How to take screenshot on Mac

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Snapping Your Screen: How to Take Screenshots on a Mac

There are moments when you stumble upon something on your Mac screen that you want to capture and save. Maybe it’s a funny meme, a helpful tutorial, or an important error message. Thankfully, taking screenshots on a Mac is a breeze. Here’s how you can do it in different ways:

Capturing the Entire Screen:

The most common method is to grab a screenshot of your whole screen. Simply press and hold these three keys together: Shift + Command + 3. You’ll see a brief flash on your screen, and the screenshot will be saved to your desktop.

Taking a Screenshot of a Specific Area:

If you only need a portion of your screen, there’s a shortcut for that too. Press and hold Shift + Command + 4. Your cursor will turn into a crosshair. Drag it across the area you want to capture and release the mouse button. Similar to capturing the entire screen, the screenshot will be saved on your desktop.

Snagging a Window or Menu:

Let’s say you want to capture a specific window or the menu bar. Here’s what to do:

  1. Press and hold Shift + Command + 4.
  2. Press the Space bar along with the keys mentioned above. This changes your cursor to a camera icon.
  3. Move the camera icon over the window or menu bar you want to capture. The window or menu will be highlighted.
  4. Click on the window or menu to capture the screenshot.

Using the Screenshot Toolbar (macOS Mojave and Later)

For more options and control over your screenshots, Apple introduced the Screenshot Toolbar in macOS Mojave. Here’s how to access it:

  1. Press and hold Shift + Command + 5.
  2. This will display the Screenshot Toolbar at the bottom of your screen. You’ll see options to capture the entire screen, a selected portion, a window, or record your entire screen or a selected portion.
  3. Use the corresponding buttons or customize the capture options on the right-hand side of the toolbar.

Bonus Tip: Editing and Sharing Screenshots

After taking a screenshot, you might want to edit or share it. By default, screenshots appear as thumbnails in the bottom right corner of your screen for a brief moment. Clicking on the thumbnail allows you to edit the screenshot using the built-in Markup tool or share it using various options.

For more advanced editing, you can use apps like Preview or any other image editing software you prefer.

Remember: Screenshots are saved as PNG files by default. You can customize the file format and other settings in the Screenshot options within System Settings.

So, there you have it! With these methods, you can easily capture what’s happening on your Mac screen, whenever you need to.