Computer literacy, help and repair

How to take a screenshot on macbook. How to take screenshots on Mac? Full guide Mac os hotkeys screenshot

Exploring the vast expanses of the Internet or spending time watching a movie on the screen of a computer running Mac OS, often there is a desire to take a screenshot. But, I'm not afraid of this word, the happy owner of the Macintosh may not even suspect that this task, like all the others, is subject to one movement.

You can forget about the special PrtScreen buttons, like on a Windows PC keyboard, and the need for a one-time use of a graphic editor, everything is much easier.

by the most in a simple way take a screenshot on Mac OS (Print Screen) is a few keyboard shortcuts that allow you to make all sorts of print screens.

To save the entire screen, simultaneously press and hold Shift + Cmd ( + ) then 3 ().

If you want to take a snapshot of the selected part of the screen of any size, you need to simultaneously press and hold Shift + Cmd ( + ) then 4 (), as a result of which the cursor turns into a sight, with which you need to select the necessary area of ​​​​the screen with the mouse or trackpad and take a picture.

A Windows dream feature is a snapshot of the active (top) window of any program with a Mac OS shadow effect. To do this, you need to press and hold the already familiar combination Shift + Cmd ( + ) followed by 4 () and space. After releasing all the keys, select the desired window with the cursor in the form of a camera and take a picture.

The resulting, from all the methods described above, the pictures are saved on the desktop with the name Screenshot and a number in order.

To save a snapshot to the clipboard, by analogy with Windows PC, for further insertion (Cmd + V) into a graphics editor or any other place, you need to add the Ctrl () key to the Shift + Cmd ( + ) key combination, that is, Shift + Cmd + Ctrl ( + +) and then all the methods described above.

An alternative way to take a screenshot on Mac OS is to use the built-in Screenshot program located on the C drive in the Programs - Utilities folder.

After launching the application, go to the Snapshot drop-down tab at the top of the screen and select the desired action.

There are 4 options to choose from with descriptions of key combinations.

Selected - allows you to take a screenshot of a specific part of the screen.

Window - will offer to make a printscreen of any open window on the desktop.

Screen - take a screenshot of the entire screen.

Screen with delay - allows you to take a photo from the screen with a 10 second delay.

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Within each operating system, it is possible to capture images from the screen. This function is useful when the user needs to quickly capture information from the display and save it. Thanks to screenshots, you can avoid copying information from the site, taking pictures of the screen, and so on.

Let's figure out how to take a screenshot on a MacBook using all sorts of methods. The methods are very different from those built into operating system Windows, so for beginners, this material will be extremely useful.

Shooting Options

Depending on the task set by the user, you can take a screenshot on a MacBook in the following areas:

  • screenshot of the entire desktop;
  • screenshot of the selected part;
  • snapshot of a separate window;
  • screenshot of the selected menu;
  • Screenshot from the Touch Bar.

As you can see, the variability is very different from Windows, where this choice can only be achieved using third party programs.

How to take a screenshot on a Macbook Air?

On all devices that run the Mac OS operating system, the methods are no different. Therefore, the instruction is suitable, but even for iMac monoblocks. Let's figure out how to take a photo of the entire screen on a MacBook:

  • find the Shift, Command and number 4 keys on the device's keyboard;
  • hold them down at the same time;
  • the finished desktop frame will be automatically saved. It can be found among other files on the desktop in PNG format. The image will contain all the windows that were on the screen at the time of pressing the specified keys.

Snapshot of selected part

If you do not need a screenshot of the entire MacBook screen, then this method will suit you. With it, you can manually select an area of ​​the screen and capture it as a screenshot. To do this, follow these steps:

  • hold down the Shift + Command keys and the number 4 on the keyboard at the same time;
  • your cursor will change to a crosshair;
  • move the cursor to one of the corners of the future image and hold down the mouse button (touchpad);
  • drag the cursor over the entire area that you want to capture;
  • release the mouse button;
  • The screenshot will be automatically saved to your desktop in PNG format.

To cancel the selected area, you just need to hold ESC on the MacBook keyboard.

How to make a printscreen on a Macbook for a separate window?

If you do not want to manually select an area of ​​a specific window, then use the following method:

  • the display will again show a crosshair instead of a cursor;
  • now press the spacebar;
  • the crosshair will change to a camera icon;
  • hover over the required window;
  • right-click or touchpad;
  • The file will be saved to your desktop in PNG format.

You can also cancel the creation of the window image on the MacBook with the ESC button.

Menu snapshot

This method is very similar to the previous two. To take a screenshot on a MacBook within a single menu, follow these steps in order:

  • hold down Shift+Command+4;
  • then you can manually select the menu area with a crosshair, or click on the space bar;
  • in the second case, click the camera icon on the required menu area.

You can take a screenshot on a Mac with the Touch Bar using the combination Shift + Command + 6.

By default, all screenshots on a MacBook are saved to the desktop.

