To take a screenshot on a Mac, you have several keyboard shortcuts depending on what you want to capture:
- Capture the entire screen: Press and release Shift + Command + 3. The screenshot will be saved to your desktop, and a thumbnail may appear in the corner for quick editing
- Capture a portion of the screen: Press and release Shift + Command + 4. The cursor changes to a crosshair. Click and drag to select the area you want to capture, then release the mouse or trackpad button to take the screenshot. Press Esc to cancel. You can also move the selected area by holding the Space bar while dragging
- Capture a specific window or menu: Press Shift + Command + 4, then press the Space bar. The cursor changes to a camera icon. Click the window or menu to capture it. To exclude the window shadow, hold the Option key while clicking
- Screenshot toolbar with more options: Press Shift + Command + 5 to bring up a toolbar that lets you capture the entire screen, a window, or a selected portion, as well as record your screen. This toolbar also provides options for where to save your screenshot, setting a timer, and showing the mouse pointer
- Capture the Touch Bar (MacBook Pro models with Touch Bar): Press Shift + Command + 6
Additionally, if you want to copy the screenshot to the clipboard instead of saving it as a file, add the Control key to any of the shortcuts above (e.g., Shift + Command + Control + 3)
. Screenshots are by default saved as files on your desktop, but you can edit or share them immediately by clicking the thumbnail that appears briefly after capturing
. This covers the main ways to take screenshots on a Mac efficiently.
