When capturing the screen of a Macbook or iMac, the operating system itself already provides the necessary tools in the form of commands and keyboard shortcuts that allow creating different types of images. Keep reading and we’ll tell you how.
Most importantly in short:
- Capture the full screen + save the file to the desktop: [Shift ⇧ ] + [Cmd ⌘ ] + [3]
- Capture a selected part of the screen + save the file to the desktop: [Shift ⇧ ] + [Cmd ⌘ ] + [4]
- Capture full screen + copy to clipboard: [Control ^] + [Shift ⇧ ] + [Cmd ⌘ ] + [3] with the key combination [Cmd ⌘ ] + [v] insert the screenshot in the chosen site
- Capture a selected part of the screen + copy to clipboard: [Control ^] + [Shift ⇧ ] + [Cmd ⌘ ] + [4] with the key combination [Cmd ⌘ ] + [v] insert the screenshot in the chosen site
How to Enable Screenshot on MacBook
Step 1. Apple menu → System preferences → Keyboard
Step 2. Go to shortcuts → Screenshots
Step 3. Enable whatever you want to
a. Open any window you require a screenshot of
b. For a screenshot of the entire screen, press: Command(⌘)+Shift+3
c. For a screenshot of a particular section of the screen: Command(⌘)+Shift+4
How to Capture the Screen on a Mac
Apple devices do not have the “Print Screen” key on Windows computers, with which its users can capture the full screen of their computer with a simple gesture. Apple users have to resort to a key combination or a command to print the screen of their Mac that differs depending on the region of the screen that you want to register:
- Full Screen : To copy the full screen of a Mac, use the command [Shift ⇧ ] + [Cmd ⌘ ] + [3].
- Rectangular area : to copy a specific part of the monitor in a square or rectangular shape, the shortcut [Shift ⇧ ] + [Cmd ⌘ ] + [4] is used , with which the mouse pointer takes the shape of a cross. Move the cursor to the point where the capture is to start and, pressing the mouse or trackpad button, stretch the frame to the desired size. After selecting, release the button. At this time the selected fragment is captured from the screen. If you want to cancel before, press the Esc (Escape) key.
- Window : the same shortcut is also used to select only one window, but pressing the space bar turns the pointer target into the symbol of a camera. Capture is done the moment you click it in the window. As in the previous case, the Esc key cancels the operation.
- Menu : To save a menu as an image, open it and use the command [Shift ⇧ ] + [Cmd ⌘ ] + [4]. With the pointer turned into a cross, you can create a screenshot of the menu with the mouse, although keep in mind that the menu title is not saved with the image. To do this, the pointer has to be converted into a camera with the help of the space bar. If you click now on the menu, you can verify that the title is included in the screenshot. As always, you can interrupt the operation with the Esc key.
- Touch Bar : Since 2016 MacBook Pro has an additional navigation bar, an OLED touch screen that goes by the brand name of Touch Bar (“touch bar”). To capture this bar, which is located under the monitor itself, you must use a macOS Sierra 10.12.1 or a higher model next to the keyboard shortcut necessary for it that says [Shift ⇧ ] + [Cmd ⌘ ] + [ 6]. It is also possible to add a screenshot button in the Touch Bar of your computer.
With any of these commands, you can save the screenshot of a Mac automatically as a .png file on the desktop and it takes an automatic name assigned by the operating system that begins with “screenshot” and continues with the date and time of its creation. However, this procedure can be avoided by pressing the [Ctrl] key to preferably create a copy on the clipboard, as it happens in a Windows system by default, to send the image from there to a word processing or image editing program. much more quickly. This command works with all the combinations that are used to print the screen of a Mac.
The Command key, also known as the Apple or apple key, has changed its appearance several times in recent years, going from the well-known square bitten apple with rounded angles “⌘” or simply to the austere “cmd”, although it also occurs the combination of these elements. The key is located next to the space bar and is used on Apple systems to activate quick functions or keyboard shortcuts.
With any of these commands, you can save the screenshot of a Mac automatically as a .png file on the desktop and it takes an automatic name assigned by the operating system that begins with “screenshot” and continues with the date and time of its creation. However, this procedure can be avoided by pressing the [Ctrl] key to preferably create a copy on the clipboard, as it happens in a Windows system by default, to send the image from there to a word processing or image editing program. much more quickly. This command works with all the combinations that are used to print the screen of a Mac.
Snapshot: Mac screenshots without commands
IOS systems also allow you to create screenshots of a Mac without using key combinations. The Snapshot (or Grab) tool, included in Mac operating systems and found under the Applications> Utilities path or through a search with Spotlight, has an intuitive design and can be controlled from the menu bar. Opening the “Capture” menu selects the capture method or area you want to immortalize, which in principle corresponds to the options that allow keyboard shortcuts: full screen, window or a selection.
The tool includes the option of delayed shooting (“Timer Screen”), which leaves open the possibility of making modifications to the image before capturing it. This function can be useful in cases where pressing a key triggers a certain action that must be recorded photographically.
In any case, the image thus generated appears in a new window and the user is the one who decides both the name of the file and where it is stored.
Finally, the Preview tool , located in the Applications folder, also includes a mechanism to copy the screen of a Mac. It is found by opening the “File” menu and it allows, as usual, three formats: “From the selection “,” From the window “and” From the whole screen “. The same tool allows you to edit the image or save it in different formats.
Mac screenshots: problems and solutions
Naturally, errors occur, also when it comes to recording the contents of a Mac computer screen. This may be related to the program you are trying to capture. Apple recognizes, for example, that to protect works from indiscriminate copying, you cannot capture movies if they are viewed through a DVD player, even if the area of the screen that you want to capture does not play the movie or you are in possession of the rights to the tape.
However, it is possible to avoid this limitation to capture images from a film in two ways, always starting from the premise that copyright is not violated:
- Use an alternate player: Apple cannot prevent images from being captured from a different movie and video playback program.
- Use a different capture program: This limitation only affects when using macOS or OS X applications, but there are other providers that offer free software to copy the screen of a Mac.