Capturing a screen, taking a screenshot, or in PC talk, printscreening are different terms for the same desired outcome. macOS and OS X both allow for at least 13 ways to take a screenshot. In the guide below, we’ll cover the most common ways to do so on a Mac. Whether you have an iMac, iMac Pro, MacBook, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro, the process is essentially the same as long as you’re running macOS or older OS X operating system.
- Macbook Air Screen Issues
- How To Do Screenshot On Macbook Air
- How To Do A Screenshot On Macbook Air
- Screenshot Macbook Air 2018
- How To Do Screenshot With Macbook Air
Easiest Ways to Take Screenshots on Mac
Mac screenshots: 4 ways to capture your MacBook's screen. Keyboard shortcuts to take screenshots might seem straightforward on your Mac, but each technique captures a different part of your screen.
1) Full Screen Selection Screenshot
- With macOS 10.8 and higher, all screenshot images are saved with the “kMDItemIsScreenCapture” flag so you can search for them easily. The Finder Search window gets instantly populated with any matching screenshots saved on your Mac’s startup drive, including any screenshots in your iCloud Drive cached on this Mac.
- But taking a screenshot on an Apple computer is a little bit different than taking a screenshot on a Windows machine. Print screen mac isn’t as simple as pushing one button. On Windows PC, all you need to do is press the “PrtScr” or “Print Screen” key on your keyboard.
- Press and release the space bar: The crosshair turns into a little camera icon, which you can move over any open window. Click on your desired window to take a screenshot of it.
If you want to capture the whole screen, the following command is the easiest way to do so.
- Hold down Shift + Command and press 3.
- In case you run two or more monitors, you need to be working on the screen you want to capture.
2) Window Selection Screenshot
If you want to capture a certain window, the following command is the easiest way to do so.
- Hold down Shift + Command and press 4
- Hit spacebar and select window you want to screenshot.
3) Custom Selection Screenshot with Variable Dimensions
If you want to capture a custom size square or rectangle, the following command is the easiest way to do so.
- Hold down Shift + Command and press 4
- Make a custom selection with your mouse or trackpad.
Overview
Take a Screenshot with Grab
Using Grab has advantages. Grab is a default application on macOS that allows for taking four different kinds of screenshots. All four types of screen grabs can be done without using your keyboard at all. Your mouse or trackpad is all you need. Furthermore, you’ll be able to chose the format of the output file as well as it’s location destination on your hard drive.
4) Capture Custom Selection
- Open Grab by locating the application on your Mac or by hitting command + space bar and typing “grab”
- Navigate to a screen you want to screenshot
- Right-click on the Grab icon in your dock and select “Capture Selection” so a prompt appears
- Make a custom selection by using your mouse or trackpad
- Save the screenshot by selecting the format, destination, and name of the file
5) Capture a Full Screen
- Open Grab by locating the application on your Mac or by hitting command + space bar and typing “grab”
- Navigate to a screen you want to screenshot
- Right-click on the Grab icon in your dock and select “Capture Screen” so a prompt appears
- Click outside the prompt to select screen you want to capture
- Click “X” to close the screenshot window
- Chose to delete or save by selecting the format, destination, and name of the file
6) Capture a Desired Window
- Open Grab by locating the application on your Mac or by hitting command + space bar and typing “grab”
- Right-click on the Grab icon in your dock and select “Capture Window” so a prompt appears
- Click the “Select Window” button
- Click the window you want to screenshot
- Click “X” to close the screenshot window
- Chose to delete or save by selecting the format, destination, and name of the file
7) Capture Timed Screen
Macbook Air Screen Issues
- Open Grab by locating the application on your Mac or by hitting command + space bar and typing “grab”
- Navigate to a screen you want to screenshot
- Right-click on the Grab icon in your dock and select “Capture Screen” so a prompt appears
- Click the “Start Timer” button
- Time will go by and after 10 seconds grab takes a screenshot
- Click “X” to close the screenshot window
- Chose to delete or save by selecting the format, destination, and name of the file
Take a Screenshot with Preview
Using the native Preview application is yet another way to take screenshots on your Mac. Preview, just like Grab, comes with the basic installation of macOS or OS X.
8) Screenshot From Custom Selection
- Open Preview by locating it on your Mac. Alternatively, hit Command + Space Bar and type in “Preview.”
