To print screen (take a screenshot) on a Mac, you can use the following keyboard shortcuts:
- Capture the entire screen: Press Shift + Command (⌘) + 3. The screenshot is automatically saved as a PNG file on your desktop
- Capture a portion of the screen: Press Shift + Command + 4. Your cursor changes to a crosshair. Click and drag to select the area you want to capture, then release the mouse or trackpad button. The screenshot will be saved on your desktop
- 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 you want to capture. The screenshot will be saved on your desktop. Holding the Option key while clicking removes the window shadow
- Additional options: Press Shift + Command + 5 to bring up an on-screen screenshot toolbar with options to capture the entire screen, a window, or a selected portion, as well as screen recording features. You can also choose where to save the screenshot or set a timer
- Copy screenshot to clipboard: Add the Control key to any of the above shortcuts (e.g., Control + Shift + Command + 3) to copy the screenshot to the clipboard instead of saving it as a file, allowing you to paste it directly into another app
Screenshots are saved by default on the desktop as PNG files with names like "Picture 1.png"
. This covers all the common ways to print screen on a Mac.
