You can utilize screenshots for anything from demonstrating a new app’s features to saving important communications to capturing damning photographs of your closest pal on WhatsApp. Apple computers, both desktop, and portable, sadly lack a dedicated Print Screen button.
Fortunately, MacOS includes numerous shortcut keys and a number of programs that make it just as simple to take the picture you need. You can make many different adjustments and choices. Learn every nuance of the screenshotting process on a Mac right here.
Shortcutting the Keyboard to Perform Actions
Whether you want to grab the whole screen or a specific region, the fastest method to do so in MacOS is via keyboard shortcuts. Screenshots taken with Apple’s techniques are saved to the desktop by default; however, you can use a keyboard shortcut to move the screenshot to the clipboard instead.
Get a Complete Screenshot
Quickly record your desktop by pressing Command + Shift + 3 at the same time. The preview of your screenshot will show up in the lower right corner of the screen, and the editing controls will be right there at your fingertips.
Catch a Particular Region
Simply hit “Command” “Shift” and “4” all at once. By clicking and dragging, you can create a selection box in order to grab the area you want. As soon as you release the mouse button, the screenshot is saved to your computer’s desktop.
- Photograph one isolated window.
- To make a crosshair appear at the cursor’s location, press Command + Shift + 4 at the same time.
- Next, hit the Spacebar. The cursor transforms into a camera symbol.
- Third, a transparent blue bar will appear over any window you hover over. Simply select the window you want to capture and click on it to save the image to your computer’s desktop.
- The desktop, the menu bar, the dock, and even an open menu can be captured in their entirety or separately using this method, so it’s not limited to just windows.
- You will be able to save an image of the window and its shadow on a white background. Hold the Option key (or Alt on Windows) while clicking to save the image if you don’t want the shadow.
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Take a Snapshot of The Touch Bar
It’s important to remember that if you own a MacBook Pro with a Touch Bar, you’ll find these controls on the OLED strip. You can also take a screenshot of the Touch Bar itself by pressing Shift + Command + 6—a feature unique to the Touch Bar.
Localizing the Screenshot Program
While programmers can benefit from keyboard shortcuts, the point-and-click interface is universally well-received. That’s why Apple bundles a Screenshot app that lets you tweak screenshot settings to perfection. You can set the app to take a screenshot five or ten seconds after you press the shortcut on your keyboard, giving you time to access a menu or finish any other preparations that may have been necessary. The Screenshot app can be accessed in one of three ways (1–3) detailed below.
- First, go to the Launchpad on your Mac and search for “Screenshot” or “Screenshot” in the search bar.
- Screenshots and other helpful programs can be found in the utility section of Launchpad.
- Second, you can initiate a Spotlight Search by pressing and holding Command + Space. If you start searching for “Screenshot,” the app should come up in the results. To access the program, click Screenshot in the primary search results. If you click on Screenshot further down the results page, a new browser tab will open and you will be taken to a search engine results page for the term “screenshot.”
- You can open Spotlight and look for the Screenshot application by pressing the Command and Spacebar keys.
- Third, select the blue grin icon in the dock’s lower left corner to launch the Finder, and then click Applications in the Finder’s sidebar. Next, navigate to the Utility folder, then open the Screenshot program from the bottom of the list.
- If you anticipate using Screenshot on a regular basis, you can pin it to your Dock by right-clicking its icon and selecting Keep in dock from the Options menu.
- The screenshot can be found in the utility folder of the Applications subtab of Finder and then dragged to the Dock.
Read More: How to Capture a Scrolling Screenshot on Windows 10
An Example of Screenshot Use
The screenshot appears as a floating toolbar at the screen’s bottom, with buttons styled after the various screenshots it can take. The most extreme option, capturing the entire screen, is located far to the left, followed by capturing a window or a selected region. After that, you’ll see options to record the entire screen or a specific region of it, as well as a Capture button and a drop-down menu of customization settings.
- To take a screenshot, step one is to select a screenshot button and then press the Capture button. As a result, the Screenshot toolbar will be left out of the snapshot.
- On a Mac, clicking the Capture button on the Screenshot toolbar that appears at the bottom of the screen triggers the capture.
- Select the 5-second or 10-second delay from the Options menu if you need to set something up, like opening a menu to show its contents in the screenshot.
- Optionally, you can change where your screenshots are saved by default or even send them to another app like Mail or Messages.
- If you want the arrow representing your mouse pointer to appear in the screenshot, you can do so by selecting Show mouse pointer from the Options menu.
- Change when and where a screenshot is saved with the Screenshot Options menu.
- Third, even though the Floating Thumbnail option is turned on by default, it is possible that the thumbnail will be captured in some of the images when taking a series of screenshots. Quick screenshots can be taken by disabling the Floating thumbnail in the Options menu.
- The Floating Thumbnail option is highlighted with an arrow.
