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How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac

This wikiHow will show you various ways in which to take a screenshot on a Mac. Make sure your screen displays exactly what you want to show in your screenshot image. Ensure all the relevant windows are visible.
Method 1 of 5:

Screenshot the Entire Screen

  1. How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac Picture 1How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac Picture 1
    Make sure your screen displays exactly what you want to show in your screenshot image. Ensure all the relevant windows are visible.
  2. How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac Picture 2How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac Picture 2
    Press Command + Shift + 3. If your sound is on, your computer should make a brief camera shutter noise.
  3. How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac Picture 3How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac Picture 3
    Find your screenshot on your desktop. It will be saved as "screenshot" labeled with the date and time.
    1. Earlier versions of OS X will save it as "Picture #"—for example, if it's the 5th screenshot on your desktop it will be labeled "Picture 5".
Method 2 of 5:

Screenshot a Portion of Your Screen

  1. How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac Picture 4How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac Picture 4
    Press Command + Shift + 4. Your cursor will turn into a small cross-hair reticle.
  2. How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac Picture 5How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac Picture 5
    Click and drag your cursor to highlight the area you'd like to take a picture of. A grayed rectangle should appear where you drag your cursor. If you need to adjust your windows at all, press Escape to return to a regular cursor without taking a picture.
  3. How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac Picture 6How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac Picture 6
    Let go of the mouse. You should hear a brief camera shutter noise if your computer's sound is turned on. That signals that your screenshot has been taken.
  4. How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac Picture 7How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac Picture 7
    Find your screenshot on your desktop. It will be saved as a .png file named "screenshot" labeled with the date and time.
    1. Earlier versions of OS X will save it as "Picture #"—for example, if it's the 5th screenshot on your desktop it will be labeled as "Picture 5".
  5. How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac Picture 8How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac Picture 8
    Use the screenshot. Once you have taken your screenshots, they are now ready to be used as needed. You can attach them to an email, upload them to the Web, or even drag them straight into an application such as a word processor.
Method 3 of 5:

Screenshot an Open Window

  1. How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac Picture 9How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac Picture 9
    Press Command+Shift+4 then hit the Space bar. The cross-hair will turn into a small camera. You can press Spacebar again to switch back to the reticle.
  2. How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac Picture 10How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac Picture 10
    Move your cursor over the window you want to capture. The camera will highlight different windows blue as it moves over them. You can use keyboard commands such as Command+Tab to shift through your windows while still in this mode.
  3. How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac Picture 11How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac Picture 11
    Click on the window. The picture of the window you selected will be saved to the desktop by default just like the other screenshot methods.
Method 4 of 5:

Save a Screenshot to the Clipboard

  1. How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac Picture 12How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac Picture 12
    Press Command + Control + Shift + 3. This method works exactly like the one above, except the screenshot does not immediately create a file. Instead, the image is saved to the clipboard, the same temporary storage area where your computer remembers the text that you have copied.
    1. You can also take a portion screenshot with this method using Command + Control + Shift + 4 and dragging your reticle over the appropriate part of your screen, exactly as the portion screenshot method.
  2. How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac Picture 13How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac Picture 13
    Use Command + V or Edit > Paste to paste your image. Your screenshot image can be pasted straight into any compatible application, such as a Word document, an image editing program, and many email services.
Method 5 of 5:

Use the Grab Utility Tool

  1. How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac Picture 14How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac Picture 14
    Go to Applications > Utilities > Grab. This opens the Grab application. You will see the menus shown in the upper left of your screen, but no windows will open.
  2. How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac Picture 15How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac Picture 15
    Click the Capture menu and choose between the four different options.
    1. To take a picture of your entire screen, click on Screen (or just use the keyboard command Apple Key + Z). A window will pop up telling you where to click and letting you know that the window will not appear in the shot.
    2. To take a picture of a portion of your screen, click on Selection. A window will pop up instructing you to drag your mouse over the portion of your screen you'd like to capture.
    3. To take a picture of a specific window, select Window. Then, click on the window you'd like to take a picture of.
  3. How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac Picture 16How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac Picture 16
    When the new window opens, choose Save. You can also choose Save As to give it a different name and/or move it to a more appropriate location, but note that it can only be saved as a .tiff file. Note that the file is not automatically saved.
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