Taking screenshots on your Mac computer is pretty simple. If you’re in need of a quick screenshot, there are several different ways to do it. Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages, so choose the one that works best for you!
Taking Screenshots with Keyboard Shortcuts
The best way of all the methods mentioned is using keyboard shortcuts. If you have macOS installed, the following key combinations will get you the screenshots you need:
- Command + Shift + 3 – Takes screenshot of current screen and saves it as a .png file in the desktop folder.
- Command + Shift + 4 – Overlays crosshairs onto the top left hand corner of the area you want to capture. Dragging outside of this area will resize it and dragging within this area allows for adding text or drawing shapes.
Taking Screenshots of Only Part of Your Screen
Most people only use their laptop for surfing the web, word processing, and email. But chances are that you’ve used it for other things too, like typing up research or collaborating with colleagues on a project. What if you need to create an image of just the section of your screen where you’re working? One option is to use Apple’s built-in Grab tool. Simply select Grab: Screenshot Window Tool from the menu bar and drag the cursor across the portion of your screen that you want captured. Next, click anywhere outside the highlighted window to store your screenshot in an open file window.
Taking Screenshots if the Print Screen Key Doesn’t Work
If you’re using a PC, hitting the Print Screen key should take a screenshot of your current screen. However, if you’re using OS X, the process is different. Luckily, there are four quick and easy methods for taking screenshots:
Double-click the Apple icon in the top left corner of your screen (typically found at the upper left corner) and click System Preferences. This will open up System Preferences with an option to adjust display settings or create a new account located under Security & Privacy.
Click Display. Once you’re in Display, click Arrangement and select Match Desktop Size To: Screen Size. Once you have done that, hit Command + Shift + 3 and you will see three black bars appear overtop of your screen. Click anywhere inside those bars, or any window if you want to capture a specific area of your screen, and it will automatically save as a PNG file on your desktop. You can also change these settings so that when you press Control + Shift + 3 all windows are captured instead of just your entire screen.
Taking Screenshots in Preview App
This is one of the simplest and most widely used tools for taking screenshots, but some people do not know how to get started. To create a screenshot in Preview, open the app and select the file you want by clicking on it. After this point, you can choose whether or not you want to zoom in. If you do want to zoom in and make edits, hit Command (or Control) + J. This will open up your editing window with all of the same tools that Preview has built into it. To actually take the picture of your screen and save it as an image file, click on Save after making all changes.