- While in Preview, click on File in the upper-left of the top menu bar.
- In the drop-down menu, select Take Screenshot.
- Click on From Selection.
9) Screenshot From a Desired Window
- Open Preview by locating it on your Mac. Alternatively, hit Command + Space Bar and type in “Preview.”
- While in Preview, click on File in the upper-left of the top menu bar.
- In the drop-down menu, select Take Screenshot.
- Click on From Window.
10) Screenshot from the Entire Screen
- Open Preview by locating it on your Mac. Alternatively, hit Command + Space Bar and type in “Preview.”
- While in Preview, click on File in the upper-left of the top menu bar.
- In the drop-down menu, select Take Screenshot.
- Click on From Entire Screen.
Take a Screenshot of Your Touch Bar
![Macbook Macbook](https://www.macobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/send-links-in-imessage.png)
This will only apply to some Mac users, but it’s still worth mentioning. If you have a newer MacBook model with a Touch Bar, you can take a screenshot of the actual “Touch Bar” itself. You can also use the Touch Bar to easily take screenshots by customizing it.
11) Screenshot Your Touch Bar
- Press Shift-Command-6
- This will screenshot your Touch Bar in its current state
12) Set up a Screenshot Button on the Touch Bar
- Click on View in the top menu bar.
- Select Customize Touch Bar.
- A new menu will appear. Simply drag the Screenshot button into the Touch Bar.
- When you tap on this Touch Bar button, you will get a set of options for the type of screenshots and where they will be saved.
13) Save a Screenshot into the Clipboard Rather Than a File
- To save a screenshot to your clipboard rather than as a file, you can simply add the Control key to any keyboard shortcut.
- For example Shift + Command + 3 would become Control + Shift + Command + 3
How to Edit Your Screenshot Options
Now that you know how to take screenshots, it’s worth learning other ways to edit them.
For example, using the Terminal, you can change where screenshots are saved and the file format they’re saved as.
On a related note, there’s no way to change the default resolution or output for all screenshots (since they’re in the highest quality they can be already).
You can also save a screenshot to your Clipboard, rather than as a file, for easy pasting.
Where Screenshots Go By Default
- By default, screenshots will end up on your desktop.
- You can find screenshots on your actual desktop, or by opening a Finder window and clicking on Desktop.
Change Location of Screenshots
- Hit Command + N, which will open a new Finder window.
- Create a new folder by hitting Command + Shift + N.
- Hit Command + Space to open Spotlight and type in Terminal. Hit Enter.
- Type in the following phrase into the terminal, making sure there is a single space after the word “location”: defaults write com.apple.screencapture location
- Drag the folder you previously created into the Terminal window, which will input its directory path.
- Hit the Enter key.
- Make sure you DO NOT delete this folder, because it will cause problems for you later on.
Restore Screenshot Locations to Default
- Hit Command + N, which will open a new Finder window.
- Create a new folder by hitting Command + Shift + N.
- Hit Command + Space to open Spotlight and type in Terminal. Hit Enter.
- Type in the following phrase into the terminal, making sure there is a single space after the word “location”:defaults write com.apple.screencapture location ~/Desktop
- This will restore the Desktop as the default location for screenshots
Change the Output File Format
- Hit Command + Space to open Spotlight and type in Terminal.
- Type in the following phrase into the terminal, making sure there is a single space after the word “type.” But do not hit enter yet: defaults write com.apple.screencapture type
- After the word “type” and a space, enter the image format you’d like to use. JPG, etc.
- Hit the Enter key.
Paste a Screenshot from Clipboard
- To paste a screenshot that is stored on your clipboard, simply use the keyboard command Command + V.
- Alternatively, you can right-click when in a location (such as a Finder folder) and click on Paste.
Oct 13, 2020 • Filed to: Photo/Video/Audio Solutions • Proven solutions
Normally, the people who switch from Windows to Mac are the ones who do this research. You will find unlimited queries stating 'how do I take a screenshot on my Mac'. In Windows, the screenshot feature is used with the Print Screen key, but Mac PCs don't have that key. So, if you are one of them, then don't panic.
