How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac | The Complete Guide

Making the big switch from a Windows PC to an Apple Mac can be an exciting time. Especially if you need it for work purposes and your job was kind enough to buy one. Something less exciting, however, is learning the endless commands and shortcuts that your new Mac has to offer. Whether you’re learning how to empty the contents of your trash or how to take a screenshot, the process of doing so differs massively from one to the other.

For that reason, we’ve decided to make this comprehensive guide on how to take a screenshot on a Mac. It will explain how to capture the entire screen, just a portion of the screen, a singular window, and everything in-between.

Taking a screenshot using key commands

The easiest way to take a screenshot on your Mac – whether your running Mojave or High Sierra – is to use your shortcut key commands. They offer excellent versatility, and when learned properly, can reduce your work time dramatically.

Want to learn how to screenshot on Windows? Here’s our handy guide on how to do so. 

Capture the entire screen

✔️In macOS Mojave:

 

Step #1   Start by pressing Command+Shift+5 on your keyboard to bring up the onscreen capture controls

Step #2   On the capture controls, start by selecting the first option which sets the capture mode to the entire screen

TIP: Hovering over any of the options will bring up a tag to let you know what each one does. 

Step #3   Your pointer will now change into a small camera . You can now click on any page to take a screenshot of the entire screen

Step #4   Confirmation of that screenshot can be seen in the lower right-hand corner of your screen. It will show as a thumbnail and will disappear shortly after appearing

 

✔️For those using any other version of macOS:

Step #1   Simply press Command+Shift+3 to capture the entire screen

Tip: If you find this method easier, then it will work for Mojave as well. 

Step #2   You will find your screenshot on your desktop. This is set as default by Apple and can be changed if you wish

 

Capture a window

✔️In macOS Mojave:

Step #1   Start by pressing Command+Shift+5 to open your onscreen capture controls

Step #2   Next, select the second option to set your mac to capture selected window mode. Your pointer should change to a small camera to confirm the setup is complete

Step #3   You can now click on any window to screenshot that specific window

Step #4   Again, a small thumbnail will appear in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen to let you know the screenshot has been taken. At this stage, you can interact with the thumbnail to edit, move, or take other actions

 

✔️For those using any other version of macOS:

Step #1   Simply press Command+Shift+4

Step #2   The next step is to press the space bar. Your pointer should now change to a small camera

Step #3   All that is left to do is click on the desired window you want to screenshot

Step #4   Screenshots can be found on your desktop as the default

 

Capture a selected portion of the screen

✔️In macOS Mojave:

Step #1   Start by pressing Command+Shift+5 to open your capture control panel

Step #2   Find the cropping tool and select it

Step #3   You can now drag a box over the area that you wish to screenshot. If you need to move the box, simply grab and move it to where ever you wish to capture

Step #4   To finalize the screenshot simply press capture in the onscreen controls

TIP: A thumbnail will appear in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen to confirm the screenshot has been taken.

 

✔️For those using any other version of macOS:

Step #1   Press Command+Shift+4

Step #2   Simply drag the box over where you would like to screenshot.

TIP: As soon as you release your finger from the trackpad your screenshot will be taken.

Capturing a menu

If you’re looking to take a screenshot of a specific menu then fear not, you can just follow any of the methods above to achieve this goal. If you’re using other versions of macOS then simply follow the steps for capturing a selected portion of the screen.

Final Words

So there you have it, our complete guide on how to take a screenshot on a mac. In terms of your mac’s functionality, this article is merely scratching the surface of what is possible. Apple products really are some of the most versatile in the technology universe.

We hope this guide has helped you learn how to take a screenshot using a mac. If not, please feel free to leave us a message in the comments section below, and we will answer it as soon as we can!