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How to Make (Take) a Screenshot on Mac

A screenshot allows you to take an immediate picture of the windows and icons visible on your PC or Mac screen. You can then share the picture with others or save it for your own files. You can do this if you’re trying to fix a problem or want to show off an impressive win in the game, for example.

If you’re a Mac user, taking screenshots is easy, with built-in options that let you create and save custom screenshot images in seconds. If you want to know how to take a screenshot on a Mac, you can follow this step-by-step guide.

1. How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac (Full Screen Method)

The fastest way to take a full screenshot on a Mac is to use a keyboard command.

For example, you can take a screenshot of the entire screen display (including all running applications, the Dock, the menu bar, etc.) by pressing Shift + Command + 3 on your keyboard.

macOS will automatically save a screenshot of your desktop as a file PNG. The image will have a file name that includes the time and date the image was taken (for example, Screenshot 2022-03-12 at 21.13.18.png).

Once saved, you can open or edit this image via the desktop or using the Finder.

2. Select a custom screenshot area

If you want to customize the screenshot you’re taking, you can modify the area captured in a screenshot.

To do this, press Shift + Command + 4 on your keyboard. Your mouse cursor will change and you can use it to select the area you want to capture.

Use your mouse or trackpad to select the area you want to capture. When you release the cursor, the screenshot will be saved in the usual place on your desktop.

3. Use the screenshot popup menu bar

Another easy method to take screenshots on a Mac is to use the screenshot pop-up menu bar. It appears at the bottom of your screen when you press the keyboard combination Shift + Command + 5. It will also appear if you select the screenshot icon on the Touch Bar on some MacBooks.

Once you’ve enabled the popup, you’ll see several options to determine how you want the screenshot to appear. These include the ability to capture the entire screen, a visible window, or select an area using the mouse or trackpad.

To do this, select one of the options on the bar, then tap or drag the screenshot accordingly. For example, if you select to capture a visible window, select the option Capture selected windowand then select the window with the mouse.

You can also use this area to capture your screen actions as screen recordings. These recordings are saved as videos on your desktop, although screen recordings made this way will lack any internal audio.

If you want to quit capturing or recording screen, you can press the icon cancel(X) on the left side of the menu bar.

How to Change Where Screenshots Are Saved on a Mac

By default, macOS will automatically save your screenshots to your desktop. However, if you want to change where your screenshots are saved, you can do so using the screenshot pop-up menu bar.

First, press Shift + Command + 5 to load the bar. Once the bar appears at the bottom of your screen, select Options.

At the top, select another preset location to save your screenshots (for example, Documents), or choose Another location to choose your own. If you press Another locationyou will need to choose a new folder for your screenshots using the Finder pop-up window.

How to quickly take screenshots on a Mac

Whether you use the built-in tools or a third-party app like SnagIt, you can quickly and easily take screenshots on a Mac using the steps or tools we’ve outlined above.

You shouldn’t have any problems using the built-in methods, but if you need more features, switching to a third-party alternative is probably not a bad idea. You can then think of crop your screenshots but if you need to make more extensive changes, you’ll probably need to use an image editing tool like GIMP or Photoshop.

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