Take a screenshot on your MacOS

You can capture the entire screen, a window, or just a portion of the screen.

How to take a screenshot on your MacOS

1. To take a screenshot, press and hold these three keys together: Shift, Command, and 3. 
2. 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 desktop.

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How to capture a portion of the screen

1. Press and hold these three keys together: Shift, Command, and 4.
2. 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.
   
3. To take the screenshot, release your mouse or trackpad button. 
4. 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 desktop.

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How to capture a window or menu

1. Open the window or menu that you want to capture.
2. 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.
   
3. 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.
4. 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 desktop.

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Where to find screenshots

By default, screenshots save to your desktop with the name ”Screen Shot [date] at [time].png.”
In macOS Mojave or later, you can change the default location of saved screenshots from the Options menu in the Screenshot app. You can also drag the thumbnail to a folder or document.

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Take pictures or screen recordings using Screenshot

• On your Mac, press Shift-Command-5 (or use Launchpad) to open Screenshot and display the tools.

• Click a tool to use to select what you want to capture or record (or use the Touch Bar).

For a portion of the screen, drag the frame to reposition it or drag its edges to adjust the size of the area you want to capture or record.

Tool	Description
Capture the entire screen
Capture a window
Capture a portion of the screen
Record the entire screen
Record a portion of the screen

The available options vary based on whether you’re taking a screenshot or a screen recording. For example, you can choose to set a timed delay or show the mouse pointer or clicks, and specify where to save the file.
The Show Floating Thumbnail option helps you work more easily with a completed shot or recording — it floats in the bottom-right corner of the screen for a few seconds so you have time to drag it into a document, mark it up or share it before it’s saved to the location you specified.

• Start the screenshot or screen recording:
• For the entire screen or a portion of it: Click Capture.
• For a window: Move the cursor to the window, then click the window.
• For recordings: Click Record. To stop recording, click the Stop Recording button  in the menu bar.

When the Show Floating Thumbnail option is set, you can do any of the following while the thumbnail is briefly displayed in the bottom-right corner of the screen:

• Swipe right to immediately save the file and make it disappear.
• Drag the thumbnail into a document, an email, a note or a Finder window.
• Click the thumbnail to open a window where you can mark up the screenshot or trim the recording, or share it.

Depending on where you chose to save the screenshot or recording, an app may open.
Take pictures using keyboard shortcuts
You can use various keyboard shortcuts on your Mac to take pictures of the screen. The files are saved to the desktop.
Tip: To copy a screenshot so you can paste it somewhere — like in an email or to another device — press and hold the Control key while you press the other keys. For example, to copy the whole screen, press Shift-Command-Control-3.

Action	Shortcut
Capture the entire screen	Press Shift-Command-3.
Capture a portion of the screen	Press Shift-Command-4, then move the crosshair pointer to where you want to start the screenshot. Press the mouse or trackpad button, drag over the area you want to capture, then release the mouse or trackpad button.
Capture a window or the menu bar	Press Shift-Command-4, then press the Space bar. Move the camera pointer over the window or the menu bar to highlight it, then click.
Capture a menu and menu items	Open the menu, press Shift-Command-4, then drag the pointer over the menu items you want to capture.
Open Screenshot	Press Shift-Command 5.
Capture the Touch Bar	Press Shift-Command-6.

You can customise these keyboard shortcuts in the Shortcuts pane of Keyboard preferences. On your Mac, choose Apple menu  > System Preferences, click Keyboard, then click Shortcuts.

You may not be able to take pictures of windows in some apps, such as DVD Player.