How to take a screenshot on a Mac

If you want to take a screenshot of a funny chat discussion, show a tutorial an error notification on your Mac OS X, make guides for performing a task, favorite video clips, great scores through your games, conversations on social media networks like Twitter or Facebook, bugs you need to report, and almost anything and everything you see on your display screen and more. Take a screenshots is the perfect way to provide somebody exactly what is on your Macbook screen.

Taking a screenshot - Print Screen is simpler on Mac OS X than on Windows OS and great for sharing moments. Here are the most ideal how to take a screenshot in Macbook Pro, Macbook Air or Macbook Pro Retina. Takeascreenshotguide also share how you can print screen on a Macbook Pro, replicating the Print Screen button on a PC.

Here's an article on ways to take a screenshot on a Mac OS X, if you want to choose taking photos by using Keyboard shortcuts, Grab, Preview app. Furthermore, browse through our tutorials for taking screen capture on a Laptop and take a screenshot in iPhone - iPad, as well as our choice of the best softwares for taking a screenshot.

See more: FAQs about taking a screenshot on your Apple devices.

6 Ways to take a screenshot your Mac OS X

Jump to a method:

• TAKE A SCREENSHOT OF A CUSTOM AREA
• TAKE A SCREENSHOT YOUR WHOLE MAC SCREEN
• TAKE A SCREENSHOT OF SEPARATE WINDOW
• HOW TO SAVE A SCREENSHOT DIRECTLY TO THE MAC CLIPBOARD
• TAKE A SCREENSHOT VIA GRAB UTILITY OF MAC
• USING 3RD APPLICATION
  • SKITCH
  • LIGHTSHOT SCREENSHOT
• HOW TO CHANGE DEFAULT LOCATION OF THE SAVED FILES
• HOW TO PRINT SCREEN ON A MAC

Take a screenshot of a custom area your Mac screen

1. Install all the applications or open windows which you need to take a screenshot

2. Press Command (⌘) + Shift + 4. You'll see which your cursor switches to a crosshair pointer.

3. When you've picked the area you need on the screen, release your mouse or trackpad button. Or to cancel, press Escape button (esc) before you select area. You should certainly hear a short camera shutter sound if your computer's sound is switched on.

Note: Press and Hold Option button to adjust the lock point to the center of the area . Press and Hold Shift button to lock all of the sides but the one in the direction you're presently moving.

4. Then, you can see the screenshot as a .png file on your desktop with the label Screen Shot [Date + Time].

5. Double-Click on the screenshot to see and share it with Preview or Right-Click on it and choose Open With to open and share it with difference applications which you want.

Take a screenshot your whole Mac screen

1. Set up or open all app which you want to take a screenshot.

2. Hold down Command (⌘) + Shift + 3.

3. You'll hear a short camera shutter sound if your Macbook’s sound is on, and your screenshot will make on your desktop It will be saved as in .PNG format, labeled with the date and time: Screen Shot [Date + Time].

4. Once you have taken your screenshots, they are now ready to be opened and shared with another applications.

Take a screenshot of separate window on Mac screen

1. Open app windows you need to take a screenshot

2. Press Command (⌘) + Shift 4. Your cursor will change to crosshairs.

3. Continue press the Spacebar.

You'll see that your cursor turn into a Camera icon.

4. Move the Camera to top of the window which you need to screenshot. Then, the window will change tint blue. Finally, Just Click your mouse or trackpad to take a screenshot. Or to Cancel, press Escape (ESC) before you click.

5. Find and use the screenshot on your Desktop

How to save a Screenshot directly to the Mac Clipboard

1. Press Command + Shift + Control + 3 all at one time to screenshot the entire Screen to your Clipboard.

2. or Press Command + Shift + Control + 4 all at one time to screenshot a Screen's area, or press Spacebar soon afterwards to screenshot a window, to your Mac Clipboard.

3. Open your document or image applications of Mac and then press Command (⌘) + V or select Paste from the menu to copy your screenshot out of the Clipboard and into the window of app.

Open Skitch app and press Command (⌘) + V.

4. Edit and save the screenshot from app.

Take a screenshot via Grab Utility of Mac

1. Find Grab app by go to Applications >> Utilities >> Grab. This launches the Grab app. You will see the menus displayed in the top left of your display screen, but don't have windows will open.

