How to do print screen in Mac OS X
Yesterday, i wanted to do a print screen in Mac OS X but there is not print screen button in Mac keyboard :p This is the first time i use Mac machine. So i ask one of my friend to teach me how to do screen capture in Mac OS X.
There are few ways to do screen capture in Mac OS X.
Follow the steps below and you will be able to do a screen capture in Mac OS X.
- Switch to the screen that you wan to to do screen capture
- Hold down Apple key ⌘ + Shift + 3 and release all
- then use your mouse to click on the screen
- Done. You will see a picture file in at your desktop. That’s the screen capture picture.
You can also do a screen capture for a portion of your screen.
- Switch to the screen that you wan to to do screen capture
- Hold down Apple key ⌘ + Shift + 4 and release all key
- Now, You will see the mouse cursor will change to +
- You can start to drag your mouse to select the portion you wish to capture.
- Once finish, you will see a picture file in at your desktop. That’s the screen capture picture!
If you want to do a screen capture for a particular application window, you can follow this:-
- Switch to the screen that you wan to to do screen capture
- Hold down Apple key ⌘ + Shift + 4 and release all key
- Now, You will see the mouse cursor will change to +
- Press the space bar once
- You will see the mouse cursor change to a camera
- Now you can use the camera to select which application window to screen capture
- Once finish, you will see a picture file in at your desktop. That’s the screen capture picture!
It’s easy to do screen capture in Mac OS X right?
No need to open any program like Paint to paste the copy from clipboard 
Tags: mac os x, print screen, print screen mac, print screen mac os, screen capture, screen capture in mac, screen capture mac os x, screenshot, screenshot mac os
Posted at March 11th, 2008 by chua
If you think this article helps you to solve your problem and clear your headache, feel free to buy me a drink :)
June 9th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
thanks for the help
July 24th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
DUDE!, I have been wondering how to do print screen with my mac, this method is easier than Windows — thanx a lot for the knowledge!
July 28th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
“It’s easy to do screen capture in Mac OS X right?
No need to open any program like Paint to paste the copy from clipboard ”
No it’s not – compared to pressing one printscreen button and then being to paste it wherever you like. 3 key presses and a click – whats the point.
August 6th, 2008 at 10:03 am
but on a pc, you dont have as many options as you do with the mac: screen shot of entire window, a certain area or a certain app window.
and c’mon… holding down three keys and letting go is not difficult at all. pc users should know (ctrl, alt, delete).
besides.. after you do that.. you don’t need to paste and save.. it saves it for you automatically. duh!
August 10th, 2008 at 12:41 am
Hy thanks for this, you’re a life saver. Grape, I think.
August 13th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
The fact I have to google this every month or so I need it says its not so easy. And I actually want it in the clipboard, so I ‘ll have to google further…
August 13th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
If you cant to make this a PC vs. Mac thing then let it be known that you can take a screen shot of individual programs, apps, full windows, and if you are using dual monitors you can screen shot both screens or just one of the screens… All using a PC
August 25th, 2008 at 10:48 am
Arghhhh it’s not working! I keep getting a chirping sound like it’s not a real combination of keys. I checked under keyboard shortcuts and it should work, but it’s not! FRUSTRATING!!
August 26th, 2008 at 8:57 am
Catherine-Grace: if you still not able to do the print screen, you can check your key settings at “System Preferences” => “Keyboard & Mouse” => “Keyboard Shortcuts” tab => look for “screen shot” and their related key.
Hope this help.
August 26th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
What I need is a way to capture both monitors of my OS X setup. This method, and grab, and skitch, and all the other capture apps I’ve tried can only take a shot of one monitor at a time. Unlike print screen. Or every other windows screenshot app I’ve used.
September 4th, 2008 at 7:25 am
@Jon – you can do the same and more on a Mac – w/o special software
@Chris – it can work with dual-monitors as well… wonder why it’s not working for ya :/ hmm….
– thank you for the post! –
September 11th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
thanks a lot! this advice really saved me.. I’m a new Mac user and the more I know stuff about Mac the more I love it! Thanks again!
