To take a screenshot on a Mac, you have several keyboard shortcuts depending on what you want to capture:
- Capture the entire screen: Press Shift + Command + 3 simultaneously. The screenshot will be saved to your desktop, and a thumbnail may appear in the corner for quick editing
- Capture a selected portion of the screen: Press Shift + Command + 4. The cursor changes to a crosshair, allowing you to click and drag to select the area you want to capture. Release the mouse or trackpad button to take the screenshot. You can press Esc to cancel or hold the Space bar to move the selection
- 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. Hold the Option key while clicking to exclude the window shadow
- Screenshot options panel: Press Shift + Command + 5 to bring up a panel 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 and set a timer
- Capture the Touch Bar (if your Mac has one): Press Shift + Command + 6
Additional tips:
- Adding the Control key (e.g., Shift + Command + Control + 3 or 4) copies the screenshot to the clipboard instead of saving it as a file, allowing you to paste it directly into other applications
- Screenshots are saved as PNG files on the desktop by default
These shortcuts provide flexible ways to capture your screen efficiently on a Mac
