Screenshotting is a great way to capture important information or take a quick picture of what you’re working on. With the right tools and techniques, you can screenshot any object or window on your computer in just a few simple steps. Here are five tips for taking screenshots on a Mac:
How to take a screenshot on a Mac
To take a screenshot on a Mac, follow these simple steps:
- Press Command + Shift + 3. This will take a screenshot of the entire screen and save it as a PNG file on your desktop.
- To take a screenshot of just a portion of the screen, press Command + Shift + 4 instead. This will bring up a crosshair cursor that you can use to select the area you want to capture. Once you’ve made your selection, the screenshot will be saved as a PNG file on your desktop.
- To take a screenshot of an active window, press Command + Shift + 5 instead. This will bring up a menu that allows you to choose whether to capture the entire window or just its contents (i.e., without the title bar). Once you make your selection, the screenshot will be saved as a PNG file on your desktop.
- That’s all there is to it! Now you know how to take screenshots on your Mac using either keyboard shortcuts or the built-in Grab utility
How to take a screenshot of your entire screen
Whether you want to capture a full-page screenshot or just a portion of the screen, taking a screenshot on a Mac is easy to do. Here’s how:
To take a screenshot of your entire screen, press Shift-Command (⌘)-3. To take a screenshot of part of your screen, press Shift-Command (⌘)-4, then drag the crosshair pointer to select the area you want to capture. When you’ve selected the area you want, release your mouse or trackpad button. To cancel taking the screenshot, press the Esc (Escape) key before clicking your mouse or trackpad button.
Your screenshots are saved automatically as .png files on your desktop with the following naming convention: “Screen Shot date at time.png.”
How to take a screenshot of a selected portion of your screen
To take a screenshot of a selected portion of your screen on Mac, follow these steps:
1. Press Shift-Command-4. The pointer changes to a crosshair.
2. Move the crosshair to where you want to start the screenshot, then drag to select an area. To move the entire selection, press and hold Space bar while dragging.
3. When you’ve selected the area you want, release your mouse or trackpad button. To cancel taking the screenshot, press the Esc (Escape) key before you release the button.
4. A thumbnail of your screenshot briefly appears in the lower-right corner of your screen.* Click it to edit and share** your screenshot using Preview; otherwise, leave it where it is so you can find it later in Finder under Screenshots (located in Pictures).
How to take a screenshot of a window
In order to take a screenshot of a window on your mac, you will need to press the following keys simultaneously: command + shift + 4. This will bring up the crosshair tool, which you can then use to select the window that you would like to screenshot. Once you have selected the window, it will be captured in a file on your desktop.
How to take a screenshot of your Touch Bar
The Touch Bar is one of the most innovative features on the new MacBook Pro. It’s a small OLED display that sits above the keyboard and can be used to control various functions on your Mac. One of the things you can do with the Touch Bar is take a screenshot of your entire screen or just a portion of it. Here’s how:
To take a screenshot of your entire screen, simply press Shift-Command (⌘)-6 on your keyboard. Your screenshot will be saved as a PNG file on your desktop.
To take a screenshot of just a portion of your screen, press Shift-Command (⌘)-4 on your keyboard. This will bring up a crosshair cursor that you can use to select the area you want to capture. Once you’ve made your selection, release the keys and your screenshot will be saved as a PNG file on your desktop.
You can also take screenshots using the Touch Bar itself. To do this, simply tap the “Screenshot” button located in the Control Strip (the rightmost section of the Touch Bar). From here, you can choose whether to capture your entire screen or just a portion of it. Your screenshot will be saved as a PNG file on your desktop regardless of which option you choose.
Frequently Asked Questions about taking screenshots on a Mac
How do I take a screenshot on my Mac?
To take a screenshot on your Mac, simply press Command + Shift + 3 all at the same time. This will snapshot the entire screen and save it as a PNG file on your desktop. If you’d like to just capture a portion of the screen, press Command + Shift + 4 instead. Doing so will turn your cursor into a crosshair; click and drag to select the area you’d like to capture, then release the mouse button or trackpad to snap the shot. You can also take screenshots of specific windows by pressing Command + Shift + 5; this will bring up an overlay that lets you select which window or menu you want to capture.
How do I copy a screenshot without saving it as a file?
To copy a screenshot directly to your clipboard instead of saving it as a file, simply add the Control key into the mix when taking your screenshot. So, for example, if you wanted to take a full-screen screenshot and copy it to your clipboard instead of saving it as a PNG file on your desktop, you would press Command + Control + Shift + 3 all at once. For more information about how to use keyboard shortcuts with screenshots on macOS Mojave or later, check out Apple’s support page .
Can I annotate my screenshots before saving them?
Yes! In fact, there are several different ways you can annotate or edit your screenshots after taking them in macOS Mojave or later. The easiest way is probably through Preview ; after taking your screenshot (either with one of the aforementioned keyboard shortcuts or through Grab ), simply open it in Preview and click on the “Markup” icon in the toolbar (it looks like a pencil). From there, you can use any of Preview’s built-in annotation tools — such as highlighting text or adding shapes — before exporting/saving your final version. Another option is to use Apple’s new Screenshot app , which offers similar annotation features; however, we find that Preview is generally more intuitive and user-friendly (plus it’s already installed on every Mac).
Troubleshooting screenshots on a Mac
1. If you’re having trouble taking screenshots on your Mac, the first thing to check is whether you have the proper permissions set. To do this, open System Preferences and click on Security & Privacy. Then, click on the Privacy tab and make sure that Screen Recording is checked in the list of applications that are allowed to access your computer’s camera and microphone.
2. If you’re still having trouble taking screenshots after checking your permissions, try restarting your computer. This will often fix any minor software glitches that might be causing the problem.
3. If you’re still having trouble taking screenshots, there may be an issue with your operating system’s display settings. To check this, open System Preferences and click on Displays. Then, make sure that your display is set to its optimal resolution and refresh rate.
4. If you’re still having trouble taking screenshots, it may be due to a hardware issue with your Mac’s graphics card or display cable. In this case, you’ll need to take your Mac to an Apple Store or authorized service provider for diagnosis and repair