September 12th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
Yeah this is great. Just used it in a game rather than needing Fraps or something like you do in windows.
I dont mind the extra keys, still only one hand and the bonus is you dont have to open a dedicated program to paste the capture. Its already on the desktop !
September 14th, 2008 at 1:44 am
cool!
Thanks for the tip! I love Mac. Hehehe
September 17th, 2008 at 7:50 am
Gaz, use Help in Finder instead of Googling.
If you want to put the screen shot in the Clipboard, rather than create a file, hold down the Control key when you press the other keys. You can then paste the picture into a document.
September 25th, 2008 at 11:09 am
Thanks! It helped a lot!
October 2nd, 2008 at 4:52 am
One question came to my mind. How to specify to which folder the screenshots are saved? I would love to have a keyboard shortcut to control the folder.
October 4th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Thanks a lot.
Once again, thank you so much.
A sunflower for you then
Need it for my task..
October 16th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Thanks. Grab kept making my document too small but this tip worked excellent.
Thanks again
November 6th, 2008 at 2:21 am
I wanted to capture the (phenomenal) results map for the Presidential election but couldn’t drag it, save a html page or pdf! Thanks for the tip!
November 9th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
Thanks a lot for the info. It couldn’t be easier
November 15th, 2008 at 4:46 am
[...] 2. How To Screen Capture Using A Mac [...]
November 15th, 2008 at 8:29 am
Just got my mac and this is the niftiest thing I have seen so far.. Thanks for the tip.. 1000000x better and easier than windows!
December 3rd, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Friggin’ awesome! Thanks!
December 11th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
Hi I tried and it is saving a file.
But it was not capturing the screen correctly.
The saved file shows like random lines! =(
I’m very new to mac (just got my macbook pro 15″ the other day)
My resolution is 1440×900. Does this matter?
Thanks in advance!
Christian
December 14th, 2008 at 9:11 am
Christian: you are not selecting the area correctly. ALT + Shift + 4 will allow you to select the area you want to capture. if you wan to capture window then you may wan to try ALT + SHIFT + 4 and release then follow by Space bar and select the window to capture. You may also wan to try ALT + SHIFT + 3 to capture the whole screen.
December 17th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
Cheers, this is awesome. =]. So much better than the “windows” way
.
December 24th, 2008 at 4:20 am
So we can do it with a mac. Thanks for the pointer on using the space bar, thats a new one for me that i have added to my shortcut glossary (whiteboard on wall) However, I can still get things done a lot faster on the PC…
prt scrn, open email, paste. no editor needed. I love my mac, but there are just some things that are so much easier to do on the pc. Also, here is the odd thing. My Mac crashes at least 1 time a week. The PC maybe once a month…
December 27th, 2008 at 4:05 am
I’m trying to love my Mac but it’s difficult at times. Many of the things I take for granted on my PC are just not very intuitive on the Mac, case in point, I had to search the web to figure out how to take a simple screen shot. Other previously intuitive functions are a nightmare on the Mac, setting up network printing, trying to configure my wireless connection because my Mac cannot seem to hold an IP and the only fix I’ve got is to restart. Simple things made hard!
January 8th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
surprised no one is complaining about the file … PNG?… those file types are HUGE.
is there a way to change out of PNG to JPEG… fucking christ!
January 19th, 2009 at 6:01 am
This is way more help than I was expecting to find. Excellent! Muchos Gracias.
January 19th, 2009 at 10:19 pm
After being advised print screen wasn’t possible on a Mac, was happy to learn otherwise. Have even printed this screen to pass on to my tutor. Thanx!
January 20th, 2009 at 3:45 am
you CAN do a one window screenshot in windows…. its ALT and PRINTSREEN whilst on the correct window
January 25th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
This is helpful, but not easy. What a pain. Thanks for posting the answer because I could not find it in the MAC help which is useless.
January 31st, 2009 at 7:08 am
Searching some of the documentation on Apple’s site will give you these options. They’ve been standard on Macs since about System 7, I think.
Holding ctrl during any of the screen shot variations will send it to the clipboard.
