Why Knowing How to Screenshot on Mac is Essential
Being able to take screenshots on your Mac is an invaluable skill for both professional and personal use. Screenshots allow you to capture images of what’s displayed on your screen and save them as image files. This makes them extremely useful for:
- Creating visual instructions and tutorials
- Reporting bugs or issues with apps and websites
- Sharing information quickly in emails and documents
- Capturing memorable moments in games and media
- And much more
Knowing the various methods to take Mac screenshots can save you significant time and effort. The built-in keyboard shortcuts allow you to snap shots of your screen in just a couple of seconds. You can even edit and annotate your screenshots before sharing them with others.
Overall, mastering Mac screenshot skills helps boost your productivity and efficiency on a day-to-day basis.
Understanding Mac Screenshot Basics
Before diving into the specifics of capturing screenshots, it’s important to cover some key basics:
What is a Screenshot?
A screenshot simply refers to an image taken of whatever content is currently displayed on your Mac’s screen. This could be the entire screen, a single window, or a selected portion. The screenshot creates an image file that you can save, edit, share, or use for other purposes.
Screenshot File Formats
By default, screenshots on Mac are saved as .png image files. However, you can change the format to .jpg, .pdf, .tiff and more using preview or other editing tools. The benefit of .png is that it preserves transparency in images.
Default Screenshot Save Location
Unless specified otherwise, Mac screenshots are automatically saved to your desktop. This makes them easy to find quickly. You can customize the save location in your settings.
Built-in Screenshot Tools
Your Mac comes preloaded with keyboard-based screenshot tools as well as the Screenshot app. Together these allow you to capture anything displayed on your screen. Third party apps offer even more advanced functionality.
Now that you know the basics, let’s look at the various methods for taking screenshots on Mac.
Mac Screenshot Shortcuts: A Comprehensive List
The easiest way to take screenshots on Mac is by using keyboard shortcuts. No need to open any apps or tools. Just a couple of quick key combinations will capture your screen in seconds.
Here are all the default Mac screenshot keyboard shortcuts:
- Entire screen – Shift + Command + 3
- Selected portion – Shift + Command + 4
- Specific window – Shift + Command + 4 then Spacebar then click window
- Touch Bar – Shift + Command + 6
You can customize these shortcuts in your Mac’s keyboard settings if needed.
Let’s break down what each one does in more detail:
Shift + Command + 3
This captures your entire Mac screen from edge to edge and top to bottom. Everything displayed will be included in the screenshot. It’s the quickest option to grab everything at once.
Shift + Command + 4
This shortcut turns your mouse cursor into a crosshair which lets you click and drag to select a portion of the screen to screenshot. As you drag, a transparent overlay shows the area that will be captured. This is perfect for snapping sections of app windows or websites.
Shift + Command + 4 then Spacebar
After initiating the Shift + Command + 4 shortcut, pressing the spacebar changes your cursor into a camera icon. You can then hover over any open window and it will become highlighted. Click on the highlighted window to capture just that window in your screenshot. This is great for capturing individual app windows.
Shift + Command + 6
Exclusive to MacBooks with the Touch Bar, this shortcut snaps an image of whatever is currently displayed on your Touch Bar and saves it as a standard screenshot.
The best part about these keyboard-based tools is that they are fast, efficient, and always accessible whether you’re in an app, game, webpage, or anywhere else on your Mac.
Capturing Your Entire Screen: Step-by-Step Guide
If you want to screenshot everything all at once, use the Shift + Command + 3 shortcut. Here is a simple walkthrough:
- Make sure you have whatever content you want to capture displayed on the screen. This could be an app window, website, document, media file, etc.
- Press and hold Shift + Command + 3 simultaneously.
- You’ll hear the default Mac camera shutter sound indicating the screenshot has been taken.
- Open your desktop folder to find the screenshot image file.
- Double click the screenshot file to open the image in the preview app for viewing or editing.
- When ready, share or use the screenshot file however needed!
This method captures your entire display and saves it to the desktop within seconds. It’s the fastest way to grab shots of full app windows with all the content visible.
How to Screenshot a Portion of Your Screen
To take a screenshot of just a section of your display rather than everything visible, use the Shift + Command + 4 shortcut:
- Show what you want to capture on the screen.
- Press and hold Shift + Command + 4.
- Your mouse cursor will transform into a crosshair. Click and drag the crosshair to outline the area you want to screenshot. A transparent overlay displays what will be captured.
- When the overlay highlights the desired area, release the mouse button to take the screenshot.
- The screenshot will be saved to your desktop as an image file.
This method gives you precision control to screenshot any shape and size portion of content displayed on your Mac. It’s perfect for capturing irregular sections of app windows, websites, documents, maps, media files and more.
Taking Window-Specific Screenshots
Using the Shift + Command + 4 then Spacebar shortcut lets you easily capture screenshots of specific, individual windows open on Mac:
- Press and hold Shift + Command + 4 to initiate a screenshot.
