How To Screenshot on Mac

Taking a screenshot on Mac is quick once you know the keyboard shortcuts. macOS has powerful built-in screenshot tools — you can capture your full screen, a selected area, or a specific window, and even record your screen. Here’s every method for taking screenshots on a Mac in 2026.

Method 1: Cmd + Shift + 3 (Full Screen Screenshot)

This captures your entire screen instantly:

1. Press Cmd (⌘) + Shift + 3
2. You’ll hear a camera shutter sound and see a thumbnail preview in the bottom-right corner
3. The screenshot is automatically saved to your Desktop as a PNG file
4. Click the thumbnail to annotate or edit before it saves, or let it disappear to auto-save

If you have multiple monitors, this captures all screens as separate files.

Method 2: Cmd + Shift + 4 (Selected Area)

This is the most popular method — you drag to select exactly what you want to capture:

1. Press Cmd (⌘) + Shift + 4
2. Your cursor changes to a crosshair (+)
3. Click and drag to select the area you want to capture
4. Release the mouse button to take the screenshot
5. The screenshot saves to your Desktop

Pro tips while the crosshair is active:

• Hold Spacebar while dragging to move the entire selection area
• Hold Shift while dragging to lock one dimension (height or width)
• Hold Option (⌥) to resize from the center
• Press Escape to cancel

Method 3: Cmd + Shift + 4, Then Spacebar (Window Screenshot)

To capture a single window with a nice shadow effect:

1. Press Cmd (⌘) + Shift + 4
2. Press Spacebar — the crosshair turns into a camera icon
3. Hover over the window you want to capture (it highlights in blue)
4. Click the window to capture it
5. The screenshot saves with a drop shadow around the window

Tip: Hold Option (⌥) while clicking to capture the window without the shadow.

Method 4: Cmd + Shift + 5 (Screenshot Toolbar)

This opens the full screenshot toolbar with all options in one place:

1. Press Cmd (⌘) + Shift + 5
2. A toolbar appears at the bottom of your screen with these options:
   • Capture Entire Screen
   • Capture Selected Window
   • Capture Selected Portion
   • Record Entire Screen
   • Record Selected Portion
3. Click Options to change:
   • Save location (Desktop, Documents, Clipboard, Mail, Messages, Preview)
   • Timer (None, 5 seconds, 10 seconds)
   • Show/hide the floating thumbnail
   • Remember last selection
4. Click Capture or press Return

This is the best method when you want full control over your screenshot settings.

Method 5: Cmd + Shift + 6 (Touch Bar Screenshot)

If you have a MacBook Pro with a Touch Bar (2016–2019 models):

1. Press Cmd (⌘) + Shift + 6
2. This captures the entire Touch Bar display
3. Saves to your Desktop like other screenshots

How To Snip on Mac

The "snipping" equivalent on Mac is Cmd + Shift + 4 (drag to select an area). For a more Snipping Tool-like experience:

1. Press Cmd + Shift + 5 to open the Screenshot toolbar
2. Select "Capture Selected Portion"
3. Drag the selection box to your desired area
4. Click Capture

You can also open the Screenshot app from Applications → Utilities → Screenshot, or search for it with Spotlight (Cmd + Space).

Where Do Mac Screenshots Go?

By default, all screenshots save to your Desktop as PNG files named "Screenshot March 26, 2026 at [time].png".

Change the Screenshot Save Location:

1. Press Cmd + Shift + 5
2. Click Options
3. Under "Save to," choose: Desktop, Documents, Clipboard, Mail, Messages, Preview, or Other Location

Change Via Terminal:

To save screenshots to a custom folder (e.g., a Screenshots folder):

defaults write com.apple.screencapture location ~/Pictures/Screenshots
killall SystemUIServer

How To Copy Screenshot to Clipboard (Instead of Saving)

Add Control to any screenshot shortcut to copy to clipboard instead of saving:

• Ctrl + Cmd + Shift + 3 — full screen to clipboard
• Ctrl + Cmd + Shift + 4 — selected area to clipboard
• Ctrl + Cmd + Shift + 4, Spacebar — window to clipboard

Then paste with Cmd + V in any application.

How To Change Screenshot File Format

By default, Mac screenshots are PNG. To change to JPG (smaller files):

Open Terminal and run:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture type jpg
killall SystemUIServer

Supported formats: png, jpg, gif, pdf, tiff.

Mac Screenshot Keyboard Shortcuts Summary

Troubleshooting: Mac Screenshots Not Working

If screenshots aren’t working:

• Check keyboard shortcuts: Go to System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → Screenshots — make sure they’re enabled
• Check disk space: Screenshots can’t save if your disk is full
• Try a different method: If Cmd + Shift + 3 doesn’t work, try Cmd + Shift + 5
• Reset NVRAM: Shut down, then hold Option + Cmd + P + R for 20 seconds while restarting
• Check for conflicting apps: Some third-party screenshot apps (like CleanShot) may intercept the default shortcuts

Tested on macOS Sequoia 15.3, macOS Sonoma 14, and macOS Ventura 13 on MacBook Air M3, MacBook Pro M3 Pro, iMac M4, and Mac Mini M4. Last updated March 2026 by the DevX editorial team — our Mac specialists have covered Apple products for over a decade.

More How-To Guides From DevX

• How To Screenshot on Windows
• How To Screenshot on iPhone
• How To Screen Record on iPhone
• How To Factory Reset MacBook
• How To AirDrop

Editorial Staff