how to screenshot on mac

Capture Your Entire Screen 🖥️

This is the quickest way to grab a picture of everything visible on your display.

1. Press and hold these three keys together: Shift + Command + 3.
2. That’s it! The screenshot will automatically save to your desktop as a .png file.

Capture a Selected Portion of Your Screen 🖼️

Use this method when you only need to capture a specific part of your screen.

1. Press and hold these three keys together: Shift + Command + 4.
2. Your mouse pointer will change into a crosshair icon (+).
3. Click and drag the crosshair to draw a box around the area you want to capture.
4. Let go of the mouse button. The selected area will be saved as a screenshot on your desktop.

Pro-Tip: After pressing Shift + Command + 4, if you need to adjust your selection, press and hold the Spacebar while still holding down the mouse button to move the entire selection box.

Capture a Specific Window or Menu 🪟

This is the best way to get a clean screenshot of a single app window or a menu without any background clutter.

1. Press and hold these three keys together: Shift + Command + 4.
2. Your pointer will become a crosshair. Now, press the Spacebar.
3. The crosshair will turn into a camera icon 📷.
4. Move the camera icon over the window or menu you want to capture. It will become highlighted in blue.
5. Click your mouse or trackpad. A perfect screenshot of just that window (with a nice shadow effect) will be saved to your desktop.

Use the Screenshot Toolbar for More Options 🛠️

For more control, including screen recording, use the built-in Screenshot app.

1. Press and hold these three keys together: Shift + Command + 5.
2. A small control bar will appear at the bottom of your screen.

From this toolbar, you can:

• Capture the entire screen, a specific window, or a selected portion (the first three icons).
• Record a video of your entire screen or a selected portion (the next two icons).
• Click “Options” to change where your screenshots are saved (e.g., to Documents instead of Desktop), set a timer, or show the mouse pointer.