3 Ways To Take Screenshot On Mac Without Much Of Hassle
Had a recent shift to Mac? Welcome to the Mac community. Windows is something that is easy to learn and you can navigate things easily, even if you are a newbie. But what about Mac? Be it a mobile phone or PC, and iOS certainly knows how to confuse and tempt people with its high-tech programming. And this is the reason you are here, don’t worry, we will let you know how you can take a screenshot on mac.
In windows, you have easy access to the ‘Print Screen’ button from the keyboard. So taking a screenshot was never a mind-breaking task. But on Mac’s keyboard, you won’t find any key named ‘Print Screen.’ Here you will have to use commands, or you can say keyboard shortcuts.
Here in this article, we have mentioned 3 ways to take a screenshot on Mac, using keyboard shortcuts, a third-party app, and a default tool – preview.
Mac undoubtedly gives the best of benefits from its security to its services. Let’s move to the actual topic you are here for!
How to Screenshot on Mac?
Taking a screenshot on Mac will just use a bit of your energy and memory power. Let’s see how:
With Keyboard Shortcuts
Yes, you can capture the screen of your window using FEW keyboard shortcuts! Now you will be wondering why we capitalized ‘few’? To make you aware that there is more than one.
Command+Shift+3 (Capture the entire screen)
Step1: Press and hold Command, Shift, and 3 key simultaneously. The entire screen will be captured and saved on the desktop within seconds.
Step2: If you want to save the image on the clipboard, press the same combination with the control key.
Command+Shift+4 (Capture the selected area)
Step1: Press and hold the Command, Shift, and 4 key concurrently. Your cursor will transform into a crosshair.
Step2: The next thing to do is, click and drag to select the area on the screen that you want to capture. As soon as the mouse is let free, the screen will be captured and saved on your desktop.
These commands were for pre-Mojave screenshot commands (they will work on post-Mojave, too!). But there are two new additions of commands to it, which will make the work easier!
Command+Shift+5 (Post-Mojave users)
Step1: Hit the Command, Shift, and 5 keys together and you will see a screen capture menu on the screen. It has the option to:
- Capture the entire screen
- Capture the selected windows
- Capture the selected area
- Record the entire screen
- Record the selected portion
Other than these on the right-hand side, you will see an ‘Options’ drop list, which will let you configure the setting on where the image or video will be saved.
Command+Shift+6 (MacBook with Touch Bar)
This command is specifically useful for Macbook with a touch bar. How? Let’s see:
Step1: Hold down the command, shift, and 6 keys. With this, you will be able to take a screenshot of what is showing on the touch bar.
Step2: The moment you press the combination, the wide and skinny image of your touch bar will be taken.
Using Third-Party Apps
Find difficulty in remembering shortcuts? It’s okay, there’s another way too! Always remember, “when one door closes, another door opens.” iOS store has few apps that can do your work and they are:
Grab
Grab – a pre-installed app on Mac, allows you to take a screenshot from the menu bar only. With it, you can select whether you want to capture a selected area, window, or entire screen. If you’re using macOS Catalina, then this feature is infused in the shortcut (Command+Shift+5) itself.
Grab also empowers you to take timed screenshots and even a single-window screenshot too. To click the timed screenshots, you can either select the option from the app or by using the combination “Command+Shift+Z.”
CleanShot
CleanShot is also another third-party app to click the image of your screen without hassling much with the shortcuts. This wonderful application allows you to hide desktop icons, annotate or blur a certain part of the image. It will provide you with a cleaner image to send or use.
Serves to its name, right!
Capto
Capto is an app that will solve every problem at its best. The app doesn’t just let you take a snap of the screen, it also permits you to record the selected or entire area. If you are someone who gives software walkthroughs, then trust us, this one is just perfect for you.
Using Preview
A default tool on Mac – Preview, also let you take the screenshot. Wanna know how?
Step1: Launch Preview.
Step2: Click File from the menu bar.
Step3: The drop-down list will appear. At the end of the list, you will be able to locate the option,” Take Screenshot.” Click on it and then select either ‘From Selection, From Window, or From Entire Screen’ whichever you need.
Managing Screenshots
When you take screenshots on Mac through keyboard shortcuts, the images are saved directly on the desktop. This will get really messy as it will stack up the screenshots every time you capture the screen.
The screenshots are saved with the name, “Screen Shot 2020-XX-XX at 11.55.15.” There will be a bunch of files with this name on your desktop.
No one likes a cluttered desktop, right? So manage your screenshots with Inboard and Dropshare.
If you are using Preview to take a screenshot, then using Finder with it is advisable. But if not then, Inboard is the coolest option. Inboard will work as your own personal and private Pinterest, as it lets you tag and filter the photos.
And if your work demands file sharing with the colleagues, then Dropshare is the smartest option to go for!
For Your Information (FYI):
There are things that you should know, and hence we have mentioned them:
- If you are a macOS Catalina user, then there is quick access to the editing tools and a preview of the image too. Take advantage of the “Stacks” feature to group the similar files on your desktop. Using stack is as easy as drinking a cup of tea. Right-click on the desktop and click the option ‘Use Stacks,’ just this and your work is done.
- Want to capture a single window? Follow the following steps:
Step1: Use the shortcut, “Command+Shift+4.”
Step2: Press the spacebar. The moment you will press the spacebar, the pointer will convert to the camera-like icon. Then as you will hover over any window, the area will be highlighted in blue.
Step3: Click on the window for the screenshot to be taken and the image will be saved on the desktop.
- The screenshotted image will be saved as a .png file (along with its shadow). You can press and hold the Option or Alt key on the keyboard to avoid the saving of the shadow.
- Add the Control key to the combination to save the image on the clipboard too.
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