In this article, you will get to learn everything about the screenshot feature in Mac OS. Once you are done reading this article, you will know how to do a screenshot on Windows and Mac. As there are several methods to do this, you can choose any of the options which are easy for you. Whether you have MacBook Air, Pro, or iMac, you'll be able to learn all the screen capturing methods here.
Part 1 What Is a Screenshot?
You might have heard the term many times, but can you describe it properly? Well, we can do it for you. The term screenshot is used to describe the action of capturing a static image file of your desktop or computer screen or a particular area of the screen.
Thus, the screenshot feature allows the users to take a picture of whatever is on the display screen of their device. This feature is so useful that every electronic device whether it is mobile phones, tablets, or computers, all of them has it.
Before you get to learn how to do a screenshot on a Mac or Windows, you must know about its uses too. When you can't explain something in words, at that time, screenshots come in handy. Few examples where a screenshot can be of real help are given below.
- To share the screen image with friends, family, and social media.
- It is useful to provide software reviews
- The screenshot also helps in software tutorials to demonstrate how a function is performed.
- It is also helpful in providing technical support for errors and software issues
Saved screenshots lost? Go to the page for solutions - How to recover permanently pictures.
Part 2 How to Screenshot on Windows 10
You will be glad to know that all current OS has an in-built feature to take screenshots. If you have a Windows system, then you can capture a screenshot easily by pressing two keys simultaneously. Here's how to take a screenshot on Windows with various methods. Audio recording software free trial. There are various tools available to allow the Windows users to take a screenshot of a particular area.
1. How to Take a Screenshot on a PC Using Snipping Tool
If you don't want any trouble to screenshot Windows 10, then the snipping tool is perfect for you. This tool was released with Windows Vista and available for all other versions too. It can take screenshots in various sizes and formats. Along with the capturing tool, the Snipping tool also has a basic image editing tool with an eraser, highlighter, and colored pens.
Windows users can use the Snipping tool to:
- Capture a window
- Capture the entire screen
- Capture a free-form portion
- Capture a rectangular portion
Once you learn how to screenshot on windows with a snipping tool, you can take the above snips easily. To use the snipping tool, you can follow the below steps.
- Press the Start button with a Windows icon, and type Snipping Tool in the search box.
- Once the Tool is active, just select the Mode, and choose between Free-Form, Rectangular, Window, or Full-screen snip options. The New option is to take a screenshot using the previous model.
- Once you take the screenshot, you will get the Copy and Save options too.
To take a free-form or rectangular snip, you will need to select a particular area with the mouse.
If you are good at remembering shortcuts, then the Snipping tool can also be activated using the Keyboard shortcut keys. Here are the shortcuts that you can use to capture the screen with keys.
- Press the Start key and type Snipping tool to open the tool as there is no keyboard shortcut for this.
- To select the type of snip, press Alt + M keys and use the arrow keys to select one and then press Enter.
- While taking a rectangular snip, hold the Shift key and use the arrow keys to select the area you want to capture.
- To save the screenshot, press Ctrl + S keys and to copy, press Ctrl + C keys.
- To take a new screenshot with previous mode, press Alt + N keys.
So, that's how you can use the snipping tool to take screenshots on any Windows PC.
2. How to Screenshot Using Print Screen on Windows 10
The only thing you need to do to take a PC screenshot on Windows 10, is the Print Screen button. The PrtScr key allows you to save a screenshot, take a screen screenshot without saving it as a file, and take a screenshot of one window. In normal keyboards, the PrtScr key is available right next to the Function keys. While in laptops, the Function 'Fn' is used to activate the Print Screen feature.
The steps you need to follow to take a screenshot in Windows 10 are as follows:
- To take a screenshot without saving, you'll need to press PrtScr. Then, open the program where you want to use the Screenshot and paste it. In some laptops, you'll need to press Alt + Fn + PrtScr keys instead.
- To take a screenshot of just one window, press Alt + PrtScr keys.
- To take a screenshot of a particular area, press Windows + Fn + PrtScr
The mishandling of taking a screenshot might cause photo corruption. How can you restore corrupted photos?
3. How to Save Screenshots on Windows 10
To save the screenshot on Windows 10, you don't need to do much. As you press the Windows Key and PrntScrn keys together, the screen dims for a second and the screenshots automatically get saved to the default folder.
As the default format for Windows 10 screenshot is PNG, you can use another method to save the screenshot in another format.
