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 print screen in Mac OS X.
There are few ways to do print screen in Mac OS X.
Follow the steps below and you will be able to do a print screen in Mac OS X.
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- 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 print screen picture.
To print screen a portion of the Mac 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 print screen of what you have selected!
To do a print screen for a particular application window, 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 print screen!
It’s easy to do print screen in Mac OS X right?
No other additional program like Paint to paste and save the print screen 🙂
[tags]screen capture, print screen, mac os x, screen capture mac os x, screen capture in mac, print screen mac, print screen mac os, screenshot mac os, screenshot[/tags]
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WORKS ! !
oh wow! this is more simple than i thought…you are smart! two thumbs up for you (Y) (Y)
Thank you very much! This is so handy for my Mac and documentation usage.
It’s not working for me 🙁
Thanks for the “how to” info re: Print Screen!
Must feel great to know you’re smarter than the Apple Development Staff who forgot to include this in the “Help Menu”. KUDO’s
Thank you so so much !
Thanks a lot Pal
Absolutamente maravilloso!(Absolutely marvelous
Windows shorcut using a single key is great however most of the time you end up using a third program to get you wanted in the first place.
Das ist gutenberger
Hi TNX A LOT
lol i’ve been using mac for more than 5 years and this is the first time i knew about this.
thanks so much.
nice info, since i am a newbie on using macpro 🙂 thanks a lot
Finally some useful information. Many thanks
Hello, please help me. I do all the steps, but it does not work. Why? :(( thank you…
blessed be the ones who spread light through the web!
Thanks worked. Thank you
thanks.. very helpfull to me..
ah beautiful, my mac is now complete, i thought my PC may of had something my mac didn’t at first, this was all i missed though
Thank you!!! helped a lot !! “)
likessss..thank u..
THAAAAAANK YOU!
thanks man. ^^
thanks it was useful
@Jade Margery: Haha you’re hilarious! You’re just playing dumb and angry, right…?
Or maybe you shouldn’t take on projects you are clearly unqualified for so you wouldn’t have to make an arbitrary and ill-informed rant here… cos there’s really nothing as embarrassing as publicly wallowing in your own stupidity.
You say you use and know Windows PCs but Mac is new to you…? OK so why the big surprise that there is a learning curve? Maybe you only visit this page on a “bad day”, but having an amazingly intuitive UI does not make Macs Idiot Proof or in any way secure them against people as dumb as you seem to be trying very hard to present yourself.
Sure, the first time I had to make a screen-shot in Windows XP I couldn’t figure out the key combination either so I asked somebody. What was so weird was that it LOOKS easy – having a labelled button and all – but you have to know which modifier key to use and then *you have to know which PC programme to open*, just to view and save it. Utter madness! Maybe that makes sense you you but to me it is just another weird PC convention that has to be learned and lived with.
In the end, it doesn’t matter how simple or complex the Mac Screen-shot key combo is – what screams out to me is that you would rather launch a foaming mouthed rant on here before you bother to launch the clearly labelled Help menu at the top of every Mac’s screen. See it there, labelled “Help”? Yes? Try it. Type in Screen Capture. You will learn something.
But probably not how to avoid making a complete ass of yourself online. In the English sense, obviously.
Just found Techie Corner and this page, it has been very helpful and thanks to the poster.
Creative Fireplaces said it doesn’t work with Lion, but I just did the screen print from an App using the 4 key and it worked fine for me after pressing the space bar and a mouse click.
Just one more question, is there any way to do just one screen print but be able to collect all the data from an application (i.e. where I normally have to do 2 screenshots to collect all the data from the app, some not being visible unless moving it into view on the screen first)? Maybe GIMP as mentioned in another post would do the job, but was hoping something easier is available
Thanks
Thanks for the instructions – I *knew* it had to be something straightforward.
For those who don’t have fancy photo-edit software, I’ll add that if you open up your screenshot in Preview, you can actually copy, paste and generally manipulate the image to achieve basic photo-editing effects.
And yes, Macs rock! 🙂
After years of only ever using a PC I made the big jump back in 2007. Still using the PC at work though will never, ever advise people to seek solice in the PC. MAC is magic! Jobs may be gone but his visions will last our lifetimes and beyond!
Cheers, PT.
Thanks you! Great tip and very helpful.
