You can take high-quality screenshots on any Mac computer, and then edit or share them however you like. If you bought or updated your Mac in 2018 or later, you will have access to the advanced screenshot menu, which lets you take videos of your screen as well.
Here are five ways to take screenshots on a Mac.
Mac screenshot shortcuts
Every method for screenshotting on a Mac uses the Shift, Command, and number keys.
| Keyboard Shortcut | Function |
| Shift + Command + 3 | Capture a screenshot of the entire screen. |
| Shift + Command + 4 | Highlight a specific part of the screen to screenshot. |
| Shift + Command + 5 | Open the screenshot menu to record video or edit your screenshot options. |
| Shift + Command + 6 | Take a screenshot of the Touch Bar, if your Mac has one. |
Shift + Command + 3: Take a screenshot of the entire screen
To capture your entire screen, press and hold down Shift + Command + 3.
When you take a screenshot, you'll see a small thumbnail preview in the bottom-right corner of your screen, which you can click to edit the screenshot. You can turn this feature on and off using the screenshot menu.
Shift + Command + 4: Capture a specific section or window
1. Press Shift + Command + 4.
2. Your mouse cursor will turn into a crosshair. Click and drag this crosshair to select an area of your screen.
3. Let go of the mouse button or trackpad to capture the selected area, or press the Esc key to cancel.
That's not all you can do with this method. After pressing Shift + Command + 4, you can press other keys to unlock more options:
- Capture a specific window: Press Shift + Command + 4 and then hit the spacebar. The crosshair will turn into a camera. Hover the camera cursor over the window you want to capture and click on it. When the screenshot is saved, it will have a gray border around it.
- Lock in the shape and size: After dragging the crosshair to create a highlighted area, press and hold the spacebar. This locks the box so it can't change size. You can then drag the box anywhere on the screen, and then release the spacebar to take your screenshot.
- Adjust the height and width: After dragging the crosshair to create a highlighted area, press and hold the Shift key. This allows you to adjust the height and width of the box. You can toggle between height and width by pressing the Shift key. Let go of the mouse button or trackpad to take the screenshot.
Shift + Command + 5: Use the screenshot menu
Current versions of the macOS (Mojave, Catalina, Big Sur, Monterey, and Ventura) come with a Screenshot app.
1. Press Shift + Command + 5 to open the Screenshot app. A small menu panel will appear at the bottom of the screen.
2. The three icons on the left allow you to take a screenshot of the entire screen, a specific window, or a highlighted section. The next two icons to the right will let you record a video of the entire screen, or just a highlighted section. Click on one of the options on the left to select how you want to take a screenshot.
3. Click the Capture button on the far right to take the screenshot.
There's also a menu labeled Options. This menu lets you choose where to save your screenshot, how much time you want between pressing Capture and the screenshot being taken, and more.
The Options menu also has the Show Floating Thumbnail option, which is turned on by default and will have a checkmark on the left. This option makes a tiny thumbnail appear in the bottom-right corner of the screen when you take a screenshot. The screenshot won't be saved to your computer until this thumbnail disappears after a few seconds.
However, you can click this thumbnail before it disappears to open the screenshot in a new window. In this window, you can:
- Draw or type on the image.
- Crop it to a different size or shape.
- Share it via your Apple ID account.
Grab an image of the Touch Bar
Not all Mac computers have the Touch Bar, but if you have one, you can take a screenshot of it.
If there's something on your Touch Bar that you'd like to show others, you can screenshot it by pressing Shift + Command + 6. This will immediately capture everything on your Touch Bar.
Where to find your Mac screenshots
By default, screenshots appear on your desktop. It'll automatically be titled "Screen Shot," followed by the date and time you took it.
You can also change the location that your screenshots get saved to by following these steps:
1. Press Shift + Command + 5 to open the screenshot menu.
2. Click Options to open the menu.
3. In the Save to section of the menu, select one of the pre-listed locations or, click on Other Locations to choose a folder you want your screenshots to be saved to by default.
Third-party screenshot apps for macOS
If you don't want to use your Mac's built-in screenshot tools, you can use a third-party app for macOS. One of the best and free screenshot apps is Lightshot, and it's quite easy to use.
1. Download and install Lightshot on your Mac computer.
2. Launch Lightshot by pressing Command + Shift + 9 on your keyboard. Your Mac's screen will darken, indicating that you're ready to take a screenshot.
3. Click and drag the mouse pointer to select the area of your screen that you want to screen shot. The highlighted area will appear normally while everything else excluded from the screenshot will still be darkened. You can also press Command + A to select the entire screen.
4. You can use the toolbar that appears on the side of the highlighted area to add other elements to your screenshot, such as text, lines, rectangles, arrows, and colors.
5. Press Command + S and choose where you want to save the screenshot to on your computer.
Other great screenshot apps for macOS that you can use include Monosnap, Shottr, Skitch, and CleanShotX.
