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Macs are very versatile computers. You can take a screenshot on your Mac in different ways – You can capture the entire screen, or just a window on the screen, or just a portion of the screen.
The easiest way to take a screenshot on your Mac is to use keyboard shortcuts. Below are the steps to go about it.
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How to take a screenshot on your Mac
- To take a screenshot of the full screen, press and hold these three keys at the same time: Shift, Command, and 3.
- If you see a thumbnail in the corner of your screen, click it to edit the screenshot. Or wait for the screenshot to save to your computer.
How to take a screenshot of a portion of the screen on a Mac
- Make sure the portion you want to capture is visible on the screen, then press and hold these three keys at the same time: Shift, Command, and 4.
- Drag the crosshair to select the area of the screen to capture. To move the selection, press and hold Space bar while dragging. To cancel taking the screenshot, press the Esc (Escape) key.
- To take the screenshot, release your mouse or trackpad button.
- If you see a thumbnail in the corner of your screen, click it to edit the screenshot. Or wait for the screenshot to save to your computer.
How to take a screenshot of a window or menu on a Mac
- Open the window or menu that you want to take a screenshot of.
- Press and hold these keys together: Shift, Command, 4, and Space bar. The pointer changes to a camera icon. To cancel taking the screenshot, press the Esc (Escape) key.
- Click the window or menu to capture it. To exclude the window’s shadow from the screenshot, press and hold the Option key while you click.
- If you see a thumbnail in the corner of your screen, click it to edit the screenshot. Or wait for the screenshot to save to your computer.
Shortcut for taking screenshots on a Mac
For easy reference, here is a summary of the screenshot shortcuts:
- To take a screenshot of the full screen, press and hold: together: Shift + Command + 3.
- To take a screenshot of a portion of the screen, press and hold at the same time: Shift + Command + 4.
- To take a screenshot of a window or a menu, press and hold at the same time: Shift + Command + 4 + Space bar.
Where are screenshots saved on a Mac?
Any screenshots you take on your Mac are saved to your desktop. You can find them and edit, send, or delete, depending on what you choose to do with them.