Normally i’ll do this using GIMP
http://www.techiecorner.com/455/free-image-editor-for-mac-os-x-xp-vista-linux/
1 more question (just jumped from 15 years of PC to MAC).
– indeed to CAPTURE an image is lots easier then with PC starting paint and everything, BUT now I have TWO screenshots and both of them I want to cut+paste a PART from to put together in 1 file. The cutting works in iPhoto, but how do I put in the SECOND screenshot ??
Thanks a lot!!! You make my life easier 🙂
thanks guys. this was so helpful. i didn’t know what to do and then i read this and knew what to do. im so happy now.
Thanks a lot… I am a new Mac-user too and found this very useful 🙂
Good tip, thanks. Haven’t used a mac for 12 years, just got a mac book pro, learning curve accepted. Also, keeping my PC. For all the passionate commenters. another tip- just pack your digital camera and snap away screen shots with the simple click of one button. This works across all platforms. Until then, welcome to the world of computers. Learn to adapt to change or risk getting old and cranky. It’s your decision.
The absence of a key or intuitively would be less of a problem if the procedure was described in the “HELP” function under Print Screen
it doesn’t work on my new iMac 🙁
I would like to printscreen ( in word or PDf ) a webpage but i can’t get further then printscreen a page step by step( and everytime scrolling down and do another p[rintscreen) instead of the complete page at once.
Who can help me
Thanks for the tip, but I do agree with most, it’s a pain in the asse. I was always told and told by loads of Apple users that they are sooooooo intuitive……… yeah right! Then why am I always looking on help forums for simple task answers?? Never had to do it with a PC.
Hey There… I have tried all of the options and they are really working well…. Thanks for the great help….
Thanks so much!! I am discovering the joy of Mac and even more so when there are helpful posts on the web that make my stupid little questions disappear. Thanks again for the clear instructions on how to do a print screen on a Mac.. 🙂
Handy advice. Thanks!
Hey
We just got a new Mac for our showroom & finding it hard to work stuff like Print Screen out
I tried what was suggested above on my new Max using Lion and it doesn’t work 🙁
My number 4 has the dollar sign ($) and number 3 has the pound sign (£) … even after holding down the apple key it doesn’t work
With a conventional PC there is the button on the keyboard, but can’t see how to do this on the Mac…
Can anyone help?
@Graham–Wouldn’t have bothered coming back here, but it so happens I need print screen again (it’s been over a month since I had to look this up, and I forgot which finger bending combination was needed to execute such a simple function on this terrible piece of crap I am forced to work on). Never implied that keyboards need a short cut for every function, but if you could remove your lips from Jobs’ arse for a moment you might have noticed that BOTH computers do have a keyboard short cut to print screen which require two (or more) keys to be held down. The difference between a PC keyboard and a mac? PCs are clearly labeled.
And again, if I were using a proper computer that was intelligently designed, I wouldn’t even be looking for this page.
Thank goodness this job is over in a week.
thanks for tell how to printe screen on mac 🙂 wish you good luck and success
Great simple instruction. Thanks a lot.
@ Jade Margery. You fool, as Riper said if there was a command for everything the keyboard would be huge. Even with Windows it hardly tells you how to do every little thing like that. Apple has changed my life as a designer and I’m very grateful for people such as the author of this page who give their time to teach others how to use their mac efficiently. Many thanks for your help guys.
Thanks so much! Very easy to follow instructions 🙂
Jade Margery: It wasn’t very difficult, was it? Comon, if all functions had a special key on the keyboard the keyboard would get huge!
“It’s easy to do screen capture in Mac OS X right?”
Yeah–so easy and intuitive that I had to look it up on the internet–something I’ve never had to do with a new PC.
What a terrible UI. Why do people use this junk?
Thanks so much! This was so helpful!
Thanks! I never knew there was an option besides the Grab application, but this allowed me to capture live shots of my software programs.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!
Thanks a lot, saved my day!
@Jordi PC SUX BIG TIME! the screen capture on mac is awesome! thanks for the tip 🙂
thanks a lot, saved my day! 🙂
Easy to do screencapture? Wtf. It’s easy to press a PRINTSCREEN button. Mac sucks.
chuz bru this helped
thanx a lot for these tips dude. u’ve been a major help
Thanks alot for this easy and comfortable explanation
Great tip, thanks!
that was really great … very impressive … thanks computer genius …
Really helpful saved me $50.00 from having to purchase snag it for Mac!!!!
