Taking a Screenshot on Mac: 4 Simple Ways to Do It - CNET

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If you ain immoderate benignant of modern Mac -- including MacBook laptops, iMac all-in-ones oregon Mac Mini and Mac Studio desktops -- determination are 3 basal ways to instrumentality a screenshot with keyboard shortcuts. MacBook Pro owners tin usage the Touch Bar for a 4th method. Apple's MacOS bundle besides gives you a just fig of options to easy save, delete and unfastened the screenshot for markup. 

These tips besides use to the latest Macs, specified arsenic the 13-inch MacBook Pro with a caller M2 chip and the M2 MacBook Air. We've besides tested these tips to corroborate they enactment successful MacOS Ventura, the latest operating strategy update.

Watch this: How to instrumentality Mac screenshots

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Method 1: Cmd-Shift-3

This keyboard shortcut captures a screenshot of your full screen.

Method 2: Cmd-Shift-4 

Use this keyboard combo to crook your cursor into a crosshair, which you tin resistance to prime a information of your surface to capture. Release the rodent fastener oregon trackpad to instrumentality the shot.

You person a fig of different options aft hitting Cmd-Shift-4:

Press and merchandise the spacebar: The crosshair turns into a small camera icon, which you tin determination implicit immoderate unfastened window. Click connected your desired model to instrumentality a screenshot of it. A screenshot captured by this method features a achromatic borderline astir the model with a spot of a driblet shadow.

Press and clasp the spacebar (after dragging to item an country but earlier releasing the rodent fastener oregon trackpad): This locks successful the signifier and size of the enactment country but lets you reposition it connected the screen. It's precise useful if your archetypal enactment country is disconnected by a fewer pixels; conscionable clasp down the spacebar to reposition it earlier releasing the rodent fastener to drawback a screenshot.

Hold down the Shift key (after dragging to item an country but earlier releasing the rodent fastener oregon trackpad): This locks successful each broadside of the enactment country made with the crosshairs prevention the bottommost edge, letting you determination your rodent up oregon down to presumption the bottommost edge. 

Without releasing the rodent button, merchandise the Shift cardinal and deed it again to reposition the close borderline of your enactment area. You tin toggle betwixt moving the bottommost borderline and close borderline by keeping the rodent fastener oregon touchpad engaged and pressing the Shift key.

Method 3: Cmd-Shift-5

A shortcut bid introduced mode backmost successful MacOS Mojave successful 2018, Cmd-Shift-5 calls up a tiny sheet astatine the bottommost of your show with your surface seizure options. There are 3 screenshot buttons that fto you seizure the full screen, a model oregon a enactment of your screen. 

Likewise, the 2 video-recording buttons fto you grounds your full surface oregon a enactment of it. On the near is an X fastener to adjacent the screenshot panel, but you tin besides conscionable deed the Escape cardinal to exit out.

Your CMD-Shift-5 options.

Dan Ackerman/CNET

On the close broadside is an Options button. It lets you take wherever to prevention your screenshot -- Desktop, Documents, Clipboard, Mail, Messages, Preview oregon Other Location, and acceptable a 5- oregon 10-second hold truthful you tin enactment up items that mightiness different vanish erstwhile you prosecute your screenshot tool.

By default, the Show Floating Thumbnail enactment is enabled, which puts a small preview thumbnail of your just-captured screenshot successful the lower-right country of your screen, akin to the screenshot process with iOS. Unlike connected your iPhone, you tin crook disconnected this preview thumbnail connected your Mac. Lastly, you tin take to amusement your rodent pointer successful a screenshot oregon video.

If the screenshot sheet is successful your way, you tin drawback its near borderline and resistance it to a caller spot connected your screen.

Bonus for Touch Bar MacBooks: Cmd-Shift-6

If you've got an older MacBook Pro with the Touch Bar, you tin besides instrumentality a screenshot of what's presently showing connected the Touch Bar. Just deed Cmd-Shift-6 to instrumentality a precise wide and skinny screenshot of your Touch Bar.

Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET

Easy annotation

If you clasp the Floating Thumbnail, you'll summation speedy entree to Markup tools to annotate your screenshot. You tin swipe the Floating Thumbnail distant oregon conscionable fto it gaffe distant connected its ain and it'll beryllium saved to the spot you past saved a screenshot. Click the Floating Thumbnail and it'll unfastened successful a Markup View preview model (but not Preview) with each of the markup tools you get successful Preview.

You tin right-click the Floating Thumbnail to:

• Save the screenshot to your desktop, Documents folder oregon clipboard.
  
• Open it successful Mail, Messages, Preview oregon Photos.
  
• Show successful Finder.
  
• Delete.
  
• Open it successful the Markup preview model described above.
  
• Close (and save).

Longtime Mac screenshotters whitethorn beryllium dilatory to follow the Cmd-Shift-5 shortcut, but I find myself utilizing it much for the quality to annotate screenshots without needing to unfastened Preview, and rapidly delete screenshots that I cognize instantly I messed up. The 5- and 10-second hold options are besides utile and appreciated additions.