Imagine this: You’re in a Zoom meeting and your colleague is in, but he accidentally added a filter that made him look like an adorable puppy and you don’t know how to remove it. not. This is a viral video in the making, but no one recorded the call.you offal I should at least take a screenshot and share it on Watercooler’s Slack channel so everyone in the company can work on this issue, but there is one problem. It’s that I don’t know how to take a screenshot on Mac.
Taking a screen grab on a Mac computer isn’t just about capturing hilarious Zoom blunders. You can take screenshots to share information with your colleagues or give examples of bugs. You can also mark up screenshots to give visual instructions. MacOS also makes taking screenshots easy with keyboard shortcuts that you can learn in minutes.
mock up
A mockup is a static design used to show what a website or application looks like. People use mockups to evaluate potential designs without coding the actual application or site.
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So, this is your chance to miss out on another hilarious moment without documenting it — learn how to take screenshots on your Mac (and other time-saving shortcuts every Mac user should know).
4 Ways to Take Screenshots on Mac
There are actually many different ways to take a screenshot on your Mac, depending on what kind of screenshot you want. They all use Apple’s built-in screenshot tool, so no third-party apps or tools are required.
Press the command for each type of screenshot. Then, while holding it down, press the Shift key and a number.
command + shift + 3 | full screen screenshot |
command + shift + 4 | Screenshot of selected portion of the screen |
command + shift + 5 | Open screenshot menu |
command + shift + 6 | If your Mac has a Touch Bar, a screenshot of the Touch Bar |
See the different types of screenshots below for keyboard shortcuts and details on each.
How to screenshot the entire screen
If you want a screenshot of the whole screen, use this shortcut:
command + shift + 3
This shortcut works whether you’re in full screen mode or have multiple windows on your screen. Note that if you’re using multiple monitors, this shortcut will take and save screenshots for each monitor at the same time.
How to screenshot part of the screen
If you want a screenshot of a selected area or part of the screen instead of the entire screen, use these shortcuts:
command + shift + 4
Using the shortcut changes the cursor to a crosshair. Click and drag the crosshair using your mouse button or trackpad to select the portion of the screen you want to capture. Release when the required total area is within the screenshot box, or Esc Press a key to cancel the screenshot.
There are several other ways to use this shortcut.
- press command + shift + 4 and, space barThis will change your mouse pointer into a camera icon, allowing you to click and capture a specific window instead of clicking and dragging to select an area for your screenshot.
- After clicking and dragging to create the screenshot area, space barThis locks the size and shape of the box. You can then drag it anywhere on the screen and release the spacebar to take the screenshot.
- After clicking and dragging to create the screenshot area, shift Press the keys to adjust the height and width of the selection area.press shift Switch between height and width. Release the mouse button or trackpad to take the screenshot.
How to take a screenshot of touch bar
Not all Mac computers have a Touch Bar, but some Macbook Pro models have this backlit toolbar built into the keyboard. It replaces function keys and acts as a menu bar for volume, brightness, video playback controls, etc.
On Macs with Touch Bar, you can use the following shortcuts to take screenshots.
command + shift + 6
This will capture whatever was visible in the Touch Bar at the time you took the screenshot.
How to open the screenshot app
Certain Mac operating systems (MacOS Mojave, Catalina, Big Sur, Monterey, Ventura, etc.) have built-in screenshot apps that provide even more screen capture features and options.
Use the following shortcuts to open the Screenshots app:
command + shift + 5
The icon on the left side of the menu allows you to take screenshots. Clicking the icons from left to right allows you to:
- full screen screenshot
- Screenshot of selected window
- Screenshot of selected portion of the screen
Once you’ve selected the option you want, click on the far right of the menu.[キャプチャ]Click the button to take a screenshot and save it automatically.
The Screenshot app also has an Options menu that lets you customize how your Mac takes and saves screenshots. for example,[オプション]then click[フローティング サムネイルを表示]Click to customize whether a thumbnail preview of the screenshot is displayed in the corner of the screen immediately after taking the screenshot. You can also customize how and where screenshots are saved (more on that later).
