You’ve got your new Mac, and want to take a screenshot. Where’d that Print Screen key go? Things work a bit differently on the Mac. You could go with a third party solution, such as Skitch or Littlesnapper. Or, you could use your Mac’s built in ability to take screenshots. There are three different ways to take a screenshot on your Mac, by holding down key combinations. All screenshots go to your desktop by default.
COMMAND – SHIFT – 3
This takes a screenshot of your entire screen. In fact, it is instantaneous, so you might not even know it worked.
COMMAND – SHIFT – 4
Your cursor changes to crosshairs, and you can then take a screenshot of whatever area you select.
COMMAND – SHIFT – 4, THEN HIT SPACEBAR
Your cursor changes to a camera, and you can then take a screenshot of the dock, the menu bar, a single open menu, the desktop, or any open window. Whatever you hover over will become the target of the screenshot, and turn blue.
That’s all there is to it. If you’d rather have a screenshot go to your clipboard instead of to the desktop, then add the CONTROL key to each of the above methods. So, for example, COMMAND-CONTROL-SHIFT-4 will let you select an area of the screen to send to your clipboard.
If you’d prefer a free app that comes with your Mac, you can also try out Grab, which is located in your Applications/Utilities folder.
What’s your favorite method for taking a screenshot on your Mac?
Kosmo @ The Soap Boxers says:
“This takes a screenshot of your entire screen. In fact, it is instantaneous, so you might not even know it worked.”
If you have the volume turned up, you’ll hear the “camera” click.
January 30, 2012 — 11:31 pm
Evan Kline says:
Ah, that would explain it – my volume is usually off.
February 3, 2012 — 4:29 pm
Steve says:
Heh, this will be great for my cousin…who always asks about this at random times but I can never tell him because I don’t use Macs very much. I plan to soon, though.
January 31, 2012 — 12:27 pm
Eytan says:
Great tips for those new to Macs!
January 31, 2012 — 3:37 pm
Anna says:
Thanks. You pretty much summarized it well.
February 13, 2012 — 9:53 am
Lynn Williams says:
Thanks for the summary. It seems that every time I need a screenshot, I have forgotten the instructions. However, I wasn’t aware of the Grab application so I appreciate you bringing that to my attention. (Of course, it only works in Mac OS 10.4, so I now realize it won’t work on my older laptop that I use occasionally.)
March 28, 2012 — 4:25 am
Laust says:
Remember that there are some differences when taking screenshots on a mac running Leopard OS or older.
July 27, 2012 — 5:15 am