Ask anyone who owns a recent Mac, such as the M2 MacBook Air or the recently updated 13-inch MacBook Pro with a new M2 chip about a screenshot. They’ll tell you there are three standard keyboard shortcuts you can use to snap it.
Likewise, if you’re using Apple’s MacOS program, you have a good variety of options to quickly shoot, save, open, and remove a snapshot for annotation.
Our team has used these methods. And the result? It works well with most recent Mac operating system version as well as MacOS Ventura.
How Do You Screenshot on a Mac?
Practice the three methods below:
1. Press Command+Shift+3 on your keyboard.
This will open up the Screenshot Utility menu, which will allow you to choose from three different options:
- Record Full Screen
- Record Selected Window
- Copy Image To Clipboard
This is by far the easiest way to take a screenshot on a Mac.
2: Hit Command+Shift+4
This second method involves using your mouse cursor crosshair to select what you want in order to take a screenshot of it. To capture the screenshot, release the trackpad button or the cursor.
When you press the spacebar and then release it, the crosshair changes into a tiny camera icon that you can move over any open window. To take a screenshot of the window you want, click on it. This method produces screenshots with a white border around the window and a faint drop shadow.
You can also choose to drag and highlight an area you wish to screenshot. Hold down the spacebar and trackpad at the same time. This allows you to move the selection area on the screen while locking in its size and form. If your initial selection part is large or small by a few pixels, you may easily reposition it by holding down the spacebar before releasing the mouse button to take a screenshot.
Holding down the Shift key locks in all sides of the crosshairs-made selection area except the bottom edge. It also allows you to move your mouse up or down to position the bottom border after dragging to highlight an area before releasing the mouse button or trackpad.
Method 3: Command+Shift+5
This keyboard shortcut command brings up a small panel with your screen capture options at the bottom of your display. You can take a screenshot of your full screen, a window, or a portion of it using one of the three buttons.
Likewise, you can record your entire screen or a portion of it using the two video recording buttons. You can also close the screenshot panel using the X button on the left, or you can just press the Escape key to leave.
Command+Shift+5 has an additional 5 to 10 second delay, which is very beneficial.
It allows you to stage your picture before grabbing it.
Here are some other possibilities for Command+Shift+5.
It also lets you choose where to save your screenshot: Desktop, Documents, Clipboard, Mail, Messages, Preview, or Other Location.
The Show Floating Thumbnail option, which by default is enabled, displays a tiny preview thumbnail of the screenshot you just took in the lower-right corner of your screen. It’s much like how iOS handles screenshots. On your Mac, you have the option to disable this preview thumbnail, unlike on your iPhone. Finally, you may decide whether to include a screenshot or video of your mouse pointer.
If the screenshot panel is in your way, you can grab its left edge and drag it to a new spot on your screen.
Screenshots for the win!
Screenshots are the best way to save your work and even show off your creative process. Whether you’re making a quick note about an important message or you want to save a screenshot of an article for future reference, screenshots are one of the best ways to capture something and keep it forever.
Also read: The ASUS Zenbook rivalling MacBook Air in the market
