If you'd like to take a screenshot on Mac you'll just need to know simple key combinations. We'll show you how to take a screen capture of the whole MacBook-Screen, of a section of the screen and a single window or other screen components. If you don't feel like memorizing all the shortcuts we're happy to show you how to take a screenshot on your MacBook without a keyboard
How to take a full page screen capture
- To take a screenshot of the entire screen, press [Shift] + [cmd] + [3].
Take a screenshot of a part of your screen
- Press [Shift] + [cmd] + [4].
- Hold down the mouse button and use the crosshair cursor to select the area to capture. Then release the mouse button - the screen grab is taken.
Screenshot a single window or other screen components
If you want to take a snapshot of a single window, e.g. only your mail inbox or of a menu, e.g. the menu bar at the bottom of your screen, just to this:
- Press [Shift] + [cmd] + [4]. Your cursor shifts to a crosshair.
- Press [Spacebar]. Your cursor shifts again to a camera symbol.
- Use the cursor symbol (camera) to select the part of the screen that should be photographed. Click once with the mouse button - the screenshot is taken.
How to screenshot without a keyboard on your Mac
You can also take a screenshot on the MacBook without using the keyboard, with a tool called "Grab".
With this app you can take any kind of screenshot also known as grab shot without using shortcuts: full screen, only a portion of the screen or even timed screenshots. Here's how you can use it:
- Go to applications, then choose "Utility" and click on "Grab"
- From the main menu of the app, click on the tab "Capture" and then on "Selection".
- Now you can select the area which you want to take a screenshot of.
- Select "Capture" and then "Window" to select a window you want to screenshot
- To take a timed screenshot click on "Timed Screen"
- The timer will give you 10 seconds to adjust the screen for your screenshot otherwise the whole screen will be captured
- You can save your screenshots as a high resolution .tiff format or other formats like .jpeg or .png
Can you take a scrolling screenshot on Mac?
This is how so-called scrolling screen capture works with a MacBook:
- Open the web page you want to screenshot
- Launch "Capto"
- Click on the Capto icon in the menu bar
- Select "Snap active browser URL"
Where are my screenshots saved?
- Normally, your screenshot is saved to your desktop as a .png.
- If you want to save it to your Clipboard, simply add Control (ctrl) to your screenshot combination, e.g. press [Shift]+[cmd]+[crtl]+[3].
