How to take screenshot on a Mac computer

Here we explain how to take quick screenshots on a Mac and also how to use the Screenshot app to do more and take screen recording.

Capture the entire screen: Press Shift-Command-3

To take a screenshot of the entire screen press and hold Shift-Command-3 on your keyboard. You will hear a sound to tell you the screen has been captured and a thumbnail of the screenshot will appear in the bottom right-hand side of your screen. Click on the image to edit the screenshot.

Capture a specific area of the screen: Press Shift-Command-4

To capture a specific area of the screen Press Shift-Command-4. A crosshair will appear in place of your mouse cursor. Move the crosshair pointer to a corner of the area you want to save and drag the pointer over the area you want to capture, then release the mouse button. To cancel your screenshot press Esc key.

Capture a window: Press Shift-Command-4, then press space bar

To capture a window or the menu bar press Shift-Command-4, then press the Space bar. The crosshair will be replaced with a camera icon. Moving the camera icon will highlight the window or the menu bar. Click on the selected area to capture your screengrab.

Screenshot app: Shift-Command-5

The Screenshot app is Apple’s built-in tool to capture images and screen recordings and gives you options on how to manage and edit your screenshots. The Screenshot app is available on the latest versions of macOS (Mojave, Catalina, Big Sur, and Monterey).

To open the Screenshot app, press Shift + Command + 5. A menu will appear at the bottom of the screen which gives you options to take screenshots and screen recordings.

The three icons on the left of the menu give you screenshot options to take the entire screen, capture a window or select a specific area.

The two icons on the right give you screen recording options.

Record entire Screen

Pressing the first of these will turn your cursor into a camera. Click on the screen to start recording the entire screen. To stop the recording press the 'recording' icon (looks like a dot) in the menu at the top of the screen. Your video will then appear as a thumbnail in the bottom right hand side.

Select specific area of the screen to record

The second screen video recording icon with the broken line will allow you to select the area of the screen you want to record. Clicking this will show a highlighted area and broken line. Drag the highlighted area to the area of the screen you want to record. Adjust the size of the area by dragging from one of the corners. When you are ready to record click ‘Record’ in the Screenshot menu at the bottom of the screen. To cancel press Esc. To stop the recording press the record icon in the menu at the top of the screen

Pressing the Capture button will take the screenshot.

Where your screenshots are saved

Your screenshots are automatically saved as .png files and screen recordings are saved as .mov files. Filenames begin with “Screenshot” or “Screen Recording” and include the date and time.