Mac Screenshot Manual

If you've upgraded to macOS Mojave, you can use Shift-Command (⌘)-5 to take all types of screenshots, or make video recordings of your screen. Other keyboard shortcuts, such as Shift-Command-3 and Shift-Command-4, continue to work in all versions of macOS.

How to take a screenshot on a Mac using keyboard shortcuts. Selection: Press Shift+Command+4, click and drag curser to make your selection. Press Escape (esc) to cancel. A.png of your selection will be waiting on your desktop. Window: Press Shift+Command+4 and the spacebar. Select desired window. Jun 07, 2019  How to take a screenshot of a menu. Click the menu to reveal its contents. Press Shift-Command-4. The pointer changes to a crosshair. Drag to select the menu. Release your mouse or trackpad button. To cancel, press the Escape (esc) key before you release the button. Find the screenshot as a.png file on your desktop.

Capture the entire screen

In macOS Mojave:

  1. Press Shift-Command-5 on your keyboard to see the onscreen capture controls:
  2. Click Capture Entire Screen in the onscreen controls. Your pointer changes to a camera .
  3. Click anywhere on any screen to capture the screen of that display, or click Capture in the onscreen controls to capture the screen of every display.
  4. A thumbnail of the screenshot briefly appears in the corner of your screen. You can then find the screenshot on your desktop.

In all versions of macOS:

  1. Press Shift-Command-3 to capture the screen of every display.
  2. Find the screenshot on your desktop.

Capture a window

In macOS Mojave:

  1. Press Shift-Command-5 to see the onscreen capture controls.
  2. Click Capture Selected Window in the onscreen controls. Your pointer changes to a camera .
  3. Click a window to capture that window.
    To exclude the window's shadow from the screenshot, press and hold the Option (⌥) key while you click.
  4. A thumbnail of the screenshot briefly appears in the corner of your screen. You can interact with the thumbnail to edit the screenshot, move it, or take other actions. Or wait for the screenshot to appear on your desktop.

In all versions of macOS:

  1. Press Shift-Command-4.
  2. Press the Space bar. The pointer changes to a camera .
  3. Click a window to capture that window.
    To exclude the window's shadow from the screenshot, press and hold the Option (⌥) key while you click.
  4. Find the screenshot on your desktop.

Capture a selected portion of the screen

In macOS Mojave:

  1. Press Shift-Command-5 to see the onscreen capture controls.
  2. Click Capture Selected Portion in the onscreen controls.
  3. Drag to select an area of the screen to capture. To move the entire selection, drag from within the selection.
  4. Click Capture in the onscreen controls.
  5. A thumbnail of the screenshot briefly appears in the corner of your screen. You can interact with the thumbnail to edit the screenshot, move it, or take other actions. Or wait for the screenshot to appear on your desktop.

In all versions of macOS:

  1. Press Shift-Command-4.
  2. Drag to select the area of the screen to capture. To move the entire selection, press and hold Space bar while dragging.
  3. After you release your mouse or trackpad button, find the screenshot on your desktop.

Capture a menu

In macOS Mojave:

Mac Screenshot Not Working

  1. Click the menu to reveal its contents.
  2. Capture the menu by following the steps to capture the entire screen or capture a window (the menu is treated like a window) or capture a portion of the screen that includes the menu.

In all versions of macOS:

  1. Click the menu to reveal its contents.
  2. Press Shift-Command-4.
    • Drag to select the area of the menu to capture, then release your mouse or trackpad button to capture that area.
    • Or press Space bar to change the pointer to a camera , then click the menu to capture it.
  3. Find the screenshot on your desktop.

Capture the Touch Bar

If you have a Mac with a Touch Bar and macOS Sierra 10.12.2 or later, press Shift-Command-6 to capture what is currently displayed on the Touch Bar. Then find the screenshot on your desktop.

You can also customize the Control Strip region of your Touch Bar to include a Screenshot button.

Use the screenshot thumbnail


When you take a screenshotin macOS Mojave, a thumbnail of the screenshot appears briefly in the lower-right corner of your screen.

  • Take no action or swipe the thumbnail to the right: The screenshot is automatically saved to your chosen save location, which by default is the desktop.
  • Control-click the thumbnail to choose more actions, such as change the default save location, open the screenshot in an app, or delete the screenshot without saving it.
  • Drag the thumbnail to move the screenshot to another location, such as to a document, an email, a Finder window, or the Trash.
  • Click the thumbnail to open the screenshot. You can then use the markup tools in the toolbar to crop, rotate, annotate, and take other editing actions. Or click the share button to share the screenshot.


Clicking the thumbnail opens it in editing view. Hover your pointer over each button in the toolbar to see its function.

If you don't want the thumbnail to appear, click Options in the onscreen controls, then use the ”Show Floating Thumbnail” option to change the setting.

