How to Take a Screenshot on Mac: Complete Guide to Every Method

Taking screenshots on Mac is something you'll do countless times—whether you're capturing a moment in a video call, documenting a bug for support, or saving a recipe from a website. The good news? macOS offers more options than most users realize, from quick shortcuts to advanced capture tools with built‑in editing. If you're looking for the fastest way to take a screenshot on Mac, I'll show that first—then when to switch to other methods (windows, toolbar, timers). If you think in Windows terms, this is the “print screen on Mac” equivalent—also called a screen capture.

If you only remember one shortcut, make it ⌘ Cmd + Shift + 4. It’s the quickest way to grab exactly what you need. Below are the exact steps to take a screenshot on Mac in every scenario, plus a few small tricks that save time when you’re moving fast.

Quick Reference: Screenshot Keyboard Shortcuts

Here are the essential shortcuts you need to know:

Pro tip: Add Control to any of these shortcuts to copy the screenshot to your clipboard instead of saving as a file. Great for pasting into Messages/Slack without cluttering the Desktop.

Method 1: Capture Your Entire Screen

The fastest way to capture everything on your display:

Using keyboard:

1. Press ⌘ Cmd + Shift + 3
2. You'll hear a camera shutter sound
3. Screenshot saves to your Desktop (by default)

What you get: A full-resolution capture of your entire screen, including menu bar and Dock.

Multiple displays: This captures all connected displays as separate images.

Method 2: Capture a Selected Area (most flexible)

Perfect for capturing just part of your screen:

Using keyboard:

1. Press ⌘ Cmd + Shift + 4
2. Your cursor becomes a crosshair (+)
3. Click and drag to select the area you want
4. Release to capture

Pro techniques I actually use:

• Hold Shift while dragging to lock either horizontal or vertical movement
• Hold Option while dragging to expand selection from center
• Press Space after starting to drag to move your selection
• Press Esc to cancel without taking a screenshot

This is the most commonly used method since it captures only what you need.

Method 3: Capture a Specific Window

Get a clean screenshot of just one window, without any background clutter:

Using keyboard:

1. Press ⌘ Cmd + Shift + 4
2. Then press Space
3. Your cursor becomes a camera icon
4. Click the window you want to capture

What you get: A screenshot with a subtle drop shadow, isolated from the rest of your screen.

Hidden feature: When the camera cursor is active, hover over different windows to highlight them. This works for:

• Application windows
• Menu bar menus
• The menu bar itself
• The Dock
• Individual desktop icons

Method 4: Use the Screenshot Toolbar (most versatile)

The Screenshot toolbar gives you every option in one place, plus settings and timers:

To open:

1. Press ⌘ Cmd + Shift + 5
2. The toolbar appears at the bottom of your screen

Options in the toolbar:

• Capture Entire Screen (first icon)
• Capture Selected Window (second icon)
• Capture Selected Portion (third icon)
• Record Entire Screen (fourth icon - more on this later)
• Record Selected Portion (fifth icon)

Toolbar settings (Options menu):

• Save to: Desktop, Documents, Clipboard, or custom location
• Set a timer: 5 or 10 seconds (useful for capturing menus)
• Show mouse pointer in screenshot
• Show thumbnail preview after capture
• Remember last selection area

The thumbnail preview is especially useful—it appears briefly in the corner after capture, letting you quickly edit, share, or delete the screenshot. If you’re documenting a bug, this is the fastest way to annotate and send it.

Method 5: Capture Menus and Tooltips

Here's how to screenshot open menus or hover states:

Using the timer:

1. Press ⌘ Cmd + Shift + 5 to open toolbar
2. Click Options > Timer > 10 seconds
3. Click Capture
4. Quickly open the menu or trigger the tooltip
5. Stay still until the screenshot captures

Alternative method:

1. Press ⌘ Cmd + Shift + 4
2. Press and hold Control + Cmd (keeps menu open)
3. Press Space to get camera cursor
4. Click the menu while still holding Control + Cmd

Method 6: Capture the Touch Bar

For MacBooks with Touch Bar (2016-2020 models):

Using keyboard:

1. Press ⌘ Cmd + Shift + 6
2. Touch Bar contents are captured and saved

This creates a long, narrow screenshot showing your entire Touch Bar at that moment.