2. Go to the Capture menu and select between the 4 other choices.

• • To take a photo of your whole screen, select Screen and click on the screen which you want.
  • To take a screenshot a part of your screen, click Selection. A window will appear and you need to drag your mouse over the part of your screen you want to capture.
  • To take a screenshot of a specified window, click Window. Then, select the window you want to take a screenshot of.
  • And click Timed Screen if you want to capture the screen ten seconds later.

3. When the new window appears, choose Save. You can also click Save As to change it a different name or move it to a suitable location, and it can just be saved as a .tiff format.

See more Video below:

Using 3rd application: Skitch or Lightshot ScreenShot

Skitch

Skitch is perfect application which will allow you to make basic edits to your screenshots and upload them to the website to share with your friend or social.

How to use Skitch app on Mac

Lightshot ScreenShot

The best way to take a customizable screenshot because it have more feature helpfully such as Share screenshots via Internet, Various Platforms, user-friendly interface,...

How to use Lightshot ScreenShot app on Mac

How to change default location of the Saved Files

1. Create a new folder at the Desktop or wherever you want by going to File >> New Folder or Right-Click on Desktop >> Select New Folder.

2. Change the Name of new Folder by Click on that folder >> Press Enter >> Set new name you want, such as “TakeaScreen”.

3. Open a Terminal app by type “terminal” on Spotlight Search.

4. In the Terminal interface, copy and paste:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture location

Note: Make sure to have a “space" after “defaults write com.apple.screencapture location”.

5. Drag and Drop the folder you need into the terminal window.

After Drag and Drop

6. Press Return. A new command line will appear.

7. Reset the Terminal by copy and paste the command below and press Return again:

killall SystemUIServer

8. That's result.

See more Video below:

How to print screen on a Mac

Now, if you want to print the Screenshot, you easily find the image and double click to open it in Preview. Now, Press Command + P to print directly from Preview.

Screen Recording on Mac

To record the screen on Mac OS X, you can see this article: How to record your screen on Mac.

How to take a screenshot on windows

Taking a screenshot is certainly nothing new but taking screenshots of your PC using Windows can also be a necessary trick if you want to snap images for record keeping, send a screenshot to technology support, e-mail an image to a friends and colleague or if you need to get help troubleshooting an issue with your computer or laptop. The feature has been available across various systems and devices for more than a many years. How to actually take a screenshot, however, remains among the best frequently asked questions. Here's how to take screenshots in Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. 

If you need to way to take a screenshot on Microsoft Surface Pro, you can check this article out.

Jump to a method:

• Using a PrtScn key of your Keyboard
• Using the Snipping Tool
• Using Lightshot ScreenShot

How to take a screenshot with (PrtScn) Print Screen key

Step 1: Taking a screenshot by 3 ways.

1. Press PrtScn (Print Screen) key on your keyboard

This will take a screenshot of your whole screen and copy it to clipboard with the same as your Desktop resolution.

This PrtScn key is often located between Scroll Lock and F12 key. And with some Laptops, you need to press the Fn (Function) key to copy the screenshot to Clipboard.

Note: Don’t have any confirmation when the screenshot has been taken.

2. Press Alt + PrtScn on your keyboard to take a custom area of Windows Screen.

First, you need to click on the window which you want to take a screenshot. After that, let press Alt + PrtScn key and it will be copied to clipboard of Windows. With some Laptops, you need to press Fn + Alt + PrtScn key.

  And 

3. Windows + PrtScn

If you are using Windows 8.1 or Windows 10, just hold down the Windows + PrtScn (Print Screen) key to automatically save a whole screenshot within the Screenshots folder of your Pictures directory of Windows.

Step 2: Open Paint or difference softwares such as Word, Photoshop,...

Let click on Start button at right conner, go to Accessories folder in Windows 7 or Windows 8.1. With Windows 10, the folder is changed Windows Accessories instead. Then open Paint in here.

Or open Paint by press Windows + R to open Run dialog, input “mspaint” in the empty box and click OK.

Step 3: Paste the Screenshot

Then open Paint program, Click on Paste button in the left conner of the program or press Ctrl + V on Keyboard to paste your screenshot which processed at Step 1.

Step 4: Edit and Save the ScreenShot

At Paint program interface, you can edit, crop, insert text or whatever if you want. After that, go to the File >> Save as and set Name, choose a save location and select your file format as .png, jpg, gif,… Normally, JPG format will do great. Finally, click Save button when completed.