Learn more

  • By default, screenshots are saved with the name ”Screen Shot date at time.png”.
  • To cancel taking a screenshot, press the Esc (Escape) key before clicking to capture.
  • To store the screenshot in the Clipboard instead of saving it, press and hold the Control key while you click to capture. You can then paste the screenshot into a document, message, or other location. Using Universal Clipboard, you can even paste it on another Apple device.
  • You can open screenshots with Preview, Safari, or other apps that can edit or view images. Preview can export to a different format, such as JPEG, PDF, or TIFF.
  • Screenshot controls in macOS Mojave are provided by the Screenshot app, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder. This app replaces the Grab app from earlier versions of macOS.
  • Some apps, such as DVD Player, might not let you take screenshots of their windows.

There may be times when you need to take a screenshot on your Mac. You might have a software bug to report, an important pop-up, threaded web conversations, or even just a payment receipt you need for your records.

Mac Screenshot Manual Software

There are several ways to take a screenshot on a Mac computer running OS X or MacOS operating systems. You can

  • Take a screenshot on Mac with Grab Utility.
  • Use keyboard shortcuts to grab a screenshot.
  • Use third-party applications to take your screenshot.

Keep in mind, you can also record your screen instead of taking a picture by using the QuickTime application.

How to take a screenshot on Mac with Grab Utility

The most common way to take a screenshot on a Mac is by using the built-in Grab application. This application can be found within your Utility folder located inside Finder and Launchpad.

  1. Click on Finder or Launchpad to locate the Utility folder.
  2. Click on Finder.
  3. Select Applications from the sidebar.
  4. Locate and double-click the Utilities folder to open it.
  5. Click on Launchpad and then click again on the Utilitiesbubble to open it.
  6. Locate the Grab icon inside the Utility folder/bubble and launch the application.

Using the grab application is easy. There is no “windowed” user interface for this application. It is completely controlled from the MacOS or OS X menu bar and/or keyboard shortcuts.

Using the grab application, you can choose four different types of screenshots.

Mac Screenshot Manual
  • Selection: This option allows you to highlight the desired area you want to capture. Select Selection or press Shift+Command+A on your keyboard. Click and drag the highlighted box to make your selection.
  • Window: The Window option allows you to choose a specific window to capture. Select Window or press Shift+Command+W. Click on the desired window.
  • Screen: Choosing the Screen selection lets you to capture the whole screen. Select Screen or press Command+Z. Click anywhere on the screen.
  • Timed Screen: The Timed Screen choice captures the whole screen on a ten-second delay. Select Timed Screen or press Shift+Command+Z. Click anywhere on the screen to start the timer.

Choose the option that works best for your needs. Once you have taken the screenshot, a pop-up will appear to show you a preview of your shot. When you close the preview, your Mac will prompt you to save your image. If you are happy with the results, label the image, select a save destination, and click on the Save button. Otherwise, click Don’t Save and try again.

Grab saves in .tiff format automatically. If you need to convert the image into a friendlier format, you will have to do so with another application.

How to take a screenshot on a Mac using keyboard shortcuts

If you do not want to deal with launching the Grab application or converting your images from .tiff to formats such as .png or .jpeg, then you are in luck. Mac has offered a way to take screenshots with keyboard shortcuts for decades now. This little-known feature is easy to use.

  • Screen: Press Shift+Command+3 and a .png of the entire screen will automatically save to your desktop.
  • Selection: Press Shift+Command+4, click and drag curser to make your selection. Press Escape (esc) to cancel. A .png of your selection will be waiting on your desktop.
  • Window:Press Shift+Command+4 and the spacebar. Select desired window. Press Spacebar again to return back to selection mode or esc to cancel. A .png of the selected window will be saved to your desktop.

If you are using a PC keyboard, the following commands are as follows:

Screenshot Mac Air

  • Control is the Ctrl key.
  • Option is the Alt key.
  • The button with the Windows logo is the Command key.

Newer versions of Mac OS or OS X label the saved file as “Screen Shot” followed by the date and time. Older versions of Mac OS or OS X label the saved file as “Image” followed by a number, but only if more than one file labeled “Image” is located on your desktop.

How to take a screenshot on a Mac using third-party applications

There are numerous applications available for taking screenshots. You can scour the web or look inside the Mac App Store for any screenshot application that might appeal to you.

  1. Click on the App Store located on the MacOS and OS X dock to launch the application.
  2. Type the word screenshot in the search box and hit enter.

Be aware that many screenshot applications do cost money. Check to see the cost before you download. If you do decide to download an application that costs money and you are not happy with it, you must remove it promptly in order to receive a refund.

Keep in mind, there are countless applications to try and using them will likely differ from the MacOS and OS X native process.

Lightshot, Apowersoft Screenshot, and Cloud App, are the top-rated applications in this category.

How to record your screen on a Mac using the QuickTime application

Mac Screenshot Manual

To record your screen instead of taking a photo, simply launch the Quickytime.app from Finder or Launchpad and press Control+Command+N on your keyboard.

  1. When the black box appears labeled “Screen Recording,” click on the Record button.
  2. Follow the on-screen instructions to finish recording your screen.

If you are a diehard Apple fan and also own iOS devices, you can take screenshots with them by pressing the Home and Lock buttons at the same time. The image will be saved to your camera roll and you can access it through the Photos app.