Editing Screenshots Immediately

After taking any screenshot (except when copying to clipboard), you'll see a thumbnail preview in the bottom-right corner of your screen:

Quick actions:

• Click the thumbnail to open Markup editor
• In Markup: draw, add text, crop, or annotate
• Click Done to save changes
• Drag thumbnail to Messages, Mail, or Notes to share directly
• Swipe right to dismiss
• Ignore it and it auto-saves in 5 seconds

Markup tools include:

• Sketch and draw
• Add shapes (arrows, circles, rectangles)
• Add text annotations
• Crop and rotate
• Add signature
• Magnify portions

Changing Where Screenshots Save

By default, screenshots save to your Desktop. To change this:

Method 1 - Via Screenshot toolbar:

1. Press ⌘ Cmd + Shift + 5
2. Click Options
3. Under "Save to", select: Desktop, Documents, Clipboard, Mail, Messages, or Other Location

Method 2 - Via Terminal (permanent change):

# Change save location to Downloads
defaults write com.apple.screencapture location ~/Downloads
killall SystemUIServer

# Change save location to custom folder
defaults write com.apple.screencapture location ~/Pictures/Screenshots
killall SystemUIServer

Copying Screenshots to Clipboard

Sometimes you want to paste a screenshot directly rather than save a file:

Two methods:

1. Add Control to any screenshot shortcut: e.g., ⌘ Cmd + Control + Shift + 3
2. Use Screenshot toolbar: Options > Save to > Clipboard

After copying, paste with ⌘ Cmd + V into any app.

Screenshot File Formats and Names

Default format: PNG (high quality, supports transparency)

Default naming: "Screenshot YYYY-MM-DD at HH.MM.SS.png"

To change format (via Terminal):

# Change to JPG (smaller file size)
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type jpg
killall SystemUIServer

# Other options: png, pdf, tiff, gif

To disable drop shadow on window screenshots:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture disable-shadow -bool true
killall SystemUIServer

Screen Recording Basics

While this guide focuses on screenshots, it's worth mentioning that the Screenshot toolbar (⌘ Cmd + Shift + 5) also handles screen recording:

• Click the fourth icon to record your entire screen
• Click the fifth icon to record a selected portion
• Click Options to include microphone audio
• Click Record button, perform actions, then click Stop in menu bar

For a complete guide to screen recording with audio setup, see our dedicated article: How to Screen Record on Mac (With Audio).

Optimizing Performance During Heavy Screenshot Workflows

If you're capturing dozens of screenshots—perhaps for documentation, tutorials, or design reviews—you might notice your Mac slowing down, especially when editing large images or recording screen video.

This is where monitoring your system becomes valuable. Sensei provides real-time performance tracking in your menu bar, showing you:

• CPU and GPU usage during intensive capture sessions
• Memory pressure when editing multiple screenshots
• Disk space remaining (important if saving many high-res captures)
• Temperature and fan speeds to prevent thermal throttling

For creators juggling multiple apps, screen recordings, and image editing simultaneously, Sensei helps you spot performance bottlenecks before they affect your workflow. The process monitor lets you identify and quit resource-hogging background apps in one click, keeping your screenshot sessions smooth.

If you prefer a real‑time view while you work, a lightweight menu bar monitor can help you spot CPU or memory spikes before they slow down captures.

Troubleshooting Common Screenshot Issues

Screenshots not saving?

• Check your storage—if disk is full, screenshots fail silently
• Verify save location is accessible (check Screenshot toolbar Options)
• Restart your Mac to reset the screencapture service

Shortcuts not working?

• Check System Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts > Screenshots
• Make sure shortcuts haven't been reassigned by other apps
• Restart SystemUIServer: killall SystemUIServer in Terminal

Missing screenshot thumbnails?

• Screenshot toolbar > Options > Show Floating Thumbnail (enable)
• Or check System Settings > Accessibility > Display > Display (reduce motion might disable thumbnails)

Getting the wrong area captured?

• If using multiple displays, press ⌘ Cmd + Shift + 4 then Space to target specific windows instead
• For precise captures, use Screenshot toolbar grid and ruler guides

Quick Reference Cheat Sheet

Print or save this for quick reference:

Capture full screen: ⌘ Cmd + Shift + 3 Capture selection: ⌘ Cmd + Shift + 4 Capture window: ⌘ Cmd + Shift + 4, Space, click window Open toolbar: ⌘ Cmd + Shift + 5 Capture Touch Bar: ⌘ Cmd + Shift + 6 Copy instead of save: Add Control to any shortcut Cancel capture: Press Esc

Conclusion

You now have the complete Mac screenshot playbook—from quick full‑screen grabs to precisely timed menu captures. If you remember one thing, keep ⌘ Cmd + Shift + 4 in your muscle memory, then reach for ⌘ Cmd + Shift + 5 when you need timers, window targeting, or a fast edit.

Remember:

• ⌘ Cmd + Shift + 4 is your workhorse shortcut (selected area)
• ⌘ Cmd + Shift + 5 gives you all options in one place
• Add Control to copy to clipboard instead of saving
• Use the thumbnail preview for quick edits and sharing

For heavy screenshot workflows, monitoring your system performance helps keep captures fast and smooth—especially during long sessions or when processing dozens of high‑resolution images.

Happy capturing!

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Related guides:

• How to Screen Record on Mac (With Audio)
• How to Right-Click on a Mac

For Apple’s official instructions, see Take a screenshot on your Mac.