Thanks a lot. Learned something new.
Thank you. Very helpful.
Fantastic learning something new every day on my mac
THANKS A LOT !!!!!!
Thankyou, just what i needed
Seriously. Great info! If you feel like telling us where we can learn other quick tricks, I’m game.
thnx bro.. this was really helpful..
thanks!
that was really helpful!
thanks….very very awesome
Thanks.
Not the most important feature in the world. But its good to know that its there.
Really like the extra options with the ⌘ + Shift + 4
i found this extremely un helpful u piece of shit
thanks!
Thanks, mate!!! Awesome!! 🙂
thanks sooooo much! perfect info for me 🙂
Thank you! Very, very helpful!
We’ll try these options out.. sound good.
Thanks for this
Thanks
thank you so much! how obscure haha why would apple make this so odd to do?
my screen shots wont appear i did it quite a few times but it dodesnt show in the desktop what do i do??
Was really really useful! Thanks 🙂
I completely agree with blah and Danae.
Mac os makes simple tasks difficult.
I really don’t like os to decide for me when I want to save my screen capture and where to save it.
In Mac world that happens all too often.
Mac is absolutely no better than Windows.
Simple to use? No.
Stable? Well, no. Software for Mac isn’t any better. Maybe os itself is stable but so are Windows and (especially) Linux.
Good looking design? Yes.
Good design? No.
Apple is all hype.
New to mac, thanks heaps for posting….
its g8.. thx for the tips
Thanks. This Helped me on time
Thank you very very very very much!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks! I was looking for this! You saved my day! 🙂
Thanks – this info was easy to follow and helped me out.
Urgh, sometimes I think Apple just make this awkward on purpose.
@blah
Thank goodness someone else is sane.
@Macozier
You spelt “Mac” wrong.
Urgh. Macs. I have to use one at work. Whoever says “Macs are perfect for designing” – something must be wrong with them, or they have never designed on a mac. I prefer NOT to have to do a google search every time I want to do some menial task.
Oh, if you have one of the small keyboard things, this doesn’t seem to work. Your move, Steve Jobs.
Thanks a lot! I’m a new to Mac as well and you helped me a lot! Many thanks
Is there a way to capture an entire website I am viewing? I am not looking to only capture the portion that is displayed without scrolling down, but rather, the entire webpage. Similarly, with regard to say an application whose data or screen output being longer than just the height of the display?
if there is a method to accomplish these tasks, that would be awesome!!!
Thank you very much, very helpful indeed and much better than doors….I mean windows
hahaha thank you so much!
All of this is also in the Help system! Click the Help menu and just type screenshot.
If you want more options you can use the included Grab utility as well.
i have got both mac laptop and computer, i thought it was easy to use but i didnt figure out how to print screen 😛 this really helped thanks.
Oh my gosh. I love you. You totally saved my homework.
thanks, i was just thinking that mac wasn´t that good… shame on me!!!! this is so good
to Blah:
If you dont like make, please dont comment on it, stay with your stone aged windows
Thank you SOOO!!! Much
You helped a lot!!
😀
Very good, so much easier than windows…no opening extra things, just all done in one instant…..macs kick ass on windows!!!!!!
No, no it’s not more helpful. Again Mac forces its users to perform extra acts for something that should really be quite simple.
Under windows, whatever you’ve got on your screen (apart from your cursor) is captured when you press print screen. Useful. Functional. You can copy and paste whatever has then been put into the clipboard (into say word, excel, paint..).
Simple example of where it’s bad: if you want to capture for example dropped down menu items – in windows you click on the menu and press ‘print screen’. If you make a mistake and realise it’s the wrong menu, simple – move your mouse and do it again. In mac, you press on the menu, then ‘cmd-shift-4’ and then realise it wasn’t that menu. Press escape and do it all over again. And it’s saved to a file (according to your non-techie analysis – you’ve then got to clean up an image you didn’t want).
Also like the missing middle mouse button. In solaris, it works. Out of the box, SImple, easy. But it’s too hard in the dinky trackpad (which is actually pretty nice).
