There are multiple ways to take a screenshot on a Mac ( or if you are arriving here from the PC world : photographic print screen on a Mac ) . We ’ll run through the dissimilar cardinal combination and the various refinements you could make to screenshots so that , for example , you could crop them to a particular size , or take a screen grab of an area that is bigger than your screen . We ’ll also look at what to do when you ca n’t screenshot what you want because you involve to be interact with your CRT screen to capture it .
Many of the method below will work on in all version of macOS , but there were a identification number of change to the screenshot options that arrived in macOS Mojave in 2018 , so if you are n’t running Mojave or later then you may not have access to them .
In this article , we show you how to take a screenshot of something on your Mac ’s showing , we ’ll also discuss how you may delete it , and where the range will be saved – since mickle of masses are indecipherable about where screenshots go on the Mac .
Screenshots are saved to your Desktop by default , although you canchange where your screenshots are save . loosely your screenshot will preserve as a .png file , which you may need to spread out in Preview or a similar mental image viewing broadcast , and then Export with a dissimilar file type extension ( e.g. Jpeg ) . We discuss ways to change the data formatting your screenshot is saved in below .
Which buttons screenshot on Mac?
There are in reality various key combinations you could employ to take a screenshot on a Mac , we ’ll run though each below :
Command + Shift + 3 to screenshot the whole screen
Press Command + Shift + 3 to take a screenshot of the whole screen .
If you have more than one concealment it will grab two screenshots , one of each screen .
By default these will be saved to your desktop .
Command + Shift + 4 to screenshot an area of the screen
This is the best pick if you require to take a screenshot of a selected area rather than the whole screen .
If you want the cover flash to be a certain dimension you could use the pixel measurement that appears beside the crosshairs . You could , for example , drag until the measurements are 500 x 500 if you wanted to screenshot a square .
Command + Shift + 5 for more options
Command + Shift + 5 is an alternative that go far in Mojave , so as long as you have updated the operating system since 2018 you will have this ability .
Press Command + Shift + 5 and you will see a pop up appear on your covert with a number of pick . These include : Capture Entire Screen , Capture Selected Window and Capture Selected Portion .
There are also options so you may make a sieve transcription of what ’s happen on your screen : Record Entire Screen and Record Selected Portion .
We often choose the Capture Selected Portion option which we have set to a certain attribute . This style we can always make screenshots at the same size of it .
Tips for better screenshots
Try these top below to hunky-dory - air your screenshots :
Where are screenshots saved on Mac?
By default , Mac screenshots are saved to the desktop . But in Mojave or later , you’re able to opt a change of other berth where your screenshot can be relieve .
If you were to utilise an app such as Grab ( available in early translation of macOS ) to take your screenshots then they might end up elsewhere . Grab is potential to save the screenshot to your Documents folder – and if you do n’t exchange the name of the ikon it will save as Untitled .
It is possible to change where screenshots are save in Mojave or afterward :
We have a separate clause aboutchanging where your screenshots goif you desire more information , include details of how to change the location of screenshots in High Sierra and older versions of Mac software .
How to choose dimensions of screenshot
There are a bit of ground why you might demand a screenshot to be a certain size . Perhaps you have been need to bring home the bacon an mental image that ’s a specified number of pixels , a specific size , or perhaps you require to take a number of screenshots that are the same attribute .
You might be thinking you take to redact the screenshot after you ’ve study it to reach this , but really you could opt the dimensions of the screenshot as you take it – and use the same dimension again .
If this is a one off and you require to take one projection screen burgeon forth at specific dimensions do this :
If you oft have to take range that are the same size – for example , we use 1,600 x 900 image so that tends to be our default – you could put up your crosshairs in procession by using Command + Shift + 5 . Here ’s how :
How to screenshot a window
What if you want to screengrab or screenshot a single window on your desktop ?
There are two ways to do this . You could press Command + Shift + 5 and prefer Capture Selected Windows . instead :
Click to take a screenshot of this window only – and the resulting image will have a dainty tincture effect , too .