Ctrl-Cmd-Shift-3 = entire screen to clipboard
Ctrl-Cmd-Shift-4 = selected area to clipboard
There used to be a built in pref for changing the file format. It was PDF but now is PNG which, for a screen shot, I don’t think is huge. You can use some Terminal tricks or any number of free apps (TinkerTool, Onyx, MacHelpMate) to accomplish this via a GUI.
January 31st, 2009 at 11:31 am
This is beyond helpful for my Mac OSX partition, however I also have windows running on my computer. I am an engineering student and our programs are mostly only PC compatible, unfortunately. How might I do it on that part of my computer?
January 31st, 2009 at 10:33 pm
Breanna Adams: For Windows, you can print screen using the Print Screen key on your keyboard. just press once and goto Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> Paint. once Paint started, press CTRL + V. you will see the print screen image in the Paint application. from there you can save it as file.
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:36 am
How to capture an entire window that takes up more than one screen, such as a web page where you have to scroll or arrow or page down? The screen capture utility should handle that use case no problem… but how? Or does it not do it? If not, which program do you recommend for that? Preferably free! Thanks
February 9th, 2009 at 10:16 am
Chrisco: If you are using Firefox, you may want to try Screengrab add-on – https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1146
February 15th, 2009 at 12:50 am
Hey, Thanks for the help – it works great.
March 4th, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Thanks man, that works great. I am new to mac too, but so far this is the best thing I have ever used.
March 10th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
ohhhhhhhhhhhh is that how you do it. thanks.
i was trying to look for a key named “iPrintscreen”. Silly me…
March 11th, 2009 at 2:35 am
Hey thanks for information……..my doubt is cleared……..
March 20th, 2009 at 11:53 am
OMG thanks for the info! haha now i know how to print screen on my macbook :]
March 22nd, 2009 at 12:47 am
So we can prin screen in mac! And we have more options. Really helpful cause I had no idea . Thanks!
))
March 27th, 2009 at 12:05 am
Hahaha you have no right click or print screen button? Thats sooo sad. I guess holding 3 buttons down at once and clicking is way better! haha that was sarcasm btw… I know u Mac users are a lil’ slow.
March 31st, 2009 at 4:12 pm
YOU made me sooo happy!
April 12th, 2009 at 4:46 am
Really helpful tips! Thanks a bunch!
April 14th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
thanks so much for these tips, your instructions were uber-clear. you’re an angel sent to bless my essay! (:
April 30th, 2009 at 2:43 am
thx dude
May 18th, 2009 at 7:24 am
Hi, this doesn’t work exactly as the article describes for me. I have a 2009 iMac with osx 10.5.7. By pushing the key combo the cursor changes, and after selecting a region the camera sound plays, but there’s no file saved on the desktop?? Where are my capture files being saved? Argh!!!!
May 23rd, 2009 at 3:52 am
I’ve been using PCs FOREVER. A few weeks ago, I switched to a Mac. I’m in love, and really appreciate you taking the time to document how to do this.
May 24th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
HI thank for the tip but how can i do printscreen without saving the picture ? If that’s posible on a Mac ? Like for mac ; cmd + C and cmd + v = for windows ctrl + c + ctrl v ?
I’m sorry for my bad english, but I’m from Holland and only 13 years old,
hope someone can help me out ?
x
May 28th, 2009 at 9:57 am
Thanks a lot…
Thanks you also for Alex… for more hint of using the +ctrl
This really works!!!
June 7th, 2009 at 8:37 pm
thank you soo much
being a new mac user this was the simplest step to follow and the quickest to locate on the search engine
June 17th, 2009 at 1:36 am
This helped! thanks
June 25th, 2009 at 4:21 am
Thank you soooo much, helps a lot!!
June 25th, 2009 at 4:22 am
By the way, Mac computers are THE BEST!!!
July 1st, 2009 at 5:06 am
Thank you so much. This is so much easier on the Mac than on the PC.