A-la-la the delete key – what is so bad about having a backspace key out of the box? Why have separate vowel keys (a,e,i,o,u) – why not have one key marked vowel that you press (for example) cmd,shift,1 through 5 for? Because it’s easier to have 5 keys that’s why. The box is nice – mac osx is painful.
Thank you! I use screen capture on PCs frequently but being a Mac newbie, this was hard to figure out. The 3 different methods are much better than the simple one-click method on PCs! I like Method #2 the best so I can just select a portion of the screen to copy rather than having to crop that out separately on PC program 🙂
Thanks for posting. This has actually bothered me for awhile. For the lemmings that love macs for the sake of marketing, this is a great rebuttal for why macs aren’t always as “easy” as everybody claims they are. Haha.
thanks so much for this info, really need it =)
thank you for your sharing… very helpful
Thank you! It really helped!
Thank You Very Much for this. I needed this info.
Thanks ! This certainly cleared my headache and got my day to a good start!
And most importantly, I learned something new !
Best wishes 🙂
Thank you very much! Your post saved me a lot of trouble.
Thanks.
nice one
the cmd/shift/4 works perfectly
Thank u so much …
u r a genius 🙂
Thanks for the info! Just got the mac setup on the weekend and I’ve been scratching my head on this one. Why there’s no key on the keyboard for it is beyond me.
Something I do for ease of messing with the screenshot is simply open Picasa (picture viewer downloadable for mac and pc for free) , do the screenshot, then it automatically slips into it’s own folder to crop, etc. I did this with the pc system too. It’s nice to actually see what you’ve shot right away.
Donna
HOW TO DO A “PRINT WINDOW” IN OS X (as you could in OS 9)
If all you want to do is print a directory list of files/folders residing in a folder, drag that folder onto your printer icon in your dock.
It’s not pretty, but if all you want is a list of files/folders, this is the easiest way. You won’t get all the desktop stuff and have to crop it out. It will show some hidden files as well (_dsstore).
thanks for the help
Zimple…
alt + f14
and then paste in mspaint
hmmm havent figure out about this yet.
anyone know?
Thanks for your help, I’m newbie to Mac OS
brilliant, thanx a lot dude… but do u know how to disable capture sound?!
thanks a lot!! 😀
SWEET! I’ll try this whenever I use a Mac next time!
This is one of the best pieces of information I’ve come across in a looong time. I’ve just printed several “pieces” of web pages (part of a screen) using this technique. The Mac screen capture is awesome! Whatever you select to take a picture of, OSX automatically scales it to fit the paper size. Actually, for me, it was even EASIER than the instructions! After pressing command-shift-4, I highlighted the area I wanted to print, and mmediately after releasing the mouse button, the computer makes a sound like a camera shot, and the picture is displayed on my desktop, ready to print. I’m sorry people, it’s IMPOSSIBLE to get any easier than this! 🙂 I love it!
So I have been reading many of these comments and what has come apparent to me is that people aren’t thinking “mac.” Macs are different, if you dont like how its different then use WINDOWS. Actually windows has NOTHING to do with the print screen button; I NEVER knew how to do this on windows, i never had a “print screen” button on my keyboard. i find the mac keyboard shortcuts every easy once i know them and i would rather have a screen cap right away instead of having to paste it, infact the “extra keys” i shorter then having to paste it some where. I love my mac and if you miss windows GO BACK or use bootcamp and have windows on your mac
YOU`RE A LiFESAVER! 😀
Awesome! Thank you!!!
I got mu MAC 1 week ago. I am totally new on mac. I had not internet for 2-3 days and i was almost mad for screen shot. Thank you techicorner.com for an usefull article.
what if the app window i want to capture and print is long and u can scroll down for several pages?.. how can i print it all as one document?
cool! Thanks alot for the info!really helped 😀
would love to buy you a drink but got no cash on me.. LOL
I ♥ 
Thats what you can do with a mac!!!!!!
So buy it today!!!!
By the way THX FOR THE HELP!!!!
cool post man i love you
OMG! this saved my life. thank you!
Hellooo PERFECT THANKS 😀 xxxxx
thanks so much. it worked great and i love it. although it would be twenty times better if it saved the image as JPEG and not PNG. i just spent an hour resaving them all as JPEG so i could open it in photoshop
perfect
thanks!
Thank you so much! This allowed me to copy my pictures from the adobe flash player program to my computer! i hate it when i cant get a copy of my proofs! 🙂 THANK YOU!
