Taking a screenshot on your MacBook can be done in several ways, depending on what you want to capture. Screenshots are typically saved as PNG files to your desktop by default.
Here are the most common methods:
1. Capture the Entire Screen
* Command + Shift + 3: Press these three keys simultaneously. Your Mac will capture the entire screen, and the image will be saved to your desktop. You might see a thumbnail appear briefly in the corner of your screen, which you can click to edit the screenshot.
2. Capture a Portion of the Screen
* Command + Shift + 4: Press these three keys together. The pointer will change into a crosshair.
* Click and drag your mouse or trackpad to select the area you want to capture.
* Release the mouse or trackpad button to take the screenshot.
* To cancel before taking the screenshot, press the Esc (Escape) key.
3. Capture a Specific Window or Menu
* Command + Shift + 4, then Spacebar: After pressing Command + Shift + 4, release those keys and then press the Spacebar.
* The pointer will change into a camera icon.
* Move the camera icon over the window or menu you want to capture until it's highlighted, then click.
* To exclude the window's shadow, hold down the Option key while you click.
4. Using the Screenshot App (macOS Mojave or later)
* Command + Shift + 5: This shortcut opens the Screenshot app, which provides a panel of tools at the bottom of your display.
* From this panel, you can choose to:
* Capture the entire screen.
* Capture a selected portion.
* Capture a specific window.
* Record your entire screen or a portion of it.
* You can also access "Options" from this panel to set a timed delay, show the mouse pointer, or choose where to save the file.
* Click "Capture" for screenshots or "Record" for screen recordings. To stop recording, click the Stop button in the menu bar.
5. Capture the Touch Bar (on MacBook Pro models with a Touch Bar)
* Command + Shift + 6: This will capture what's currently displayed on your Touch Bar.
Copying to Clipboard Instead of Saving
If you want to copy the screenshot to your clipboard instead of saving it as a file to your desktop, press and hold the Control key in addition to the other keys for any of the above shortcuts. For example, to copy the entire screen to the clipboard, press Control + Shift + Command + 3. You can then paste it into an application.
Customizing Shortcuts
You can customize these keyboard shortcuts in System Settings. Go to Apple menu > System Settings, click Keyboard in the sidebar, then Keyboard Shortcuts, and select Screenshots.