How to take a screenshot (screenshot) on Mac – 4 ways + useful features

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How to take a screenshot using the “Screenshot” program on macOS Mojave and newer (for other versions of macOS, instructions below)

Screenshot – standard utility for taking screenshots. Forget about Windows’ PrintScreen and Paint. Apple has done everything in a simple and elegant way.

1. Open the program Screenshot… The application can be found along the way Finder → Programs → Utilities → Screenshotvia Spotlight or Launchpad search.

From macOS Mojave app Screenshot can also be launched with the keyboard shortcut ⌘Cmd + ⇧Shift + 5 on keyboard.

The application attracts with its ease of use and compactness. Once launched, a toolbar will appear at the bottom of the screen.

2. Select one of the following options (screenshot above): Full Screenshot, “Snapshot of the selected window” or “Snapshot of the selected area”…

When choosing Full Screen Capture you will get a screenshot immediately if you don’t set a timer.

3. Click on the box or mark a portion of the screen if you selected one of the remaining options. Your screenshot will be taken immediately after selection.

4. If necessary, right-click on the displayed screenshot thumbnail in the lower right corner to open the context menu.

Use the context menu to choose where to save the screenshot, as well as send, edit, show in Finder, delete, or mark it.

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How to choose a save location for screenshots and screen recordings in macOS Mojave and later

Although you can choose from a limited set of locations to save screenshots and recordings after they are taken, in the new version of the OS you can also make a default choice.

1. Open the Screenshot program (Finder → Applications → Screenshot, through search Spotlight, Launchpad or press ⌘Cmd + ⇧Shift + 5 on the keyboard on the keyboard to open the screen toolbar.

2. Press the button “Parameters” on the panel that appears at the bottom of the screen.

3. Select “Desktop”, “Documents”, “Clipboard”, “Post office”, “Messages” or “Preview” in “Save to”to set the save location.

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How to set a timer to take screenshots on macOS Mojave and later

1. Open the program Screenshot in any of the ways indicated above.

2. Click “Parameters”…

3. To set the timer, select “5 seconds” or “10 Seconds”to disable, select the option “Not”…

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How to show the mouse cursor in screenshots in macOS Mojave and later

1. Open the program Screenshot in any of the ways indicated above.

2. Click “Parameters”…

3. Click Show mouse cursor…

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How to edit a screenshot on macOS Mojave and newer

1. After taking a screenshot, its thumbnail will appear in the lower right corner. Click on it to start the mode “Markup”…

Markup can also be triggered by clicking on the screenshot thumbnail right click and choosing the option “Markup “…

3. Use the toolbar “Markup” to draw, write, select, add shapes, insert text, label, rotate, or select text styles using the toolbar at the top of the Quick View.

4. Click “Done” to save changes.

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How to take a screenshot using Screen Capture (macOS High Sierra and earlier)

After starting the application Screenshot (the program can be found along the way Finder → Applications → Screenshot, through search Spotlight or Launchpad) in the menu bar, go to the snapshot tab and select one of the available screenshots options:

• highlighted area (keyboard shortcut Command (⌘) + Shift (⇧) + A);

• window (Command (⌘) + Shift (⇧) + W);

• screen (Command (⌘) + Z);

• delayed screen (Command (⌘) + Shift (⇧) + Z).

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How to take a screenshot using keyboard shortcuts

application Screenshot – this is certainly great, but having memorized a couple of hot keys, you can easily take several types of screenshots literally instantly. It remains to imagine that you are a pianist and, at first, write out combinations on a sticker and stick them on the computer display:

• Command (⌘) + Shift (⇧) + 5 – opens the program Screenshot (macOS Mojave and later only).
• Command (⌘) + Shift (⇧) + 3 – screenshot of the entire desktop. If you have multiple monitors, the same number of files will appear.
• Command (⌘) + Shift (⇧) + 4 – screenshot of the selected part of the display. The cursor arrow will turn into a sight with the current coordinates. You just have to choose the area of ​​interest.
• Command (⌘) + Shift (⇧) + 3and then press space – screenshot of the entire window. Just move the camera to any window, as it turns blue. Clicking the left mouse button will get a screenshot (by default, a beautiful shadow around the window is activated).
• Control (⌃) + Shift (⇧) + Command (⌘) + 3 – save a screenshot of the entire display to the clipboard (the file is not created in the folder by default, but you can paste the image copied to the clipboard in any program).
• Control (⌃) + Shift (⇧) + Command (⌘) + 4 – save the selected display area to the clipboard (it works similarly to the previous command – the file is not created, but you can immediately paste a screenshot from the clipboard).

It is noteworthy that you can insert screenshots not only on the Mac on which they were created, but also on devices tied to the same iCloud thanks to Universal clipboard (Universal Clipboard).

We wrote in more detail about the operation of this function and the activation method in this article.

All screenshots are saved on the desktop by default in the format “Screenshot of YYYY-MM-DD in HH.MM.SS»(Screenshot – date – time). Both the path and the name can be changed using Terminal commands.

We wrote about how to change the path along which screenshots will be created in this article.

To change the default name, enter the following command in Terminal and press Return (Enter):

defaults write com.apple.screencapture name "любое название"; killall SystemUIServer

You can return the name to its original state with the command:

defaults delete com.apple.screencapture name; killall SystemUIServer

To remove the shadow cast by the window run the following command:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture disable-shadow -bool true; killall SystemUIServer

Return to the initial state is carried out by the command:

defaults delete com.apple.screencapture disable-shadow; killall SystemUIServer

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How to take a screenshot of an entire web page in a browser

The standard utility for taking screenshots and shortcuts are only good if you want to capture information within the display frames. It is not uncommon to take a screenshot of a web page with content going far down. In this case, we recommend using the free FireShot extension for Google Chrome (it’s time to get used to the fact that the most delicious extensions are not available in Safari).

Download FireShot for Google Chrome (Chrome Web Store).

After installation, click on the extension icon and select one of the available screenshot options:

• the whole page;
• visible area;
• region.

In the end, it remains to edit the points of interest directly in the web form and save the result in a convenient format.

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How to take a screenshot of the Touch Bar in MacBook Pro

If you are the proud owner of a MacBook with a Touch Bar, then sooner or later a question related to screenshots will probably arise. And yes, you can take a screenshot of this small display, and even in a systemic way (without using third-party software. Apple, as always, took care of the nuances).

Use the keyboard shortcut Command (⌘) + Shift (⇧) + 6 to take a screenshot of everything on the Touch Bar. The file will immediately be saved in the default location (usually the desktop).

But using the key combination Command (⌘) + Shift (⇧) + Control (⌃) + 6 – The Touch Bar screenshot is copied to the clipboard, but the file itself is not created on disk (that is, you can insert an image (Command (⌘) + V)).

You can customize the keyboard shortcut for taking a screenshot of the Touch Bar by going to the menu  → System Preferences … → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcut Tab…

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