Have you ever been in a situation where you’re using your trusty Mac keyboard to remotely access a Windows PC via Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) and needed to take a screenshot? Mac keyboards don’t have a dedicated “Print Screen” key like Windows keyboards do, which can be frustrating when you need to quickly capture your screen in an RDP session. But what if there was a hidden key on your Mac keyboard that could actually trigger the Print Screen function on your Windows machine remotely?
It turns out, there might be a surprisingly simple solution using the F13 key. This discovery comes from a user who stumbled upon this trick while using an old Bluetooth Apple keyboard (Model A1016) with their Macbook Air 11 to control a Windows 7 PC via RDP.
cmd-shift-4 screen cap of the RDP session showing "Greenshot" just after it was invoked thru the RDP session via F13
The user, needing to take numerous screenshots for work and finding the “Snipping Tool” inadequate, was looking for a better solution. They discovered Greenshot, a free and open-source screenshot tool, but faced a challenge: their Mac keyboard lacked a Print Screen key. Inspired by online discussions about function keys, they tried pressing F13 during their RDP session – and it worked! F13 miraculously invoked the Print Screen function on the Windows 7 PC.
Greenshot, by default, is configured to use the Print Screen key for capturing screenshots. This user’s experience suggests that pressing F13 on a Mac keyboard can be mapped or interpreted as the Print Screen command within a Windows RDP session.
Print Screen Section From Greenshot showing me writing this on the PC invoked from the Mac's F13 thru RDP
Further experimentation revealed that even combinations like Option/Alt + F13 on the Mac keyboard could trigger a full-screen capture on the remote Windows PC via RDP. This indicates a deeper level of keyboard mapping and functionality than initially expected.
full screen cap invoked from the Mac thru RDP via the Mac Option/Alt key + F13 key
This unexpected functionality could be related to keyboard mapping within the RDP session or even specific hardware configurations. The user noted that their customer’s laptop had an “insert/prt sc” key next to F12, which might somehow relate to the F13 key on the Mac keyboard being interpreted as Print Screen.
Mac's full screen as I work
While this solution might not work for every setup, it’s definitely worth trying if you’re using a Mac keyboard to control a Windows PC via RDP and need to take screenshots. Especially if you are using tools like Greenshot, which rely on the Print Screen key. Greenshot’s configurable hotkeys offer further customization if the F13 key doesn’t work directly, allowing you to map a different key combination to the Print Screen function.
RDP window center stage
So, next time you’re in an RDP session from your Mac and need to grab a quick screenshot, give the F13 key a try. You might be surprised to find that your Mac keyboard does have a hidden Print Screen key after all!
