Taking screenshots on a Mac doesn’t have to be a nightmare! Get familiar with our handy guide.
Print screen of the entire screen on a Mac
To take a screenshot of the entire screen on MacOS, use the keyboard shortcut Command + Shift + 3. After holding down the keys, our Mac will signal the print screen with a camera shutter sound.
By default, the name of the saved file contains the name “Screenshot” and the date in the format year, month, day and time, e.g. Screenshot 2019 – 01 – 01 at 12:00.
Screenshots are saved by default in PNG format, not JPG. Changing the file format is possible using programs such as Photoshop, Preview, Grablub or others. When opening a file with a print screen in one of such programs, all you need to do is to save as and choose another extension format, e.g. JPG.
Making a print screen fragment of the screen
To save in the form of a screenshot important information for us it is not necessary to take a screenshot of the entire screen. To take a screenshot of the screen fragment on a Mac, use the keyboard shortcut Command + Shift + 4. After calling this shortcut, a crosshair will appear on the computer screen to select a part of the screen that interests us. Moving it diagonally from the upper left to the lower right corner (or vice versa) select the fragment we are interested in and the Mac will make a print screen.
How do I take a screenshot using the MacOS Preview application?
In addition to the simplest solutions, there is another way. After starting the system Preview program we use the command File -> Take a screenshot. There are three options waiting for us: Selection, Window or Full screen. The first two commands should be clear to you, after choosing the third the countdown begins and after a few seconds the application takes a screenshot of the full screen including the cursor (which you will not get using the basic shortcut Shift + Command + 3). It is also worth remembering that the screens made with this technique automatically open in the application and only then can we save them in the computer’s memory.
Print screen with a schedule on a Mac
Another way to take a screenshot is to make a print screen with a time delay. The Grab system application is used to make such a screenshot. You can find it in the Applications folder in Tools or by pressing Command + Space and typing “Grab”. To use it to make a print screen, follow these steps: open the Grab application, click Capture and then Timed Screen and Run timer.
Another option offered by the Grab application is taking screenshots at a certain frequency. After clicking the Time screen option, the application will count down the time and take a screenshot every 10 seconds.
Where to find screenshots
By default, screenshots are saved on the desk with the name “Screenshot [date] at [time]”.
On macOS Mojave or later, you can change the default location of saved screenshots using the Options menu in the Screenshot application. You can also drag the thumbnail into a folder or document.
