How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac
Method 1: Taking a Full-Screen Screenshot
Press Command (β) + Shift + 3
This captures the entire screen.
The screenshot will be saved automatically to your desktop.
Method 2: Capturing a Selected Portion of the Screen
Press Command (β) + Shift + 4
Your cursor will change to a crosshair.
Select the Area to Capture
Click and drag to select the area you want to capture.
Release the mouse button to take the screenshot.
The screenshot will be saved automatically to your desktop.
Method 3: Capturing a Specific Window
Press Command (β) + Shift + 4
Your cursor will change to a crosshair.
Press the Space Bar
The cursor will change to a camera icon.
Select the Window
Click on the window you want to capture.
The screenshot will be saved automatically to your desktop.
Method 4: Using the Screenshot Toolbar (macOS Mojave and later)
Press Command (β) + Shift + 5
This opens the screenshot toolbar at the bottom of the screen.
Choose Your Screenshot Option
You can choose from several options: Capture Entire Screen, Capture Selected Window, or Capture Selected Portion.
Select the desired option.
Take the Screenshot
If you choose
Capture Entire Screen
, click anywhere on the screen to take the screenshot.If you choose
Capture Selected Window
, click on the window you want to capture.If you choose
Capture Selected Portion
, drag to select the area and clickCapture
in the toolbar.
Save the Screenshot
The screenshot will be saved to your desktop by default.
Method 5: Using the Preview App
Open Preview
Go to
Applications
and openPreview
.
Select File > Take Screenshot
Choose from
From Selection
,From Window
, orFrom Entire Screen
.
Take the Screenshot
Follow the prompts to capture the screenshot based on your selection.
Save the Screenshot
The screenshot will open in a new Preview window.
Save the file by selecting
File > Save
.
By following these steps, you can easily take screenshots on a Mac using different methods based on your needs.