July 9th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
When I do screenshot on PC, I usually intent to paste straight into Powerpoint. This actually requires me to open the file up again to copy and paste. On the rare circumstances where I do need to save into file, I use IrfanView, which is more complicated than the Mac screenshot but duh..about four more clicks.
July 11th, 2009 at 11:42 pm
I know this post is old, but I just had to add a few things. First of all many of you are wrong, it is much easier on a PC. On a PC you just press the Prt Sc (Print Screen) button and then you can paste (Ctrl V) anywhere you want – into an email, into Paint, into anything. If you only want to capture the current screen on a PC, you just press the Alt button and the print screen button – Prt Sc. The great thing is that you can screen scrape anything and paste it anywhere – even into Photoshop – and alter it.
I hate when people say something is easier on a PC or MAC without fully knowing how to do whatever they need to do on both systems. On a Mac you have to press multiple keys to do something that takes one key on a PC.
July 19th, 2009 at 1:38 am
HEY, this is great–is it possible, though, to just PRINT it without saving it.
(I am very happy to have this info and use it a lot, but would sometimes like to bypass saving and deleting it.
July 24th, 2009 at 8:30 am
easier than windows?
so to print window to clipboard
cmd
ctrl
shift
4
at the same time!!
then space
then click
I love macs, but this is pisss poor
July 30th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
Thanks! That’s what I wanted to know a long time ago.
July 31st, 2009 at 1:20 am
I just recently got my new MacBook Pro (used to be a PC/windows user). and I’ve wanted to learn how to print screen on my new laptop. THIS REALLY WORKS! and it’s convenient and so cool. Thanks whole bunches!!! I am happier than ever haha.
August 2nd, 2009 at 3:30 pm
Switch to the screen that you wan to to do screen capture
Hold down Apple key ⌘ + Shift + 3 and release all
then use your mouse to click on the screen
Done. You will see a picture file in at your desktop. That’s the screen capture picture.
August 5th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
how about combining both? i happen to use a pc keyboard on my mac, so i set the key labeled PrtScrn to “save the picture of screen as a file.” so by pressing a single key now i get a screenshot saved to desktop. voila!
in a mac, to change any keyboard shortcut to any key you please, find the simple instructions in the mac Help menu.
August 6th, 2009 at 4:21 am
thanx a lot…helped a lot
August 10th, 2009 at 11:26 pm
Thanks a lot! This was just what I needed.
August 17th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
hwy, thanks for this information
August 18th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
Thank it’s working
Picture 1 – Picture 2 its going like that..
August 18th, 2009 at 11:17 pm
thanks! I love it how i have to google EVERYTHING for how to do…..on a MAC. and it has random ass key combinations… so ppl, how do you copy and paste on a mac? meaning like ctrl+c.z for a pc
August 21st, 2009 at 7:22 am
Great! Thanx, man.
August 22nd, 2009 at 11:44 pm
thanks guys, this was right on time. there are peple out there selling software to do the exact same thing.
September 4th, 2009 at 11:02 pm
its the apple key + c,z etc.
September 5th, 2009 at 1:02 am
To Sarah,
I am a professional typesetter who has worked on both Macs (since the 80’s) and presently work on a PC. Have you ever typed special characters on a PC? Try it, then try it on a Mac. This may help you understand why most publishing houses use Macs. Do you understand why Macs use 72 dpi on their monitors? Hint… Do you understand Picas? Both are computers and both suck, but thats life. Quit being a cheerleader for PC’s, they both have their problems.
September 12th, 2009 at 9:27 pm
all these methods dont work
September 13th, 2009 at 3:06 am
It was brilliant. Good Job. Print screen works like a champ…PC users have no clue what they missing out……
September 14th, 2009 at 6:22 am
It works great but i got my file as .png format, is anyone know how to change from PNG format to JPG for the screen capture?
September 15th, 2009 at 10:03 pm
Thanks, but still not so easy. It doesn’t seem to always work and the keys you have to hold down puts your hand in an awkward position. Much easier on Windows. (typing this on my Mac).
September 30th, 2009 at 1:14 am
Wow!! That shit is da’ bomb, yo! I loves that shizzle!
