How to Take Print Screen in Mac

In this tutorial, we will learn how to take a print screen on a Mac. Whether you want to capture your entire screen or just a specific portion, Mac provides several options to help you get the perfect screenshot. Let’s explore these methods below:

Capturing the Entire Screen

When you want to capture everything that is currently on your screen, including all open windows and applications, follow these steps:

1. Press Command + Shift + 3: This keyboard shortcut will instantly capture the entire screen.
2. The Screenshot will be saved on your Desktop: After pressing the shortcut keys, you will hear a camera shutter sound, indicating that the screenshot has been taken. The image file will automatically be saved on your Desktop with a name like “Screen Shot [date] at [time].png”.

Capturing a Specific Portion of the Screen

If you only want to capture a specific portion of your screen, such as an image or text, follow these steps:

1. Press Command + Shift + 4: This keyboard shortcut changes your cursor to a crosshair.
2. Select the desired area: Click and drag the crosshair cursor to select the area of your screen that you want to capture. As you drag, you’ll see the dimensions of the selected area in pixels.
3. Release the mouse button: Once you’ve selected the desired area, release the mouse button to take the screenshot.
4. The Screenshot will be saved on your Desktop: Similar to capturing the entire screen, after taking a partial screenshot, it will be saved on your Desktop as a PNG file.

Taking a Screenshot of a Specific Window

If you want to capture only a specific window or application instead of the entire screen, follow these steps:

1. Press Command + Shift + 4 + Spacebar: This keyboard shortcut changes your cursor to a camera icon.
2. Move the camera icon over the desired window: As you move the camera icon over different windows, they will be highlighted in blue.
3. Click on the selected window: Once you’ve positioned the camera icon over the desired window, simply click on it to take the screenshot.
4. The Screenshot will be saved on your Desktop: After capturing a specific window, it will be automatically saved as a PNG file on your Desktop.

Capturing Touch Bar Screenshots (For MacBook Pro Users Only)

If you are using a MacBook Pro with a Touch Bar, you can also capture screenshots of it. Follow these steps to do so:

1. Press Command + Shift + 6: This keyboard shortcut captures an image of your Touch Bar and saves it as a file on your Desktop.

Note:

If you want to copy the screenshot to your clipboard instead of saving it as an individual file, hold down the Control key along with any of the above keyboard shortcuts. This will copy the screenshot directly to your clipboard for easy pasting into other applications or documents.

Congratulations! Now you know how to take screenshots on your Mac using various methods. Whether you want to capture an entire screen, a specific portion, a specific window, or even the Touch Bar on your MacBook Pro, Mac offers simple and convenient options for all your screenshot needs.

Happy capturing!