Taking a screenshot on your Mac, often referred to as “print screen” by users familiar with Windows, is a simple yet essential skill. Whether you need to capture your entire screen, a specific window, or just a selected portion, macOS offers a range of built-in tools to get the job done quickly and efficiently. This guide will walk you through everything you need to know about taking screenshots on your Mac, ensuring you never miss capturing important on-screen information.
Capture Your Entire Mac Screen
The quickest way to capture everything visible on your Mac display is using a simple keyboard shortcut.
- Press and hold these three keys simultaneously: Shift, Command, and 3.
- You’ll hear a camera shutter sound, and a thumbnail of your screenshot will briefly appear in the corner of your screen.
- Click the thumbnail to open and edit the screenshot immediately. If you don’t click, the screenshot will automatically be saved to your desktop as a PNG file named “Screen Shot [date] at [time].png”.
Screenshot of entire Mac desktop
This method is perfect for quickly grabbing a full view of your screen, whether it’s for sharing a funny meme, documenting an error message, or simply saving a visual record of what you’re working on.
Capture a Portion of Your Mac Screen
Sometimes, you only need to capture a specific area of your screen. macOS allows you to select and screenshot just a portion with another handy shortcut.
- Press and hold these three keys together: Shift, Command, and 4.
- Your cursor will transform into a crosshair pointer.
- Click and drag the crosshair to select the rectangular area you want to capture. As you drag, you’ll see a selection box appear, showing the area you’re about to screenshot.
- Release the mouse or trackpad button to take the screenshot.
- Cancel the screenshot: Press the Esc (Escape) key before releasing the mouse button.
- Move the selection area: While dragging, press and hold the Space bar to move the entire selection box without resizing it.
Diagram showing Shift Command 4 keys for partial screenshot on Mac keyboard
- Similar to capturing the entire screen, a thumbnail will appear, allowing you to edit immediately, or the screenshot will save to your desktop.
This method is ideal for capturing specific details, ignoring unnecessary parts of your screen, like when you want to share a snippet of a document or focus on a particular image on a webpage.
Screenshot of a portion of Safari browser window on macOS Big Sur
Capture a Window or Menu on Mac
Need to capture a specific window, like a browser window or a dropdown menu? macOS has a dedicated shortcut for that too.
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Open the window or menu you wish to capture. Ensure it’s active and on top.
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Press and hold these three keys: Shift, Command, and 4, then press the Space bar once.
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The crosshair pointer will change into a camera icon.
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Click on the window or menu you want to screenshot. The window will be highlighted, indicating it’s selected for capture.
- Exclude window shadow: Hold down the Option (Alt) key while clicking to capture the window without its shadow.
- Cancel the screenshot: Press the Esc (Escape) key before clicking.
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Again, a thumbnail preview will appear, or the screenshot will be saved to your desktop.
This is incredibly useful for capturing application interfaces, specific dialog boxes, or menu options for tutorials or documentation.
Screenshot of a Safari browser window on macOS Big Sur, capturing only the window
Record Your Mac Screen
Beyond static screenshots, macOS also allows you to record video of your screen. You can record the entire screen or a selected portion. You can use either the Screenshot app or QuickTime Player for screen recording. For detailed steps, refer to Apple’s guide on how to record the screen on your Mac.
Finding Your Screenshots
By default, all screenshots and screen recordings are saved to your desktop. They are named starting with “Screen Shot” or “Screen Recording,” followed by the date and time they were taken, and saved as PNG (.png) or MOV (.mov) files respectively.
If you can’t immediately see your screenshots, they might be hidden under other windows. To easily locate them, open Finder, and in the menu bar, go to Go > Desktop, or simply click Desktop in the Finder sidebar.
Advanced Screenshot Options
macOS offers even more flexibility for taking screenshots:
- Save to Clipboard: To save a screenshot directly to your clipboard instead of saving it as a file, hold down the Control key while using any of the screenshot shortcuts (e.g., Control-Shift-Command-3 for full screen). You can then paste the screenshot directly into applications.
- Screenshot App (Shift-Command-5): In macOS Mojave and later, pressing Shift-Command-5 opens the Screenshot app toolbar at the bottom of your screen. This powerful tool provides buttons for capturing the entire screen, a window, or a selected portion, as well as options for screen recording, setting a timer, and choosing where to save your screenshots. Explore the Screenshot app in Utilities folder within your Applications folder for more advanced settings.
While some applications, like video streaming services, may prevent screenshots of their content for copyright reasons, macOS provides robust and versatile screenshot capabilities for the vast majority of your needs. Mastering these techniques will significantly enhance your productivity and communication on your Mac.