- Press the PrintScreen key and wait for a few seconds.
- Open Windows Paint and then press Ctrl + V, or right-click to paste the screenshot.
- Then press Ctrl + S to save the file or go to the 'Save as' option under the File menu.
- Customize the location, enter a name, and select another format for your screenshot.
- Finally, tap on the Save button and you'll have your screenshot in a specified location.
But, in some systems, the PrntScrn key has other functions too. Then in such conditions, you'll need to press the Fn + Windows key + PrntScrn simultaneously to capture a screenshot. You can find the folder under the User Profile's Pictures option.
![How To Do Screenshot Macbook Air How To Do Screenshot Macbook Air](https://i0.wp.com/512pixels.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/10-14-Mojave-10.jpg?ssl=1)
4. How to Edit Screenshots on Windows 10
Hopefully, now you know how to screenshot on Windows 10/8/7. Along with this, the method of editing screenshots in Windows system is also very easy. Usually, the tools which are used to take screenshot have their editing function.
But the default PrntScrn method doesn't have an editing option. Therefore, to edit the screenshots, you have to use a slightly different method.
- Press the Print Screen key of your system and open Windows Paint.
- As the screenshot also gets copied to the clipboard, you can simply paste it in the paint.
- Inside the paint, you'll have the basic editing options to crop, resize, rotate, and perform additional editing.
But with Windows 10, a tool named as Microsoft Snip that allows the users to draw some lines, add audio files and add animated things in the screenshot before sharing. In the older version of Windows, the users can also use the Snipping tool for editing.
Part 3 How to Screenshot on Mac
Without the PrntScrn, many users who switch from Windows OS to Mac get lost. But don't worry; Mac OS is not that hard to operate as you think it is. So, here's how to take a screenshot on Mac easily. Luckily, you get more customizable options for Mac than Windows OS.
1. Use Mac Screenshot Shortcut to Screen Capture Mac
To capture a particular screen area, you can use the Mac screenshot shortcut. As there are various options available, you have to follow slightly different steps to take screenshots of a particular area.
- Screenshot a window:
1 If you want to use screen capture on Mac for a window, then you should press Command + Shift + 4 keys at once. As the crosshairs appear on the screen, press the Space key and position the cursor over the window and click on the mouse or the trackpad. Remember to hold the space bar while dragging.
2 As you click, the camera icon will appear and the window will turn grey. If multiple windows are open, then choose the window you want to capture and click on the mouse to take the screenshot. The image will appear on the desktop automatically.
2 As you click, the camera icon will appear and the window will turn grey. If multiple windows are open, then choose the window you want to capture and click on the mouse to take the screenshot. The image will appear on the desktop automatically.
- Screenshot the entire screen:
To take a screenshot on MacBook, you only need to press the Command + Shift + 3 and you will hear a shutter sound of the camera. By default, the screenshot will be displayed on the desktop. Best media software for mac.
- Screenshot part of the screen:
1 To screenshot MacBook pro or others, you should press Command + Shift + 4 keys simultaneously. With this shortcut, you'll be able to capture a part of the screen.
2 As you press the keys, a cross will appear on screen with some numbers. You can drag the cross across the area which you want to capture. Press the Space bar while dragging to move the entire selection. Then release the mouse or trackpad button and you'll find the screenshot on your desktop.
2 As you press the keys, a cross will appear on screen with some numbers. You can drag the cross across the area which you want to capture. Press the Space bar while dragging to move the entire selection. Then release the mouse or trackpad button and you'll find the screenshot on your desktop.
- Screenshot a dropdown menu:
1 To know how to screen capture on Mac of a drop-down menu, you will need to open the menu first. Then press the Shift + Command + 4 keys and drag the cross to the area of the menu.
2 Release the mouse to capture the area and then press the Space key to change the pointer to a camera. Then press the menu to capture the screenshot.
2 Release the mouse to capture the area and then press the Space key to change the pointer to a camera. Then press the menu to capture the screenshot.
Any photo corruption issue can be solved. Here are the solutions - How to Repair JPEG Files.
2. Do a Screenshot via macOS Mojave
Whether it is Mac OS X, macOS, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, or Mac Mojave, every Mac version has its criteria to take a screenshot. To learn how to take a screenshot on macOS Mojave, you can read the below section.