- With the keys still held, press the spacebar once. Your mouse cursor will switch to a camera icon.
- Hover the camera icon over any open window and it will become highlighted with a blue glow.
- Click on the highlighted window to screenshot just that window (including its drop shadow and toolbar).
The benefit of this approach is that it allows you to capture individual windows separately from everything else displayed on your screen. This helps when trying to share issues with apps, creating software tutorials, explaining features, and more.
Advanced Screenshot Tools and Apps for Mac
While Mac’s built-in screenshot keyboard shortcuts work great, they lack advanced features for power users. Third party screenshot apps fill this gap by offering customizable capture tools, editing functions, sharing options, screenshot management and more.
Here are some of the top screenshot apps and tools available for Mac:
- Scroll capture entire webpages
- Draw, add text, blur sensitive areas
- Upload and share screenshots
- Create animated gifs
- Dim background to highlight captures
- Build image libraries
- One click batch captures
- Screen recording
- Browser extension for fast captures
- Clickable links in screenshots
- Instant sharing tools
- Blurring capabilities
- Open source & free
- Annotate screenshots
- Redact sensitive text
- Auto-upload to Imgur
These apps provide the advanced control, editing tools, sharing options, and overall convenience lacking in Mac’s default screenshot capabilities. Most offer free and paid versions.
Editing and Sharing Your Mac Screenshots
Once you’ve captured a screenshot, you’ll likely want to edit, annotate, or share it with others. Fortunately, Mac includes built-in tools that make screenshot editing and sharing easy.
When you take a screenshot using the keyboard shortcuts, a small thumbnail preview displays in the bottom right corner of your screen. You can click on the thumbnail preview to open editing and markup tools in the default Preview app.
In Preview you can:
- Crop, resize, and rotate
- Add text, shapes, and highlights
- Sign documents with digital signatures
- Redact sensitive text
- Export in different file formats (png, jpg, pdf, etc.)
To easily share edited screenshots, click the share button in the top right corner of the Preview window. This gives you options to share via Mail, Messages, AirDrop and more.
If you want more advanced editing capabilities, you can utilize other image editing tools like Acorn, Pixelmator, GIMP, Photoshop and more. Overall though, Preview offers plenty for most basic screenshot editing and markup needs.
Troubleshooting Common Mac Screenshot Issues
Even though capturing screenshots on Mac is fairly straightforward, you may occasionally run into issues getting it to work properly. Here are some common problems and their solutions:
Keyboard shortcuts not working
- Navigate to System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts and verify that all screenshot shortcuts are enabled. If not, re-enable them.
Can’t find screenshots after taking them
- Saved screenshots default to the desktop folder. Use Spotlight search to look for files starting with “Screenshot” or the date/time stamp.
Preview thumbnail not appearing after screenshot
- Thumbnail display can be turned off in Screenshot app settings. Re-enable the “Show Floating Thumbnail” option.
Selected portion capture not working
- Be sure to click and HOLD the mouse button while dragging crosshair selector overlay to actually take the screenshot.
Touch Bar screenshot shortcut not working
- You must add the Screenshot button to the Touch Bar first via Keyboard settings. Drag icon onto Touch Bar and re-try.
Following the above steps should get your Mac screenshots working again. For additional troubleshooting, try restarting your Mac or contacting Apple support.
Enhancing Your Workflow with Mac Screenshot Tips
Here are some tips and best practices to help you take great screenshots that enhance your productivity:
Add delay timer
Use the Screenshot app’s timer options to set a 5 or 10 second delay. This gives you time to prepare on-screen content before the screenshot snaps.
Annotate key details
Use Preview or third party apps to highlight, label, and point out notable elements on your screenshots before sharing them.
Create screenshot templates
Design custom backgrounds, banners, branding and reusable annotation shapes/text styles for consistent looking screenshots every time.
Automate uploads and sharing
Configure destinations like cloud storage, messaging apps, social media sites to automatically receive your screenshots instantly after taking them.
Manage screenshots
Use Finder tags and folders to organize categories of screenshots so they are easy search and manage over time.
Review and delete unneeded shots
Don’t leave unnecessary screenshots cluttering your device. Review them soon after capturing and delete any you don’t need.
Resize before sharing
Before inserting screenshots into documents, presentations, support tickets and other destinations, resize them appropriately so they fit nicely without wasting space.
Secure personal information
Carefully check your screenshots for any sensitive, private data that could be visible. Remove or cover up anything confidential before sharing screenshots publicly.
Conclusion
Learning how to quickly take screenshots on your Mac using the built-in keyboard shortcuts supercharges your ability to capture, edit, annotate and share images of your screen. Add the power of advanced third party screenshot apps and you unlock even more potential to boost your productivity. Use the tips covered in this guide to master Mac screenshots and enhance your daily workflow!
