Taking a screenshot (also called a print screen or screenshot) on your Mac is quick and easy, but then you need to know the correct key combinations. We show you how to take screenshots on your Mac.
How do you take a screenshot on your Mac?
Windows keyboards generally include the plain ‘Printscreen’ button. It cannot be found on a MacBook or iMac keyboard, but there are special key combinations to take a screenshot. A big advantage of macOS is that you can also capture a part of the screen – here’s how:
Screenshot of the entire screen with the key combination “Shift + Cmd +3 ″
Taking screenshots on your Mac is done by the combination Shift-Cmd-3 to use. You then take a screenshot of the entire screen. You will then find the screenshot on your desktop.
Screenshot of a section of the screen with the key combination: “Shift + Cmd +4 ″
Do you want to keep only part of your screen? Then use Shift-Cmd-4. The mouse icon then changes to a cross. Drag this over the part of which you want to take a screenshot, this will create a square. As soon as you let go, a screenshot will be taken of your selection.
Selected the wrong area? Then press ‘Esc’ while dragging to stop. Press Shift-Cmd-4 again to select again. Screenshots are automatically saved to your desktop. It is also possible to copy the screenshot directly to the clipboard. To do this, press the key combination and simultaneously hold down the Control key. This way you can quickly process screenshots in a document or e-mail.
Do you want to take a screenshot of one particular window? Then press the spacebar after pressing Shift-Cmd-4. The cross now turns into a camera. Move the camera icon over the desired window so that it turns blue. Click to take a screenshot. Again, you can press ‘Esc’ to start over.
Screenshot toolbar with the key combination: “Shift + Cmd + 5 ″
Since macOS Mojave, there is a third way to take all kinds of screenshots with the screenshot toolbar. Press Shift-Command-5 to open the screenshot toolbar. This will appear at the bottom of your display.
Here you will see three options with which you can take screenshots as is possible with the other two key combinations. You choose from your full screen, a window or a selection. The other two buttons let you take a screenshot.
To close this panel, press the cross at the bottom or the escape key. Via the Options button in the panel you determine where the screenshots should be saved. You can also set that the screenshot is only taken after five or ten seconds after pressing it. If you want to move the toolbar, drag it on the left corner of the screen.
Edit screenshots quickly
When you take a screenshot, a small preview will appear at the bottom of the screen by default. If you click on this, you can quickly edit the screen recording. This makes it easy to add text or notes before it is saved. From here it is also easy to quickly share your screenshot, for example via Mail or a shared folder. If you want to open it in an editor to edit the image more extensively, you’ll need to open the screenshot from the file location.
Collect screenshots
The screenshots automatically collect on your desktop. Finder gives you a small preview of files so that you can preview them briefly before opening them. With the so-called ‘Quick actions’ you can quickly perform short actions from Finder, such as rotating a photo or merging multiple files into PDF.
You don’t have to worry that your Mac’s desktop will fill up in a short time, because the Stacks function ensures that files automatically come together. In fact, they are folders in which, for example, all images, PDFs and other file formats are collected. If you click on such a collection, all files will appear. Handy if you regularly take screenshots.
More Helpful MacBook Tips
Would you like to read more such practical tips for your MacBook? On iPhone we regularly share tips so that you can get the most out of your Mac. For example, we explain what you can do when your MacBook gets hot and show you how to type emoji and symbols. We also give tips on how to quickly free up space on your MacBook.
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Video: How to take a screenshot on your MacBook
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