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But to get to the controls, you'll need to click on the Command + Shift + 5 on the keyboard and the screen capture controls will appear on the screen. But you can also use keyboard shortcuts.
Screenshot the whole screen on Mac:
If you want to know how to screenshot on macOS Mojave, then follow these steps: To capture the screen, press the Command + Shift + 3, and the screenshot of the entire screen will be automatically saved on the desktop.
Screenshot a window:
To capture the screen of a particular window, you will have to follow the below steps:- Press the Command + Shift + 4 keys at once and then tap the Space Bar key.
- The cursor will change into a camera icon and you can move it around the window as a screen.
- As you move the cursor over the window, the area will be highlighted.
- After you've selected the area, press the mouse button and a screenshot will be saved to the desktop.
Screenshot a portion on Mac:
To take the screenshot of a particular portion, you need to follow these steps:- Press the Command + Shift + 4 keys together at once.
- A cross-hair cursor will appear on the screen. Click and drag the cursor to the particular area that you want to capture.
- Release the mouse button and the screenshot will be saved automatically.
3. Edit Screenshots on Mac
Once, you have learned how to take a screenshot on a MacBook Pro you will need to know how to save screenshot too. So, here you can find out where the screenshots go after you capture them.
It is vital that you also know where do screenshots go on Mac. By default, the screenshots are saved on the desktop. But you can also use other tools to customize the location where the screenshots might be saved.
As you now know how to screenshot on Mac Air/Pro/Mini or any other Mac version, then you will be glad to know that you can also edit them. Furthermore, it is easy to very easy to edit the screenshots. All you need to do is following the steps below:
- As the screenshot is created, a thumbnail appears on the corner of the screen.
- Tap on that thumbnail and this will open the Markup tool. You can draw, highlight, add shapes, signatures, and text boxes to the screenshot.
- You'll also have the option to rotate or crop the image, share the screenshot via mail, message, or add them to photos.
4. How to Save Screenshots on Mac
In Mojave, you can use apps like Grab to save your screenshots elsewhere. The screenshot images will be saved in the Documents folder with Untitled Name.
As you click on the Command + Shift + 5 keys, open the Save to section and find the location where the images are saved. You can easily customize the location in any of the Mac version.
The default format for the screenshot is PNG. To save the image in a different format, you can open the screenshot in a different application. You can also choose the Thumbnail or Options button to change the location of the screenshot. The location can be changed in settings from desktop, documents, or Clipboard.
Part 4 How to Recover Lost Screenshots
Sometimes, even though the screenshots are saved, there is a possibility that they still get lost. But luckily, you still have a reliable method to get them back, if you save the screenshots on your PC, hard drive, SD card, and so on. The method is taking advantage of Recoverit Photo Recovery.
Once you know how to take a screenshot in Mac, you can take as many screenshots as you want. But unfortunately, sometimes, we can also go through the accidental deletion, formatting, and system crash that results in data loss. Best video editing and mixing software. But luckily, we can recover the photos easily with Recoverit Photo Recovery.
This tool is specially designed to take care of the media files that you accidentally lose. Whether it is photos, videos, or audio files, you can easily recover the screenshots with Recoverit.
How to Recover Screenshots on Windows and Mac
People usually swipe the saved screenshot and fall into despair. You can download Recoverit Photo Recovery to get the screenshots back from your computer, tablet, an Android phone with an SD card, etc.
How To Do Screenshot On Macbook Air
- Select a location
You can choose the location where you lost your data. If you don't know the exact location, then choose the 'I can't find my partition' option and scan the disk.
- Scan the hard drive
The software will scan the selected hard drive all around to search for all your lost or deleted screenshots. Once the scan is complete, all the photos that were recently deleted will be displayed on the screen.
- Preview and recover photos
How To Do A Screenshot On Macbook Air
Finally, you can have a preview of the files you want to recover, select the screenshots you want, and click on the Recover option to get them back.
Screenshot Macbook Air 2018
Hopefully, now you've learned how to get a screenshot on Mac and Windows both. It is easy to keep a track of the screenshots. And if you ever lost some important screenshots, then Recoverit Photo Recovery tool is always here for your help.
How To Do Screenshot With Macbook Air
Further, read and get the exact guide on recovering pictures from Photo Booth.
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