To save a screenshot on a Mac, you can use the following built-in keyboard shortcuts:
- Capture the entire screen: Press Shift + Command + 3. The screenshot is automatically saved as a PNG file on your Desktop by default
- Capture a selected portion of the screen: Press Shift + Command + 4 , then drag to select the area you want to capture. Release the mouse button to take the screenshot, which is saved to the Desktop
- Capture a specific window or menu: Press Shift + Command + 4 , then press the Space bar. The cursor changes to a camera icon. Click the window or menu to capture it. The screenshot is saved to the Desktop
- Save screenshot to clipboard instead of a file: Hold the Control key along with any of the above shortcuts (e.g., Shift + Command + Control + 3) to copy the screenshot to the clipboard. You can then paste it into another app with Command + V
- Use the Screenshot app for more options: Press Shift + Command + 5 to open the screenshot utility, which lets you capture the entire screen, a window, or a selected portion, record your screen, and choose where to save the screenshot (Desktop, Documents, Clipboard, or a custom folder)
Where screenshots are saved: By default, screenshots are saved to the Desktop as PNG files with names like “Screen Shot [date] at [time].png”
. You can change the default save location by:
- Pressing Shift + Command + 5 to open the Screenshot app.
- Clicking Options.
- Selecting a new save location or choosing "Other Location" to specify a custom folder
Summary of shortcuts:
Action| Shortcut| Save Location
---|---|---
Entire screen| Shift + Command + 3| Desktop (default)
Selected portion| Shift + Command + 4| Desktop (default)
Specific window/menu| Shift + Command + 4, then Space| Desktop (default)
Copy screenshot to clipboard| Add Control key to above combos| Clipboard
Open Screenshot app| Shift + Command + 5| Choose location
This method requires no additional software and provides quick, flexible screenshot options on Mac