How to take a screenshot without (PrtScn) Print Screen key

Using The Snipping Tool

The Snipping Tool is available in Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 but it doesn’t have in Windows XP.

See more: How to open Snipping Tool on Windows.

First, let open Snipping Tool. Then, click New.

1. "Rectangular Snip" is selected by default. Click on the Arrow button near the New button to switch the Snip shape.
2. "Free-form Snip" allows you draw any type of shape with your mouse. The area within the shape are going to be snipped.
3. "Rectangular Snip" allows you choose a rectangle-shaped area, which are going to be snipped.
4. "Window Snip" allows you select a window to snip.
5. "Full-screen Snip" snips the entire screen.

Then, you can pick your Snip area, or choose the window if you chose Window Snip. Release the mouse if choosing to make the Snip. When you had whole Screen Snip chosen, your Snip is going to automatically be created when your click New button.

Finally, Go to File >> Save as or press Ctrl + S and choose a save location of your PC, Laptop.

Using 3rd Software: Lightshot ScreenShot

LightShot is an app which makes the screenshot experience far simpler. Read on to expert how to use Lightshot.

First, you can install this software via its homepage and it is supported for Mac and Windows: https://app.prntscr.com 

Creating the Screenshot

To try out the program, press the “Print Screen” key on your keyboard of PC, Laptop or click on Take Screenshot (or Command + L) to capture a shot of your current screen.

Hold down left mouse and drag it to select the area which you want to select. Then, you will see two trays of editing tools on the bottom-right corner of the choosen area.

In here, you can process whatever (edit, insert text, shape,...) you need with your screenshot some options are listed below.

Paste and Use the screenshot on another program.

To copy your screenshot into another application (such as Microsoft Word, Photoshop,...): Press “Ctrl+C” after selecting the screenshot, open the program where you want to copy and paste, and press “Ctrl+V”. The result will be as follows:

Save the Screenshot

If you do need to save the screenshot as a singe file, click “Save” after selecting the screenshot. Besides, you can use “Ctrl+S” to save.

When the dialog box below appear, click “Save” button to save the screenshot into the “Lightshot” folder. You can also set new name of the file, change the photo format, or choose a save location for your screenshot.

Make an Online Link to the Screenshot

Nomally, if you want to share a link of the screenshot online, let click the “Upload to Prntscr.com” button after selecting the screenshot. You can also press “Ctrl+D” key for the same purpose.

After that, the box below will open, prompting you to either “Open” or “Copy” the online link . Click “Open” if you need to open it on your web browser and click “Copy” if you need to share it via Skype, Facebook, E-mail and so on.

Also Check:

You can get more softwares via this article: Best free screen capture softwares.

Taking a screenshot on an iPhone or iPad device is so quick and easy, in truth, that we don't know why Apple doesn't tell new customers ways to do this. Here's how to take a screenshot on iPhone or iPad. It takes just a second and use some keys. Our detailed steps will help the method.

How to take a screenshot on an iPad or iPhone

Press both the Sleep (or Wake) and Home keys at the same time and release all of them. You will hear a camera shutter sound and see a white display screen showing the screenshot was taken. You only need to hold the two keys down for one or two second for this to work.

Take a Screenshot on iPhone SE, iPhone 4, iPhone 4s, iPhone 5, iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus

Take a ScreenShot on iPad

How to take a screenshot on an iPhone or iPad if the buttons don't work

If the Sleep (or Wake) or Home keys on your iPhone or iPad doesn't run correctly, it's still possible to take a screenshots by AssistiveTouch which was App default of iOS. It's great way to take a screenshot on iPhone, iPad without using any buttons.

This easy tip describes how you can show a 'AssistiveTouch' on your iPhone or iPad screen which you can use if the hardware keys have faulty. Certainly, this application may be used to take a screenshots too.

Go to Home Screen >> Find and tap on Settings apps >> Tap on General >> Select Accessibility and scroll down to AssistiveTouch and turn it on to bring up the combination of options.

How to turn AssistiveTouch on

To take a screenshot by AssistiveTouch. Go to the screen whose screenshot you wanted. Let tap AssistiveTouch icon >> Device >> Tap More, and you'll find a Screenshot option. Tap it and iOS will grab a screenshot and save a image on Photos app. So simple!