In order not to clutter up the desktop, but immediately add a picture to the clipboard, in addition to the indicated combinations, hold down Control on the keyboard. Keep in mind that not all programs allow you to take screenshots of their windows. You can open images using the standard Preview utility, Safari, as well as through third-party applications from the App Store designed to view and edit images.

Making a screenshot without a keyboard

If for some reason you do not want to use hotkeys, you can always use a special Mac OS utility.

From the Launchpad/Others menu, select the Screenshot utility. It provides similar functionality from its menu.

It is also convenient to use the Spotlight menu to search for a program, press the Command + Space key combination

If you need to take a screenshot on a Mac, you can look for a "Print Screen" button like on some keyboards.But you can take a screenshot on an Apple computer a little differently than on a Windows computer.

On a Windows PC, all you have to do is press the "PrtScr" or "Print Screen" key on your keyboard. After you press this key, Windows will automatically take a screenshot in full screen mode and save it to the clipboard.

To export or save this screenshot to an image file, you will need the help of an image editing program such as Microsoft Paint or Photoshop. Just paste the contents of the clipboard into the Paint program (or click Ctrl+V ) and save it as a new image file.

But how do you take a screenshot on a Mac? This page will walk you through 3 keyboard shortcuts that will take different types of screenshots on your Mac.

Mac print screen options

Mac OS X has more advanced screenshot features than Windows. In fact, there are three methods you can use to take a screenshot of your Mac:

  • Take a full screen screenshot.
  • Take a screenshot of the selected part of the screen.
  • Take a screenshot of the selected application.

You can use any methods to take a screenshot and save it to your desktop without using a photo editor (unlike Windows).

There are three keyboard shortcuts that you can use on a Mac OS computer to take a screenshot.Each keystroke does its job - you can take a full-screen screenshot, take a screenshot of part of the screen, or take a screenshot of a specific application, depending on which key combination you use.

How to take a picture (screenshot) in full screen on Mac

If you want to take a screenshot of the entire screen, use this keyboard shortcut:

Command + Shift + 3

When you press command + Shift + 3,your Mac takes a screenshot of the entire screen and saves it to your desktop.

If you are using more than one monitor, this combination will create a larger image file that includes all connected monitors.

How to take a screenshot of only part of the screen on a Mac

If you only want to take a screenshot of a small part of the screen, press this key:

Command + Shift + 4


When you press these keys on your keyboard, a selection box will appear that allows you to select a specific area of ​​the Mac screen to capture. It then automatically saves it as an image file on your Mac's desktop.

So, here is a complete guide on how to take a screenshot on a Mac in a selected area:

  1. Click Command + Shift + 4and the mouse cursor will change to a crosshair pointer.
  2. Move the crosshair pointer to the position where you want to take the screenshot.
  3. Drag to select an area, and then release the mouse button. The screenshot will be automatically captured.

While dragging the crosshair pointer, you can also click Shift , Option or Space (Space) and change the way you select part of the screen to take a screenshot.

If you've selected part of your Mac's screen but change your mind and want to select a different area, simply press the Esc key to undo your action.

How to take a screenshot of a specific window on Mac

To take a screenshot of a specific application on Mac computer OS X, just follow these instructions:

  1. Press these keys at the same time:Command + Shift + 4 .
  2. After pressing these keys, the Mac cursor will change to "+ ».
  3. In the next step, click Spacebar (or Space ), the cursor will change to a camera icon.
  4. Just move the camera icon and then click on the app where you want to take a screenshot.

How to Find a Screenshot File on a Mac

For all of the above methods, the image file will be automatically saved to your Mac's desktop as a PNG (as opposed to JPG) file with a name like " ScreenShot xx-xx-xx ". These "xx-xx-xx" numbers were generated automatically according to the date and time the screenshot was taken.


If you don't want to clutter up your desktop, you canchange the default file save location,using System Setup on Mac.

If you're using a newer operating system like Mojave, the features are more advanced there, but the basic keyboard shortcuts are the same.

Literally, a screenshot is a screenshot. For example, in Windows, for this purpose, you must press the "PrintScreen" key, after which a copy of the content will be copied to the clipboard, in order to get an image, you need to open an editor (for example, paint) and paste the contents of the clipboard and save the image. Since the Mac does not have a "PrintScreen" button, a reasonable question arises - How to take a screenshot/printscreen on a Mac? In Mac OS X, everything is simpler, for this, keyboard shortcuts are used.

For beginners, I’ll tell you a little about how to press a keyboard shortcut correctly, if several buttons are indicated, then the first button is not just pressed - but held down, for example, a keyboard shortcut + , happens as follows - hold down the key , then press the key . If more than two keys are used in a key combination, all keys are clamped and held in order, except for the last one, it is enough just to press it without holding it.

So, in order to take a screenshot in Mac OS, use the following keyboard shortcut:

+ + <4> + <Пробел> Take a screenshot of the active window and save it to your desktop.

+ + <4> select an area and save it to your desktop.

If to any of these combinations we add , the image will be saved to the clipboard. This is useful if you want to take a screenshot and save it in a document or email. To paste it there, use the keyboard shortcut + .

