How to take a screenshot on Mac OS X

If you need to take a snapshot of a funny chat conversation, show a technician a system error message that appears, give instructions on how to complete a task, or even add an image to an article on wikiHow, the best way to show what's on your monitor is a screenshot. Taking a screenshot on Mac OS X is easy, and there are several ways to select only the part of the image that you need.

Steps

Method 1 of 7: Take a screenshot of the entire screen

Step 1. Before taking a screenshot, make sure that the screen shows exactly what you want to show in the screenshot

Make sure all required windows are visible.

Step 2. Press the key combination Command + Shift + 3

If you have sound turned on, you will hear a click like a camera shutter.

Step 3. Find the screenshot you took on your desktop

The image will be saved under the name “screenshot”, and the date and time will also be noted in the file name.

• In earlier versions of OS X, images will be saved as "Picture #". For example, if this is the fifth screenshot on your computer, the file name will be "Picture 5".

  Method 2 of 7: Take a screenshot of a portion of your screen

  

  Step 1. Press the key combination Command + Shift + 4

  Your cursor will turn into a selection cross cursor.

  

  Step 2. Click and drag the cursor to highlight the desired part of the image

  When dragging the cursor, the desired area should be highlighted with a gray rectangle. If you need to customize all windows, press esc. This will deselect the image and return to normal cursor mode.

  

  Step 3. Release the mouse

  If your computer has sound enabled, you will hear a click like a camera shutter. This will signal that you have taken a screenshot.

  

  Step 4. Find the screenshot on your desktop

  The image will be saved under the name "screenshot" and the extension.png, the date and time will also be marked in the file name.

  • In earlier versions of OS X, images will be saved as "Picture #". For example, if this is the fifth screenshot on your computer, the file name will be "Picture 5".

    

    Step 5. Use the screenshot

    After you take a screenshot, you can use it however you want. You can attach a screenshot to an email, upload it to the Internet, or drag and drop it into an application, for example, into a text editor.

    Method 3 of 7: Save the screenshot to the clipboard

    

    Step 1. Press the key combination Command + Control + Shift + 3

    This method works exactly the same as the one described above, except that you do not immediately create the screenshot file. Instead, the image will be saved to the clipboard, a temporary storage location where the computer stores the text you copied.

    • Using this method, you can also take a partial screenshot by pressing Command + Control+ Shift + 4 and dragging the cursor over the desired area of the screen, just like in the method with a screenshot of a certain part of the screen.

      

      Step 2. Press Command + V or Edit> Paste to paste your image

      The screenshot you take can be pasted into any suitable application, such as a Word document, an imaging program, or most email services.

      Method 4 of 7: Taking a screenshot of an open window

      

      Step 1. Press the key combination Command + Shift + 4 and press the Space key

      The cursor will turn into a small camera. Pressing the Space key again will return the cursor to a cross-shaped view.

      

      Step 2. Move the cursor over the window you want to take a screenshot of

      When you move the camera over the windows, the latter will be highlighted in blue. While in this mode, you can flip through windows using the keyboard shortcut Command + Tab.

      

      Step 3. Highlight the window

      The image of the selected window will be saved to the desktop by default, just like with other methods.

      Method 5 of 7: Taking a Screenshot Using the Grab Utility

      

      Step 1. Go to Applications> Utilities> Grab

      This will open the Grab application. In the upper left corner of the screen, you will see several options.

      

      Step 2. Click on the "Capture" option and choose between four different options

      • To take a screenshot of the entire screen, press Screen (or simply the Apple Key + Z key combination). A window will appear, explaining to you where to click and that no window will appear in the frame.
      • To take a screenshot of part of the image on the screen, press Select. A window will appear instructing you to highlight the portion of the screen you want to capture.
      • To take a screenshot of a specific window, click on the "Window" item. Then click on the window you want to make an image of.

      

      Step 3. When a new window appears, click "Save"

      You can also click Save As … to give the file a different name and / or save it in a different folder. Remember that an image can only be saved in the.tiff format and that it is not automatically saved.

      Method 6 of 7: Change the location of the saved files

      

      Step 1. Create a new folder

      Go to Finder and click File> New Folder.

      

      Step 2. Name the new folder

      Select a new folder and in the field enter the desired name, for example, "Screenshots".

      

      Step 3. Open a terminal window

      Terminal is in Finder, under utilities.

      

      Step 4. On the command line, copy defaults write com.apple.screencapture location, do not forget to add a space after the word “location”

      Don't press Return.

      

      Step 5. Drag the desired folder to the terminal window

      This will add the new location of the screenshots to the command line.

      

      Step 6. Press the Return key

      A new command line will appear.

      

      Step 7. At the command line, enter killall SystemUIServer and press Return

      This will reset the terminal settings, allowing the changes to take effect immediately.

      

      Step 8. See do not delete the folder

      Otherwise, you will either have to re-create the folder or repeat the entire process to assign a new location for the screenshots.

      Method 7 of 7: Complementary Methods

      

      Step 1. Skitch utility

      This program will allow you to make minor changes to your screenshots and upload them to the Internet.

      

      Step 2. Monosnap is a powerful screenshot tool

      Take a screenshot, write notes to it and upload to the cloud service, save or open it in any external editor.

      

      Step 3. Jing utility

      This utility is somewhat similar to Skitch. With its help, it is also possible to take a screenshot and upload it to the Internet. With Jing, you can also record a video of what is happening on your screen.

      Advice

      • Advanced users with knowledge of the MAC OS X Lion Terminal application can also use the screen capture command to take a screenshot from the command line.

      • Screen capture images are saved to the desktop with a-p.webp" />"Changing the location of saved files."

      • An alternative but more boring method of taking screenshots is available through the Mac OS X Lion's Preview app. The option for taking screenshots in the File menu corresponds to the combination of the required keys.

      Warnings

      • When you take a screenshot in order to later show it to other people or post it on the Internet, make sure that it does not capture personal and confidential information.
      • Posting screenshots containing copyrighted information may have legal consequences. Make sure that you are allowed to take a screenshot of the information that is displayed on your screen.