See more video tutorial:

How to convert iPhone and iPad screenshots from.png to.jpg

The simplest method is to save the image to your Mac device. Just plug the iOS device into the Macbook, run Image Capture, choose the iPad or iPhone in the lefthand menu, then find and drag&drop the screenshot on to your Mac's desktop - or if you're using Mac OS X Yosemite and iOS 9 or later, you can transfer files and data wirelessly by AirDrop.

More: If you don’t make sure how to use AirDrop to transfer files and data from iPhone to Mac OS X. Let see this article in here: How to transfer files and data from iPhone to Mac via AirDrop.

Then open this image in Photoshop or another editor application. Now you can choose Save As from Menu of app or press a key combination Shift + Cmd + S and save it as a .jpg file as well as another format like .png, .gif,...

Find your screenshot

Look for your screenshot in your Camera Roll of the Photos app. To find your Camera Roll, just select the "Photos" application on your Home screen. Then click "Camera Roll," that should be shown as your primary album. Your screenshot must be the last image with this album.

An increasing amount of users are choosing their Android mobiles and tablets device instead of, or as a prepared supplement to, their laptop or computer PCs. How to take a screenshot on Android device is so simple , and there are all kind of other cases in which a screenshot would can be found in handy, from sharing your Android's screen setup with friends and colleagues to getting pictorial proof of your new high score in the Game, creating presentations or writing guides for your smartphone.

For the popular most of Android phones and tablets, to take a screenshot you just hold down The Power and Volume Down keys at the same time. And after a few seconds the screen will certainly flash and a notice will show up in the drop down bar on top of the display screen, providing you choices to delete, edit or share the photo via Facebook, Email,... You can also find the screenshot from your Gallery.

The article will guide the easiest way for taking a screenshot is provided on most devices using Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, Jelly Bean 4.1 and later, KitKat, or Android 5.0 Lollipop device. Some previously versions of Android also support this.

This tutorial on devices: Samsung Galaxy S, HTC One M, Sony Xperia Z, LG Optimus, Moto devices, Nexus 6 or later,...

How to take a screenshot on Android

Taking a screenshot on a Galaxy

Using hardware Buttons

Here should work with the Samsung Galaxy S6 and older mobile phones such as the SamSung Galaxy S5, SamSung Galaxy S4, SamSung Galaxy S4 Zoom, SamSung Galaxy S4 Active, SamSung Galaxy Note 2, SamSung Galaxy Note 3, SamSung Galaxy Note 4, SamSung Galaxy Mega 6.3, SamSung Galaxy Tab 3 Pro and any Samsung device which has a Home key should work.

Hold down the Power and Home keys all at once a few second, until the screen will flash and a shutter sound is heard or you can find a visual indicating a picture was taken.

Using a hand swipe

Taking a Palm Swipe screenshot, first go to Settings and switch on Motion.

If your Samsung device is older than a SamSung Galaxy S4 (2013), you can try this method.

Go to Settings >> Tap on Motion.

Scroll down and tap on Hand Motion, after that Palm swipe to capture, and tap the box to select. Turn off the menu and get the screen that you need to take.

Lay the bottom of your palm on the screen of the device and swipe left or right across the screen.

You will hear the camera shutter sound, access your recently taken screenshot with the drop down Notification menu that a picture has been saved to the Gallery app.

Taking a screenshot on a HTC One M9

Here's the typical method of taking a screenshot which a lot of Android people know. You can press and hold at the same time this keys:

Power + Home button

or Power + Volume Down button.

Until you see a flash on the screen. The screenshot will be saved in your Photos or Gallery application as well as appear in your status bar and notification shade. Now, let tap on it, you can see the screenshot, share it, edit it and so on.

Taking a screenshot on a Sony Xperia Z

For almost any Sony Xperia Z mobile devices, apart from those using Android os 4.3 or later. The guide for taking a screenshot is easy.

Just press and hold your phone's Power | Lock button until a pop-up window appears and you'll see an option not only to take a screenshot but also to record the screen.

Just tap on it and find a screenshot at the Gallery or Photos.

Taking a screenshot on a LG G4

Go to the screen which you need to take a screenshot.

Hold down the Volume Down and Power buttons at the one time. And the screenshot has saved into your "Screenshots" folder in your Gallery application.

Taking a screenshot on a Nexus 6

Using Hardware buttons

The hardware button shortcut for taking a screenshots on the Nexus 6 is the Power Button and the Volume Down button, both on the right-hand side of the mobile devices.

You want to press and hold both keys at the same time until the border around the screen switches white. If sounds turn on, you'll listen to a short keep too.