October 6th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
WOWWW THANK YOU!
yes, much easier because no need to open up Paint!
October 11th, 2009 at 5:49 am
Thanks! this is really helpful and I am a new swicher to Mac, love this machine!
October 11th, 2009 at 7:38 pm
This is absolutely fabolous…
Thanks for the info!!!
October 12th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
My cat figured it out but i couldn’t. Apparently apple designs these things for walking on keyboards. He’s discovered so many features I never knew existed and was barely capable of returning from. Thanks Apple!!!
October 16th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
To Gordy:
Actually Gordy, I understand quite a bit about both PCs and Macs. You see I own a company that develops software for both PCs and Macs . I own both, I use both and I program on both. I’m not a PC or a Mac cheerleader, but when something is simpler on one than the other I’m going to point that out. The Mac has its good points and its bad points just like the PC. I work and program using both. Don’t get upset because I said something about the Mac Gordy! Now YOU stop being a MAC cheerleader.
October 18th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
What is the square button?
October 20th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
to Henry, how is pressing ONE button on windows, harder than 3 buttons and a mouse click on a mac?!
at least it’s obvious on windows, you, along with myself and everyone else here, have had to search the web to find out how to do it on a mac…
long live windows!!!!
———–
# Henry Says:
July 24th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
DUDE!, I have been wondering how to do print screen with my mac, this method is easier than Windows — thanx a lot for the knowledge!
October 21st, 2009 at 5:29 am
Thanx this info has really helpt me! x) lol
October 21st, 2009 at 7:23 pm
Go to
“System Preferences”, select “View” -> “International”, select “Input Menu”, press “Keyboard Shortcuts”, locate “Screen Shots” under which select necessary option.
Oh, and it’s, of course, configurable )
October 23rd, 2009 at 1:46 pm
do you mean the Apple Command key?
October 26th, 2009 at 4:56 am
Fantastic! Thanks for the great help
October 28th, 2009 at 5:49 am
there’s a lot of posts but i just gotta thank u… awesome dude!
November 10th, 2009 at 1:03 am
I have a mac and when working from home I log into our server via a remote desktop connection. When I log in, I am logging into a windows based program. My issue is that I can’t screen print when I am in the RDC. Any suggestions? *I have already purchased a pc keyboard with the print screen key, but that is unresponsive as well.
November 10th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
Um, If you have to google this every month, Gaz, then why don’t you just screen capture it and save it to your desktop. Problem solved.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:27 am
Thank you for this post! my friend is a new user for mac and she was telling me how to do it, and immediately searched the net and came up with this post! great!
thanks once again
November 13th, 2009 at 2:03 am
Doesn’t work for me. What now?
November 15th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
thank you very much ; )
November 19th, 2009 at 6:13 am
it really works mac is the best computer ever
November 25th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
December 5th, 2009 at 12:47 am
Are u an idiot ?? 3 button is way faster than printscreen paint than paste …. AND MAC DO HV RIGHT CLICK STUPID
December 5th, 2009 at 3:12 am
Excellent !!! Thanks a lot!!!
December 7th, 2009 at 12:32 am
Thanks mate….it is really simple in MAC….
December 10th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
This is great. When I first saw that it had no print screen on my keyboard I was going to freak out, I use it all the time as a web editor, especially when I need logos that can only be seen on flash files. But after reading this help tutorial I am delighted, not only is it easy (“3 whole keys? really?” talk about lazy) but i don’t have to make any edits (cropping mostly) in Photoshop. I am liking my Mac more and more.
Thanks for the useful tips!
December 20th, 2009 at 8:44 am
This is so awesome!!!!!!!! I love my MacBook ^_^ I love Apply! I have to use a PC for work and was amazed at the Print Screen button…lol. I knew Mac had to have a way to do it…I just didn’t know how. Now I do! And more! Choosing what application window to take a shot of is sweet!
December 25th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
GREAT!!!!!! thanks!!!
December 26th, 2009 at 12:26 am
Thanks for taking the time out to explaining this in the most simplest form.