How to screen record on Mac
A screenshot is a still image of a moment on your screen. A screen recording is a video that shows everything happening on your screen over a period of seconds or minutes. For example, it’s great for giving someone visual instructions on how to do something cool with their Mac.
To record your screen without third-party tools, you need a Mac with an operating system that supports the built-in screenshot app. Open with the following shortcuts:
command + shift + 5
Then use one of the two buttons just to the left of the options menu. The left button records the entire screen and the right button records only the selected part of the screen.
After selecting the type of screen recording you want to get, click on the screen to start recording. A black circle icon with a white square in the middle appears in the menu bar at the top right of the screen. Click this icon when you want to stop recording and the video will automatically be saved to your desktop (or wherever you choose if you’ve customized your screenshot save options).
How to take a screenshot on iPhone
To take a screenshot on an older iPhone, press the Home button and Power button (located on the right side of your iPhone) at the same time.
If you have an iPhone X or newer (no home button), press the side button and volume up button instead.
If your phone is not in silent mode, you will see a flash on the screen and hear the camera shutter sound. Screenshots are saved under the “Screenshots” album in the Photos app.
If you took a screenshot on your iPhone and need to share it with your Mac, you can use Airdrop to share it wirelessly. Method is as follows.
- Open the screenshot in Photos app.
- Tap the Share button (the square with the up arrow).
- Scroll down and tap AirDrop.
- Make sure your Mac is nearby and AirDrop is enabled.
- Your Mac will appear as an icon in the AirDrop section. Tap it to send the screenshot.
- On Mac, a window will appear asking you to accept the AirDrop transfer.[同意する]Click to save the screenshot to your Mac.
Mac screenshot location after taking
Immediately after taking a screenshot, it will appear as a preview in the lower right corner of the screen. Click the preview to open the screenshot, resize or crop it, add annotations, and make other edits.
By default, screenshots are saved to your desktop. Finder[デスクトップ]You can also find them by going to the tabs.
The Screenshots app has an options menu that lets you change and customize how screenshots are saved. For example, if you want to save to a specific screenshot folder you created (rather than the desktop), you can set that in the options menu. Older Macs that need an operating system upgrade to include the Screenshot app don’t have this option.
20 Other Mac Shortcuts You Should Know
You can do more than just capture screenshots using keyboard shortcuts on your Mac.
Developer Bruno Michels recorded the experiment So he found that using keyboard shortcuts instead of the mouse saved up to 5 seconds each time he performed a basic action (like copying and pasting text).
After experimenting and measuring, Michels developed a formula that determines how much time you can save in a year by taking advantage of keyboard shortcuts. By his calculations, the average person wastes 134 hours a year using the mouse instead of the keyboard to perform the most basic computer tasks. That’s a total of 17 working days, or almost a month’s worth of work.
With that in mind, these are the time-saving Mac shortcuts everyone should know about.
shortcut | function |
command + c | Copy highlighted text or image |
command + v | paste |
command + shift + v | Paste without formatting |
command + a | select all |
Command + z | Undo |
Command + × | cut |
Command + w | close the active window |
command + option + w | Close all open app windows |
command + , (comma) | Open settings for the active app |
Command + m | Minimize front app window to dock |
command + option + m | Minimize all open windows to the dock |
command + tab | Tab through all open apps |
command + ` | Tab through all windows in the active app |
command + space | Open Spotlight and search your Mac |
Command + L | Go to the URL bar in an active web browser |
command + option + d | Show or hide the dock |
command + control + q | Instantly lock your Mac |
option + shift + volume | Gradually adjust the volume on your Mac |
control + command + space | Open Character Viewer and insert emoji 👍 |
option + command + esc | Kill an app that has stopped responding |
Bonus: How to Customize Mac Shortcuts
One of the great things about Apple products is that they’re designed to be intuitive, easy to use, and customizable. This also applies to keyboard shortcuts.
Did you know that you can create your own keyboard shortcuts if you don’t like Apple’s preset keyboard shortcuts?
Open System Preferences, click Keyboard, then Shortcuts. From there, you can view all the shortcuts built into your Mac and customize them to your needs.
Now you not only know how to take screenshots on Mac, but you also have all the knowledge you need to become an Apple power user. Good luck with your shortcuts and enjoy all the time you can save with your Mac.
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