How to Screenshot a window without a shadow
If the phantasma is a misdirection from the image you’re able to take a screenshot without it :
Screenshot a dropdown menu
The same proficiency can be used to screenshot menus : launch the menu you want to screenshot :
You ’ll get a screenshot of the fare ( although it wo n’t let in the title at the top of the dropdown – to screenshot that you ’ll need to use the standard Command + Shift + 4 and judge the option by eye ) .
And it does n’t contain there . you’re able to use the same proficiency to beguile neat screenshots of other screen piece of furniture that you might not opine of as window . Here ’s a screenshot of our Dock , which we grabbed in the same fashion – Command + Shift + 4 and then Space :
you could also capture the top streak , certain elements of the top bar on the right - hand side , or all the image on your desktop with the top bar , Dock and wallpaper figure removed .
How to take a timed screenshot
Some time it come out to be impossible to take a screenshot of what you want to capture because you need to be interacting with the software system at the same fourth dimension as you ask to be grabbing the screenshot . Luckily there is a way to do this .
To take a time screenshot ( Mojave or later ) you ask to do the following :
If you are in an old adaptation of macOS or Mac OS X you’re able to use Grab to take a timed screenshot . Press Command + Space and set out to type Grab , or search through the Utilities pamphlet ( which you ’ll obtain in the Applications booklet . )
Launch Grab and snap Capture in the top menu ; you ’ll see options for the usual screen captures ( a low Selection , a Window , or the entire Screen , each one with a shortcut that you could use to access it in futurity ) but also admit the handy pick of time screenshots ( prime Timed Screen ) , for when you require to set up a capture and then activate whatever it is you want to grab . The timekeeper is 10 seconds .
How to edit a screenshot on Mac
One of the most useful lineament in more recent adaptation of macOS is the power to edit screenshots without opening an software to do so .
When you take a screenshot ( macOS Mohave Desert or later ) , a thumbnail of it will appear in the bottom veracious corner of your silver screen . If you press that , the image will open in what Apple refers to as Quick Look , with various tools for draftsmanship , highlight , tot up shape , textbook boxes and even append your signature to the screenshot .
If you miss the thumbnail you may easily open up and edit the screenshot in the Preview app that is include as part of macOS . you’re able to even select the screenshot on the Desktop and press the Space taproom to launch the same Quick Look view that rent you make edits without opening the Preview app itself .
Here ’s how to get at those editing tools :
How to crop a screenshot
There are various shipway to pasture a screenshot . You could take the screen shot in the attribute you need as per the advice above , but if you ’d choose to refine it afterwards here ’s what to do :
How to save a screenshot as JPEG
Mac screenshots are saved as a PNG file by default . The format has its benefits – its uncompressed so you wo n’t lose any point , for example , but it has a with child data file size of it . If you need your screengrab to be as small
Since Apple remove Grab in the update to Mojave it also removed a really simple way to economize a screenshot as a JPEG or TIFF file . The easiest way to change the data formatting that your screenshot is bring through as would be to open it in a photograph redaction app , such as Photos or Preview or Photoshop and Save As .
However , if you are feel sure-footed enough , you could make a change in Terminal that should mean your Mac always pull through a screengrab as a .jpg , for instance .
In one-time versions of macOS , you’re able to use Grab to save screenshots as JPEG rather than PNG filing cabinet . It is also potential to choose to preserve your shot as PNG or TIFF .
Fixes for Mac screenshot problems
If you are having problems take screengrabs on your Mac we might have the solvent below .
Why are my screenshots blank?
This is not an rare happening , unfortunately .
If you ’ve carefully be the instructions above and you ’re sure the option , window or screen that you targeted for screenshot contained graphical ingredient but these now are n’t bear witness up in the double captivate , the chances are that the software you were using has take specifically to deflect screenshots . For example , you may not be able to screenshot a visual in the Netflix app .
You should be able to get around the problem by using either a different slice of software package that does the same affair .
When to do when Mac screenshot not working
If you are taking screenshots and they are n’t appear on your desktop it might be that you were accidentally urge on ctrl at the same time – which would re-create the shot to your pasteboard .
If it ’s not as unsubdivided as that , go to System options > Keyboard > Shortcuts and check that the shortcuts are activate under Screen shot .
Another hypothesis is that the usual crosscut have been depute to something else , so two-fold - check that here in System scene too .
