Take a screenshot on Mac
You can capture the entire screen, a window, or just a portion of the screen.
How to capture the entire screen
To take a screenshot, press and then release these three keys together: 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 desktop.
How to capture a portion of the screen
Press and then release these three keys together: Shift, Command, and 4. The pointer turns into a crosshair
.To select the area of the screen to capture, click and hold your mouse or trackpad button while dragging the crosshair. Then take any of these actions:
To move the selected area without changing its size, press and hold Space bar while dragging.
To cancel taking the screenshot, press the Esc (Escape) key.
To take the screenshot, release the 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 desktop.
How to capture a window or menu
Open the window or menu that you want to capture.
Press and release these three keys together: Shift, Command, and 4. Then press and release the Space bar. The pointer changes to a camera icon
. To cancel taking the screenshot, press the Esc (Escape) key.
To take the screenshot, 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 desktop.
Where to find screenshots
By default, screenshots save to your desktop with the name ”Screen Shot [date] at [time].png.” Or you can drag the thumbnail that appears in the corner of your screen, then drop it in another location.
Learn more
In macOS Mojave 10.14 or later, you can use the Screenshot app to set a screenshot timer or choose where screenshots are saved. To open the app, press and release these three keys together: Shift, Command, and 5. Learn more about the Screenshot app.
To copy a screenshot to the Clipboard, Control-click the screenshot thumbnail that appears in the corner of your screen, then choose Save to Clipboard from the shortcut menu that appears. Or press the Control key in addition to the other keys you press to take the screenshot.
Some apps, such as the Apple TV app, might not let you take screenshots of their windows.
