To take a screenshot on a MacBook, you have several keyboard shortcut options 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 Shift + Command + 4. Your cursor will turn into a crosshair. Click and drag to select the area you want to capture, then release the mouse or trackpad button to take the screenshot. You can press Esc to cancel. A thumbnail may appear for editing
- 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. To exclude the window's shadow, hold the Option key while clicking. The screenshot is saved to your desktop with an optional thumbnail preview
- Additional options:
- Press Shift + Command + 5 to bring up a screenshot toolbar with options to capture the entire screen, a window, or a selected portion, as well as screen recording features
* On MacBooks with a Touch Bar, press **Shift + Command + 6** to capture the Touch Bar screen
* To copy a screenshot directly to the clipboard instead of saving it, add the Control key to any of the above shortcuts (e.g., Control + Shift + Command + 3)
Screenshots are saved by default to the desktop, but you can change the save location and other settings via the Shift + Command + 5 options menu
. In summary, the most common and quick method is pressing Shift + Command + 3 for a full screen or Shift + Command + 4 for selecting a portion or window