Great Post,
December 30th, 2009 at 8:49 pm
Thanks, I purchased a mac a couple of days ago, never really used one before but it sure beats the PC. A screen capture is saved as an image, ready to send!
December 31st, 2009 at 12:22 am
So…if you just want to capture a part of your screen on a PC you just use the print screen button, open Paint, paste the entire screen into Paint, then select the Select option and select the portion that you want to copy, then use the Ctrl+C keys and your done.
Compared to the Mac way of Shift+Command+4 (your cursor turns into a crosshair) Hold down control (to copy to the clipboard rather than to a file) and select the portion of the screen you want to copy…and you done.
I use a PC at work and a Mac at home. Trust me, once you learn the key strokes (come on, it’s only 3 keys, 4 if you copy) it’s much easier on a Mac.
January 7th, 2010 at 11:43 am
NOT EASY!!!
after pressing 3 buttons and then hearing the little camera shutter sound it puts the freakin’ screen cap into a file that sits on my desktop. I then have to open an email and attatch the screen cap file into it. this is a HUGE hassle.
Why can’t you just command v it into whatever doc/email i’m working with.
And on a PC I’ve never ever had to open Paint in order to do any kind of screen print. On a PC you hit the print screen button and then control v it anywhere you want!
January 7th, 2010 at 8:15 pm
hi prr, u can print screen to your clipboard and paste it to your application that you are working on.
The shortcut key for print screen to clipboard is as below:
Command + CTRL + Shift + 4
January 8th, 2010 at 5:45 am
what if i wanna prnt scrn immediatly
why? i want to capture a second of fast playing flash animation.
i could do that on a pc
January 9th, 2010 at 3:33 pm
Why does every Mac related website I look at have to become Mac vs. Windows, simple question, 110 posts. I’m 27 been on a DOS/Windows since 1990, switched to Mac in 2007, still very rusty at Unix, any way Mac OSX takes time to get used to, if you have issues(non-technical) start a blog, tell your friends, or ask constructive questions. Don’t flame here, apple software engineers most likely do not attend this website, there is little point. As said before by somebody else you can change the shortcut. >System Preferences>Keyboard & Mouse>Keyboard Shortcuts>
January 12th, 2010 at 10:34 pm
i like how the short cut “key” is actually a twister game event for the fingers combination of 18 buttons. wtf macs are stupid.
January 21st, 2010 at 5:05 pm
hello dude
ok we know how to capture screenshots with keys
what if you are using rdm+ remote desktop how will you take a screenshot
rather than grab ?
if you have the answer please send it to me thanks
January 22nd, 2010 at 5:40 am
Now all I want is to be able to specify a folder rather than the desktop where images go to. I hate cluttering up the desktop
January 25th, 2010 at 1:33 pm
hi Jeremy, you can try this http://www.techiecorner.com/1004/how-to-change-default-save-location-for-print-screen-in-mac-os-x/
January 25th, 2010 at 1:36 pm
hmmm , i havent have any solution for remote desktop yet.
anyone tried?
January 28th, 2010 at 3:56 pm
The picture captures are not showing up on my desk top. I am using a Mac. PLEASE HELP!
January 28th, 2010 at 7:40 pm
If the path is different then u can follow this tutorial to change the save path to your desktop
http://www.techiecorner.com/1004/how-to-change-default-save-location-for-print-screen-in-mac-os-x/
January 29th, 2010 at 8:42 am
Thanks for the blog post buddy. This is my first mac and I don’t know half of what it can do…
January 29th, 2010 at 10:41 pm
Print Screen
If you don’t like the keyboard Shortcut you can change it. Under Keyboard settings But if your new to mac I suggest you give it some time to get used to the differences.
Don’t like the default file format you can change that too. Install (Secrets) a free utility adds lots of options or copy and past this into terminal
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type jpg
February 1st, 2010 at 7:28 pm
Anyone know an easy way to print screen on a MacBook Pro running Windows in Bootcamp… Please no comments about why am I running windows on a MAC…Just an answer to my question would be appreciated.
February 3rd, 2010 at 7:22 pm
I’ve been wondering this for ages! lol