How to Take a Screenshot on Your Mac (Using Several Methods)

When you want to take a screenshot on your Mac, you have both native and third-party tools to choose from. Whether you want to screen clip the whole screen or just capture a part of it, macOS has all the options covered for you.

So, let's see how to make the best of the screenshot options on your Mac and explore some useful tricks along the way.

How to Take Screenshots on a Mac Using Keyboard Shortcuts

You can choose from a variety of different keyboard shortcuts to screen clip your Mac. We'll go through your options one by one, as the best one to use depends on what exactly you want to take a screenshot of.

Keep in mind that these screenshot shortcuts work on every Mac model, so they're how you take a screenshot on a MacBook Pro, a MacBook Air, or an iMac.

If the shortcuts below don't work, ensure that they're enabled under System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts > Screenshots.)

Take a Screenshot of the Entire Screen on Your Mac

For this, you need to press Cmd + Shift + 3.

When you do that you'll see an image appear in the bottom-right corner of your screen. You can click on the image to edit it or do nothing and let it auto-save to your desktop. The screenshot will save as a PNG file.

Screen Clip Part of a Mac Window

You'll need to press Cmd + Shift + 4 if you want to take a screenshot of a particular portion of your Mac screen. This shortcut turns the cursor into a crosshair; you can then click and drag it across the part of the screen you want to capture.

While making the selection, hold down the Shift key if you want to limit your adjustments to either the X or Y axis. To resize your selection proportionally from the center, hold down the Option key. And if you want to move the selection, hold down Space instead.

Changed your mind about taking the screenshot? No problem. Hit the Escape key to cancel the action.

Once you're satisfied with the selection, release the mouse. The screenshot then ends up on the desktop as a PNG file. As above, if you want to copy the captured image to the clipboard instead of saving it, you'll need to tweak the shortcut a bit. Modify the shortcut to Control + Cmd + Shift + 4 to copy what you capture.

Capture an Application Window

Want to take a screenshot of the active window? First hit Cmd + Shift + 4. Then hit Space, and you'll see the crosshair turn into a camera.

The active window appears highlighted, and if you click the camera, you get a screenshot of the app window. Before clicking, you can also choose to move the focus of the camera to a different window.

If you want to take a timed screenshot, you'll need to open your Mac's built-in screenshot utility. We'll discuss this in the next section.

How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac With the Built-In App

You can screen clip your Mac using the tool that comes pre-installed in all the latest Mac systems. To access it, open the Screenshot app from your Utilities folder.

You can also bring up the app using the shortcut Cmd + Shift + 5.

If your Mac is running macOS High Sierra or earlier, look for the Grab app instead of Screenshot in the Utilities folder.

With Screenshot, Apple simplified the whole screen-capture process. The app is useful if you prefer a more point-and-click approach over keyboard shortcuts.

Screenshot's toolbar has three buttons that make screen capturing on macOS quick and painless: Capture Entire Screen, Capture Selected Window, and Capture Selected Portion. (The app also has a couple of buttons for screen recording.)

For timed selections, click on the Options button in the toolbar. You'll find the timer options in the menu that shows up.

After you take a screenshot using any of the options above, you'll see a tiny thumbnail preview at the bottom-right of the screen. Click on it to reveal a full-sized preview window with tools to edit, annotate, and delete the screenshot. Here, you can add text, sketches, shapes, and even your signature.

The full-sized preview window also contains an option to open the screenshot with other Mac apps like Notes, Mail, and Reminders.

If you want to turn off the thumbnail feature, uncheck the Show Floating Thumbnail item in the Options menu from the screenshot toolbar.

Configuring Screen Grab Settings on a Mac

If you're struggling to find all your Mac screenshots, you might want to change the default screenshot format or change where screenshots save to on your Mac. In such cases, you'll need to execute a command from the Terminal app.

For this, open the Terminal from the Utilities folder and type the commands below.

We have appended each command with a second command that's needed to cement the changes. It reads as follows:

killall SystemUIServer

To Change the Default Screenshot Format

You can save screenshots in other formats, like JPG, BMP, and PDF. To do so, you'll need to replace [file type] in the command below with the relevant three-letter format name:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture type [file type] && killall SystemUIServer

To Change Where Screenshots Get Saved

On macOS Mojave and, you can change the default destination folder directly from the Screenshot app. To do this, click on the Options button in the screenshot toolbar and select a folder of your choice under the Save To section of the resulting menu.

On macOS High Sierra and earlier, you need to rely on this Terminal command:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture location [path] && killall SystemUIServer

Replace [path] with a new Finder save location that reads something like this:

/Users/[Username]/Pictures/Screenshots

You can either type the file path into Terminal, or drag and drop the relevant folder into Terminal to paste its file path.

Alternatively, you can also copy the file path and then paste it into Terminal. You'll find the Copy as File Path command in the destination folder's control-click menu. However, the command appears only when you hold down the Option key while control-clicking.

To Change the Default File Name for Screenshots

If you want to replace the default prefix (Screen Shot) in screenshot names with a different keyword, try this command:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture name [file name] && killall SystemUIServer

Be sure to replace [file name] in the command with the new prefix before execution.

If you'd rather not fiddle with the Terminal, install a utility that lets you tweak macOS settings without Terminal commands.

How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac With Preview

The Preview app on your Mac also allows you to take screenshots.

The advantage of using Preview for screenshots is that you can specify a different file format and save location with each new capture. Of course, you can also instantly edit the screenshot in Preview before saving it.

You'll find the screenshot tools in Preview under File > Take Screenshot. Unfortunately, a timed screenshot option is not available here.

How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac With Third-Party Apps

Want advanced features that aren't included in the built-in screen-capture tools on your Mac? Try one of the three third-party options below.

1. Monosnap

This app sits in your Mac's menu bar and you can access it with a keyboard shortcut. Monosnap lets you edit screenshots and add arrows, boxes, and text to them. You can also blur elements, highlight specific areas, and upload screenshots to the cloud.

Download: Monosnap (Free)

2. Skitch

This app lets you capture various onscreen elements and edit or annotate them without having to open another app. Skitch also supports timed screenshots.

Download: Skitch (Free)

3. Snappy

Get Snappy if your work involves collaborating on screenshots or "snaps" often. You can not only edit and annotate screenshots as usual, but also share them with ease. The sharing options include a password-protection feature and a self-destruct timer.

Download: Snappy (Free)

You Can Take Screenshots on Other Apple Devices, Too

Now you know how to take a screenshot on your Mac quickly and efficiently. macOS gives you the tools to capture whatever you need, whether you need to take screenshots on a MacBook Pro, iMac, or another macOS device.

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