Change extension/format of screenshots in Mac.

By default, all screenshots will be saved with a .PNG extension, if you want to change the extension to any of these: JPEG, TIFF, PDF GIF, BMP, PNG, you need run Terminal and execute commands (note that the terminal is case sensitive if the command uses capital letter, then you need to use capital letters in the terminal):

defaults write com.apple.screencapture type format<указать расширение PNG, JPEG, TIFF, PDF GIF или BMP>

killall SystemUIServer

For example, below is a command that changes the printscreen extension to JPEG

Change where printscreens are saved on Mac.

By default, all screenshots are saved to the desktop, which is not very convenient because it gets cluttered. It will be more convenient to specify a different folder for saving screenshots. To do this, run the following commands in the terminal:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture location<путь к папке>

killall SystemUIServer

For example, in the Documents folder, I made a Screeshot folder and executed the commands, after which all print screens are saved to the Screeshot folder in the Documents directory:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture location ~/Documents/Screeshot

killall SystemUIServer


Detailed article with description how to take screenshots on mac os x and save these images in different formats. Analysis of additional useful functions and lotions when creating screenshots in the Mac.

Taking a screenshot

To create a picture printscreen (PrintScreen) in Mac OS, by default, the corresponding function is built in. Screenshots in Mac are made with special keys.

Full screen screenshot:

Command + Shift + 3

Take a screenshot with the selected area. A cross will appear, with which you can select an area of ​​the image:

Command + Shift + 4

Screenshot of a separate window. Same key combination as above, but then press space. And with the mouse, you can select the area of ​​any program on the screen. It will be saved in a separate file:

Command + Shift + 4, Space

To save an image to clipboard, when saving an image, you need to hold CTRL key. In this case, the screenshot will not be saved to a file, but placed on the clipboard.

How to remove shadow from screenshots

When creating screenshots of selected areas (the last described command), by default, they are saved with a volume shadow. This is a nice effect, but if you often need to upload screenshots to your site, then sometimes this shadow greatly spoils the intended design of the site. Fortunately, these shadows can be removed.

The console command in the Terminal removes the shadow from the screenshots:

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

If you want to return large screenshots:

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

Changing the screenshot format

The screenshot format in Mac OS has a .PNG extension by default. The file is saved with transparency (alpha channel). In order to change the extension of the saved image in Mac, you need to open the program and enter the console command:

Instead of small letters - jpg, you can use capital letters of the extension JPG. This is just a matter of taste and does not affect the file format.

All supported screenshot formats:

JPG, PNG BMP, PDF, JP2, TGA, TIFF, PICT

You can return to the default format with the following command:

defaults delete com.apple.screencapture type; killall SystemUIServer

How to change screenshot titles

The name of screenshots in Mac OS is saved by default in the format “name year-month-day in hours.minutes.seconds”:

Screenshot 2017-05-15 at 10.40.11.JPG

In order to change the name of the screenshots, you need to enter the command:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture name "img"; killall SystemUIServer

where in quotes "img_" any other desired name.

To return the initial name settings, enter the command:

defaults delete com.apple.screencapture name; killall SystemUIServer

Domain (com.apple.screencapture) not found

If for some reason, when changing the file name, the error “Domain (com.apple.screencapture) not found” and “Defaults have not been changed” occurs, then you can reset it with the following command:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture location ~/Desktop; killall SystemUIServer

After that, everything should work. And you can re-enter the required commands.

Changing the date and time format of screenshots

For those who don't like the name of the saved screenshot in time and date format, you can go ahead and change it. To do this, you need to make changes to the special system file.

Before the editing procedure, you need.

After disabling protection and restarting the computer, open the Terminal and enter the command:

cd /System/Library/CoreServices/SystemUIServer.app/Contents/Resources/ru.lproj

Make a copy of the file just in case ScreenCapture.strings, in which we will make changes:

sudo cp ScreenCapture.strings ScreenCapture.strings.old

Convert this file to edit format:

sudo plutil -convert xml1 ScreenCapture.strings

Now we open the file:

sudo vi ScreenCapture.strings

Let's move on to the lines:

%@ %@ in %@
%@ %@ in %@

and change to what we want, for example, remove "in":

%@ %@ in %@
%@_%@_%@

Save the file and return the binary (binary) data format:

sudo plutil -convert binary1 ScreenCapture.strings
killall SystemUIServer

Now, when saving an image, it will have a name:

Screenshot 2017-05-15_10.40.11.JPG

Where to save screenshots

By default, screenshots in Mac OS are saved to Desktop. You can change this folder, for example, make a special folder on the desktop for screenshots. To do this, you must first create this folder manually. Create a folder Screenshots to a folder Downloads and then enter the command: img_ , change the extension to jpg, put the screenshots in the folder with screenshots.

defaults write com.apple.screencapture name "img_";
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type jpg; killall SystemUIServer
defaults write com.apple.screencapture location "~/Downloads/Screenshots";
defaults write com.apple.screencapture disable-shadow -bool true;
killall SystemUIServer

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