How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac I often help my Mom with mac/iphone questions that I’ve forgotten are not obvious to beginners, and easily forgotten once learned.
Capturing a screenshot is amazingly useful, and something you’ll think to use often once you get the hang of it. Here’s a quick “Help” post for a shortcut I use all the time. This one’s for you Mom 🙂
Before we start, good shortcuts to know:
⌘ means Command
⇧ means Shift
Full Screenshot (⌘ ⇧ 3)
Command + Shift + 3
This will take a picture of your entire computer screen.
1. Push and hold ⌘ ⇧, and then the 3. You’ll hear a camera shutter sound.
2. A .png file of the entire screen will be saved to the desktop.
Partial Screenshot (⌘ ⇧ 4)
Command + Shift + 4
This takes a picture of an area that you select on your computer screen. Even though (⌘ ⇧ 3) is faster, I use (⌘ ⇧ 4) more often because of its specificity.
1. Push and hold ⌘ ⇧, and then the 4.
2 . The cursor turns into cross-hairs. If you want to cancel, hit the escape key.
3. Move your cursor to the upper left hand corner of the image you want to capture.
4. Click and hold as you move the cursor, and a grey box will show show which part of the your screen will be captured. This is known as click and select.
5. Let go of the click, and you’ll hear a camera shutter sound. A .png file of the area you selected will be saved to the desktop.
For more How to Screenshot on Mac tips, check out this vid:
HUEI-YUAN PAN 