If you view this notification on top, the screenshot has been taken.

Using 3rd application

These are two applications which can get for your device:OK Screenshot and Screenshot Easy.

Chromebooks, and many other devices which use Chrome OS, are awesome if you need a easy and cost-effective device for using the web. But Google's browser-for-everything approach can have a few trouble, particularly if you're used to a Microsoft Window or Mac OS X.

Any of the less apparent features of Chrome OS is the screenshot app. While Chromebooks don't provide a Print Screen button, taking a screenshot is certainly quite easy. Here is a simple guide on ways to take screenshots on Chrome OS and Chromebooks. We will show you a several keyboard shortcuts to get screenshots and find those screenshot photos, as well as using some extensions to take a screenshot on Chromebook.

How to take a screenshot on Chromebook

Using Default Options on Keyboard

Google provides two default choices to take screenshots on a Chromebook. This is not almost as many as you do a Mac or PC computer. In here, your choices are available in the form of a keyboard shortcut.

1. Press and hold Ctrl + Window Switching Key: Capture a full screen screenshot.

2. Press and hold Ctrl + Shift + Window Switching Key: Select an area to capture as a screenshot.

Where Do I Find a Screenshot I Took?

Chrome OS makes you a great short notice if the screenshot is taken. You can click on the notification itself to launch the grabbed screenshot.

The file title will include the date and time. Such as Screenshot 2015-09-7 at 8.42.29 PM.png. You can certainly rename this later .

The screenshots will be saved in the Downloads area of the Files application and you are able to drag&drop the screenshot to the Google Drive area of the Files app to submit it to Google Drive.

Using Chrome Extensions To Take a Screenshot

Awesome Screenshot

Awesome Screenshot is extension so helpful for your device using Chrome OS because not only does it let you take a screenshot but also lets you edit them. Awesome Screenshot supports quite tools:

• Crop tool
• Rectangle tool
• Ellipse tool
• Arrows
• Lines
• Freehand drawing tool
• Blur tool
• Text tool
• Color picker

When got and installed, it will show as an icon in your toolbar near your other extensions. Let click on it and you can the following options:

• Capture a part of your page
• Pick an area of your page to capture
• Capture the entire Webpage (contain the scrollable area which you don’t see)
• Get a local file (from your Files app).

You can see video tutorial below.

How to Use Awesome Screenshot

Full Page Screen Capture

Full Page Screen Capture is a extension which is a Google product. You can capture appear area of a tab, a part of a browser, or the entire page as a PNG image format. Provides horizontal and vertical scroll which can simple screenshot taking on webpages with many contents. And then, you can edit your captured photos easily.

Snagit

Snagit is a extension which works in much the same way as Awesome Screenshot. You can see video tutorial below to understand way to use it quickly.

How to Use Snagit Extension

Screenshot is a image taken through a computer or laptop to capture the visible things on the computer screen or any kind of other output tech devices. There are a few ways to take a screenshot in Ubuntu, Linux. For this guide, we will share few ways that are used to take a screenshot simply.

How to take a screenshot on Ubuntu, Linux

1. Use Print Screen

This is one of the most popular solution to take screenshots. Just Press on the "Print Screen" key of your keyboard (capture to clipboard) will take a screenshot of the "Whole Visible Screen".

If you need to take a specific window, you can use combination "Alt+Print Screen keys” capture to clipboard. It will take only the specific window which is presently active.

Then, you can open some editor apps and paste it to your app which you want. Such as GIMP,… 

2. Use GIMP

You can also take a screenshot from GIMP application. Go to open GIMP app, and click on File >> Create >> Screen Shot… (Shift + F12). A new dialog window will appear to take a screenshot by GIMP easily.

3. Use Shutter Application

The awesome tool is that you can get almost everything on your screen with Shutter app from particular areas to menus or tooltips and web pages. The following tips is taken from the shutter's official website.

How to install Shutter

You can quickly install Shutter app with the apt-get command-line tool such as shown below. First, go to open Terminal (Combination keys is Ctrl + Alt + T) and type or copy this command.

sudo apt-get install shutter

or you can use Ubuntu Software Centre to install it. If you’re on Ubuntu, you can click here. See more detail about Shutter frome Homepage: http://shutter-project.org

How to use Shutter

Click on Selection to take a specific area of screen.

Choose specific area which you want.

Using tools of panel on the right to edit image.

Save it on your PC.