How to Screenshot on a Mac (The Complete, Up-to-Date Guide)

Whether you need a quick snap of your entire screen, one app window, or a clean crop of a tiny area, macOS has built-in tools that make screenshots (and screen recordings) fast and flexible. Here’s everything you need.

Quick Cheatsheet

• Full screen: Shift + Command + 3
• Selected area: Shift + Command + 4 (drag to select)
• Window or menu: Shift + Command + 4, then press Space, then click the window/menu
• Screenshot & recording toolbar (macOS Mojave or later): Shift + Command + 5
• Touch Bar (on Macs that have one): Shift + Command + 6
• Copy to clipboard (any method): hold
Control while you press the shortcut

By default, images save to your Desktop as PNG named like:
Screen Shot YYYY-MM-DD at HH.MM.SS.png.

Full-Screen Screenshot

1. Press Shift + Command + 3.
2. You’ll hear a shutter sound (if enabled). A floating thumbnail may appear in the bottom-right for quick edits.
3. Do nothing and it saves automatically; click the thumbnail to annotate or change where to save.

Pro tip: Hold Control with the shortcut (e.g., Control + Shift + Command + 3) to copy the screenshot to your clipboard instead of saving a file—perfect for pasting into chat, email, or docs.

Selected Area Screenshot (Crop as You Capture)

1. Press Shift + Command + 4. Your cursor becomes a crosshair.
2. Click and drag to select the area; release to capture.

While dragging:

• Press and hold Space to move the selection.
• Hold Shift to lock movement horizontally or vertically.
• Hold Option to resize from the center.
• Press Esc to cancel.

Clipboard: Add Control to copy instead of save.

Window or Menu Screenshot (With a Clean Background)

1. Press Shift + Command + 4, then tap Space. The cursor becomes a camera.
2. Hover over a window or an open menu to highlight it, then click to capture.

This produces a neat image of just that window (macOS adds a subtle drop shadow for depth).

The Screenshot Toolbar (macOS Mojave 10.14+)

Press Shift + Command + 5 to open the toolbar. It’s your one-stop shop for stills and recordings:

• Capture: Entire screen | Selected window | Selected portion
• Record: Entire screen | Selected portion
• Options:
  • Save to: Desktop, Documents, Clipboard, Mail, Messages, Preview, or a folder you choose
  • Timer: 5 or 10 seconds (great for capturing menus/tooltips)
  • Microphone (for recordings)
  • Show floating thumbnail, remember last selection, show mouse clicks (recording)

Click Capture or Record to start; for recordings, use the menu bar Stop button to finish.

Screen Recording (Built-In)

For a tutorial, demo, or bug report:

1. Press Shift + Command + 5.
2. Choose Record Entire Screen or Record Selected Portion.
3. In Options, pick a microphone if you want narration and toggle Show Mouse Clicks.
4. Click Record. Click the Stop icon in the menu bar to finish.
5. The recording saves as a .mov file (default location is set in Options).

Older macOS versions without the toolbar can record via QuickTime Player → File → New Screen Recording.

Touch Bar Screenshot (Models with Touch Bar)

• Press Shift + Command + 6 to capture exactly what’s shown on the Touch Bar.

Editing, Marking Up, and Sharing

After any capture, a floating thumbnail appears briefly:

• Click it to open Markup (crop, draw, shapes, text, signatures, highlights).
• Use the Share button to send via Mail, Messages, AirDrop, Notes, or add to Photos.

If you miss the thumbnail, just double-click the saved file to open in Preview, which has the same Markup tools.

Change Where Screenshots Save (Fast Way)

• Open the toolbar with Shift + Command + 5 → Options → Save to → choose a folder (e.g., Pictures/Screenshots).

Pro tip: Create a dedicated Screenshots folder to keep your Desktop tidy.

Advanced Tweaks (Optional)

These are handy but optional; use with care.

• Change file format (PNG → JPG/PDF/GIF/TIFF):
  Open Terminal and run:

  defaults write com.apple.screencapture type jpg
  killall SystemUIServer
  

  Replace jpg with png, pdf, gif, or
tiff. (PNG is the crisp default.)

• Change the default save location via Terminal:

  mkdir -p ~/Pictures/Screenshots
  defaults write com.apple.screencapture location ~/Pictures/Screenshots
  killall SystemUIServer
  

 Troubleshooting

• Shortcuts not working? Check System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → Screenshots to confirm they’re enabled and not duplicated by another app.
• No shutter sound? Make sure your Mac isn’t muted and “Play user interface sound effects” is on in Sound settings.
• Floating thumbnail missing? In the Shift + Command + 5 toolbar, enable Options → Show Floating Thumbnail.
• Low-res results in apps like Slack? Use the clipboard method (hold Control) to paste at full quality, or attach the saved PNG/JPG file directly.

Which Method Should You Use?

• Fastest: Full screen (⌘⇧3)
• Precise crop: Selected area (⌘⇧4)
• Clean app window: Window mode (⌘⇧4, then Space)
• Tutorials/demos: Toolbar + Record (⌘⇧5) with mic and click highlights
• Share without clutter: Add
Control to copy instead of save

Once you’ve used each shortcut a couple times, muscle memory kicks in. Start with Shift + Command + 4 for targeted captures and Shift + Command + 5 when you need options or recording, and you’ll be a screenshot pro in no time.