Thanks for the help, and so easy to do. I especially like the capturing of a portion of the screen.
Honestly it’s much easier on Window.
*Screen shot of the screen :
Just press print screen and paste it.
*Screen shot of the active screen :
Just press Alt+print screen.
=> very easy and fast while editing a document in word for example or if u want to edit the screen shot, screen shot name before saving on your computer.
Want to save your screen shot without editing, just open paint and past it, u even get to choose in which format u want it to be saved.
Thanks!
Thank you so much!
I was so frustrated in the beginning because I thought print screen was not possible on Mac. But now everything is much more easier. Thanks (:
How do you *PRINT* (not capture, not save, not store)… just *PRINT* 1 window on Max OS X?
(Hopefully, less than 5 steps.)
excellent! very helpful! thanks!!
Not easy at all. On a pc, you hit ctrl + print screen then paste wherever you want.
thank you very much for the info..
it was a good help…
On Windows 7, search for the “Snipping Tool” that does much the same job, so stop the fanboy wars
Thanks, very good post. Really help me. It is very easy!!!!
Or you can just hit the Print Screen key in Ubuntu Linux and save/name the file however you want.
Simple, easy, done.
hi Sheri, you can try to modify the location of default save location. read the post below:-
http://www.techiecorner.com/1004/how-to-change-default-save-location-for-print-screen-in-mac-os-x/
i can “hear” the picture being taken but it is not saving to my desktop as it states it should. where should i be looking for this?
thanks a lot! i found this at the rite time!
The screen-cap function doesn’t work on my Macbook (2 GHZ Intel Core 2 Duo). It didn’t work under Leopard and it isn’t working under Snow Leopard. When I do shift/command/3 I get “Your screen shot can’t be saved. Unable to create type string.” When I do shift/command/4, I get the cross-hairs, but when I draw what I want to copy and release, I get the same bad type string error message.
?
thank you!!! been wantign to know this for a few weeks now!
Thanks, that was simple and extremely helpful!
Wow, does every single Mac based thread turn into a Mac Vs. PC debate? It’s tired people. They are different machines that both excel in different areas, get over it already.
Catherine, this is tricky.
may be you can try to use the On Screen keyboard in Windows. Go to Start -> Program -> Accessories -> Accessibility -> On Screen keyboard
Awesome!!. This is big time saver for me. Thanks a lot for sharing!!
i’m using mac but my operating system is windows, so how do you do print screen on that?
wow, it’s great and easy! thanks a lot
Thanks man… very easy and very useful… Didn’t knw I cud print screen on mac…
Thanks heaps…. 😀
I think PCs and Macs are just different. There is no point arguing which is better. In this case, PC users may argue that you need only 1 keystroke on Windows while on Mac OS you need 3 keys, but the functions are actually different. While Windows’ functions are easier to access, Windows fails to provide users with the ability to select the portion on the screen to capture.
Windows does not create a file for the captured image but instead puts the image on the clipboard. If you think this is not how you want it, then Mac would suit you better, but there are also many situations where you would not want your image in a file on your desktop but instead on the clipboard. I’m trying to say that the convenience for not having to open Paint might not be the point here because you need to manually remove the files from your desktop afterward. And if you happen to need the image on the clipboard, you will need to open the file first.
My point here is that it does not make sense to argue which is better because they offer different functions. What is best for us would be to have all of them available.
Thank you very much 😀 very handy its already on desktop 😉
henry….. easier than windows? windows you just press one button not 3
wow, I love you forever, man! I’ve been trying to figure this out for so long! thanks!!
thankyou so much! never new this was possible
gtops, lakra, and chua, an answer on screen shot via Remote Desktop
On my Macbook Pro, I RDC to my work computer (XP Machine) and I just found today that in the preferences of RDC, under Keyboard it says “Print Screen Key” is Opt+F4, but that didn’t work so I added the function key (on my Macbook) and so Fn+Opt+F4 gets you print screen on a Macbook!!
Keep in mind Option is also called “Alt” key.
Thaanks. You gave me exact information brother.
Thanks for the GREAT help. It’s outrageous that this info is hidden… i.e., NOT MADE READILY AVAILABLE BY ANY APPLE SOURCE. It’s no wonder their address is “One Infinite Loop Road” (true).
