How to Take a Screenshot on Mac: Every Method Explained

Mac Screenshot Keyboard Shortcuts

Apple builds powerful screenshot tools directly into macOS — no third-party software needed. There are three core keyboard shortcuts, and each captures something different.

Shortcut	What It Captures
Shift + Cmd + 3	The entire screen
Shift + Cmd + 4	A custom selection you drag
Shift + Cmd + 4, then Space	A specific window or menu
Shift + Cmd + 5	Screenshot toolbar (macOS Mojave+)
Shift + Cmd + 6	Touch Bar (older MacBook Pro)

How to Screenshot a Specific Area

Press Shift + Cmd + 4. Your cursor turns into a crosshair. Click and drag to draw a rectangle around the area you want. Release the mouse button and the screenshot is taken automatically. If you hold Space while dragging, you can reposition the selection without resizing it.

How to Screenshot a Single Window

Press Shift + Cmd + 4, then immediately press Space. The cursor turns into a camera icon. Move it over the window you want — it highlights in blue. Click once to capture just that window, with a drop shadow included by default. Hold Option while clicking to remove the shadow.

The Screenshot Toolbar (macOS Mojave and Later)

Press Shift + Cmd + 5 to open a floating toolbar at the bottom of your screen. From here you can:

• Choose between full screen, window, or selection capture
• Record a video of your screen or a portion of it
• Set a timer (5 or 10 seconds) to delay the capture
• Choose where screenshots are saved
• Show or hide the mouse cursor in the screenshot

Where Do Mac Screenshots Go?

By default, screenshots are saved to your Desktop as PNG files with names like "Screenshot 2026-04-04 at 10.30.00 AM.png". You can change the save location in the Shift + Cmd + 5 toolbar by clicking "Options" and selecting a different folder, or even the clipboard.

How to Copy a Screenshot to the Clipboard

Add Control to any screenshot shortcut to copy to clipboard instead of saving a file:

• Ctrl + Shift + Cmd + 3 — full screen to clipboard
• Ctrl + Shift + Cmd + 4 — selection to clipboard

Then paste with Cmd + V directly into an email, Slack message, or document.

Annotating Screenshots with Markup

When a screenshot is taken, a thumbnail appears in the bottom-right corner. Click it within a few seconds to open the Markup editor where you can draw arrows, add text, crop, sign, or highlight parts of the image before saving.

Using Screenshot App (Screen Capture)

You can also open the Screenshot app directly by searching for "Screenshot" in Spotlight (Cmd + Space). This launches the same toolbar as Shift + Cmd + 5.

Third-Party Screenshot Tools

For advanced needs — scrolling screenshots, delayed captures, automatic uploads, or annotation workflows — tools like Cleanshot X, Snagit, and Skitch offer features beyond the built-in macOS tool.

PNG vs JPG — Which Format?

Mac screenshots save as PNG by default, which is lossless and great for text and UI. If you need a smaller file, you can convert to JPG. Our free image tools let you convert, compress, or resize any screenshot instantly.