Print Screen does nothing.

Current keybindings

These are the active GNOME screenshot bindings:

  • show-screenshot-ui = ['Print']

  • screenshot = ['<Shift>Print']

  • screenshot-window = ['<Alt>Print']

What I tested

  1. Confirmed that the GNOME screenshot keybindings are set correctly.

  2. Confirmed that org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.MediaKeys.service is running.

  3. Reset the screenshot-related keybindings back to defaults.

  4. Removed a temporary custom shortcut that had been created during troubleshooting.

  5. Removed Flameshot and its extra screenshot permission after testing it as a workaround.

  6. Restarted the GNOME media keys target/service in the user session.

After all of that, the binding still shows Print, but pressing the key still does nothing.

Additional observations

  • Shift+Print and Alt+Print were also involved during testing, but the final state was restored to the GNOME defaults.

  • The Print binding is currently back on org.gnome.shell.keybindings show-screenshot-ui.

  • The issue may be related to the current GNOME Shell session keeping a stale key grab or stale internal state after screenshot shortcut changes.

Final restored state

This is the state after cleanup:

  • Native GNOME screenshot UI restored as the intended handler for Print

  • No custom Print shortcut left in org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys

  • Temporary Flameshot install removed

  • Temporary Flatpak screenshot permission removed

Question

Is this a known issue on Zorin OS with GNOME Shell 46 on Wayland?

If the keybinding is visibly correct in gsettings, but Print still does nothing, what is the recommended way to fully reset the screenshot shortcut handling in the current session without logging out?

Useful command output


$ gsettings list-recursively org.gnome.shell.keybindings | rg 'show-screenshot-ui|screenshot-window|^org\.gnome\.shell\.keybindings screenshot '

org.gnome.shell.keybindings screenshot ['<Shift>Print']

org.gnome.shell.keybindings screenshot-window ['<Alt>Print']

org.gnome.shell.keybindings show-screenshot-ui ['Print']



$ gsettings get org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys custom-keybindings

['/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/media-keys/custom-keybindings/custom1/', '/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/media-keys/custom-keybindings/custom2/']



$ systemctl --user --no-pager --full status org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.MediaKeys.service

Active: active (running)

Date observed

Observed on May 3, 2026.
After upgrade from 18 to 18.1

2

Hello and welcome,
Did you try to switch to X11 ?

1 Like
3

Welcome to the Forum!

Do You maybe have a 2nd Keyboard at Hand? If yes, maybe try it with this to check if the Key could have a Malfunction.

5

I don't want to switch to x11 because my monitors, having different refresh rates, would have a limited framerate. With Wayland, I managed to get each one to operate at its maximum frequency.

6

It's not malfunction, because now, when I click the key, the interface appears, but when I take a screenshot using the area selection tool, nothing happens; it only works when it's a specific screen or window.

7

I understand and of course is important for you, but it seem the area selection have a bug with Wayland.
you can try Flameshot with this script

1 Like
8

It's not the same UI but it worked, thanks :slight_smile:

1 Like
9

The gnome-screenshot app is not compatible with Wayland. Unusable in Gnome since Ubuntu 25.10 since there is no X11 session.

2 Likes
10

Thank you. <3

11

Workaround: native GNOME screenshot area mode broken on Zorin session, works on Ubuntu session

I ran into a strange screenshot issue and wanted to share the workaround in case it helps someone else.

Problem

On the Zorin login session, the native GNOME screenshot UI would open, but area mode was broken.

What happened:

  • Full screen screenshots worked
  • Window screenshots worked
  • The native screenshot UI opened normally
  • But when selecting an area, it would fail

After some debugging, it looked like the area screenshot backend itself was not broken.
The problem seemed to be specific to the GNOME screenshot UI in the Zorin session.

Additional issue

I also tested Flameshot.

It worked partially, but not the way I wanted:

  • I could open it
  • But Ctrl+C did not copy the selected screenshot
  • Clicking the Copy button also did not copy
  • I ended up using a custom script as a workaround

That script worked, but I wanted the normal screenshot UI and options back.

What I found

After more debugging, the fix was surprisingly simple:

  1. Log out
  2. On the login screen, choose Ubuntu instead of Zorin
  3. Log in again

Result

After switching from the Zorin session to the Ubuntu session:

  • The native GNOME screenshot UI still opened normally
  • Area mode started working correctly
  • The issue disappeared

Conclusion

In my case, the problem was not the Print Screen key itself and not the screenshot backend.

It seems to be related specifically to the Zorin session/environment, because switching to the Ubuntu session fixed the problem immediately.

If anyone else is seeing this behavior, try switching sessions before spending too much time debugging tools like Flameshot or custom shortcuts.

13

It seems that some settings on your system have been changed, because the default Zorin installation doesn't include an Ubuntu session. But I'm glad you found a solution that works.

1 Like
14

Did You have installed the Ubuntu Desktop on Zorin? Because Zorin doesn't have by default an Ubuntu Option.

1 Like
15

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