Thanks agian.
I’ve been wondering this for ages! lol
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.
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
Thanks for the blog post buddy. This is my first mac and I don’t know half of what it can do…
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/
The picture captures are not showing up on my desk top. I am using a Mac. PLEASE HELP!
hmmm , i havent have any solution for remote desktop yet.
anyone tried?
hi Jeremy, you can try this http://www.techiecorner.com/1004/how-to-change-default-save-location-for-print-screen-in-mac-os-x/
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
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
i like how the short cut “key” is actually a twister game event for the fingers combination of 18 buttons. wtf macs are stupid.
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>
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
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
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!
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.
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!
Thanks for taking the time out to explaining this in the most simplest form.
Great Post,
GREAT!!!!!! thanks!!!
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!
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!
Thanks mate….it is really simple in MAC….
Excellent !!! Thanks a lot!!!
Are u an idiot ?? 3 button is way faster than printscreen paint than paste …. AND MAC DO HV RIGHT CLICK STUPID
Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
it really works mac is the best computer ever 🙂
thank you very much ; )
Doesn’t work for me. What now?
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
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.
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.
there’s a lot of posts but i just gotta thank u… awesome dude!
Fantastic! Thanks for the great help
do you mean the Apple Command key?
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 )
Thanx this info has really helpt me! x) lol
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!
What is the square button?
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.
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!!!
This is absolutely fabolous…
Thanks for the info!!!
Thanks! this is really helpful and I am a new swicher to Mac, love this machine!
WOWWW THANK YOU!
yes, much easier because no need to open up Paint! 🙂
Wow!! That shit is da’ bomb, yo! I loves that shizzle!
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).
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?
It was brilliant. Good Job. Print screen works like a champ…PC users have no clue what they missing out……
all these methods dont work
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.
its the apple key + c,z etc.
thanks guys, this was right on time. there are peple out there selling software to do the exact same thing.
Great! Thanx, man.
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
Thank it’s working 🙂 Picture 1 – Picture 2 its going like that..
hwy, thanks for this information
Thanks a lot! This was just what I needed.
thanx a lot…helped a lot
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.
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.
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. 🙂
Thanks! That’s what I wanted to know a long time ago.
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
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.
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.
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.
Thank you so much. This is so much easier on the Mac than on the PC.
By the way, Mac computers are THE BEST!!!
Thank you soooo much, helps a lot!! 🙂
This helped! thanks
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
Thanks a lot…
Thanks you also for Alex… for more hint of using the +ctrl
This really works!!!
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
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. 🙂
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!!!!
thx dude
thanks so much for these tips, your instructions were uber-clear. you’re an angel sent to bless my essay! (:
Really helpful tips! Thanks a bunch!
YOU made me sooo happy!
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.
So we can prin screen in mac! And we have more options. Really helpful cause I had no idea . Thanks! :)))
OMG thanks for the info! haha now i know how to print screen on my macbook :]
Hey thanks for information……..my doubt is cleared……..
ohhhhhhhhhhhh is that how you do it. thanks.
i was trying to look for a key named “iPrintscreen”. Silly me…
Thanks man, that works great. I am new to mac too, but so far this is the best thing I have ever used.
Hey, Thanks for the help – it works great. 🙂
Chrisco: If you are using Firefox, you may want to try Screengrab add-on – https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1146
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 🙂
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.
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?
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.
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.
you CAN do a one window screenshot in windows…. its ALT and PRINTSREEN whilst on the correct window
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!
This is way more help than I was expecting to find. Excellent! Muchos Gracias.
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!
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!
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…
Cheers, this is awesome. =]. So much better than the “windows” way ;).
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.
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
Friggin’ awesome! Thanks!
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!
[…] 2. How To Screen Capture Using A Mac […]
Thanks a lot for the info. It couldn’t be easier 😉
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!
Thanks. Grab kept making my document too small but this tip worked excellent.
Thanks again
Thanks a lot.
A sunflower for you then 🙂 Once again, thank you so much.
Need it for my task..
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.
Thanks! It helped a lot! 🙂
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.
cool! 🙂 Thanks for the tip! I love Mac. Hehehe
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 !
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!
@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! —
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.
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.
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!!
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
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…
Hy thanks for this, you’re a life saver. Grape, I think.
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!
“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.
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!
thanks for the help