How do I take a screenshot on my Mac?

I want to take a picture (capture) of my screen while running certain programs on my Mac so I can email the screenshot to a friend but have no idea how to do so. Is it even possible?

Dave's Answer:

It's definitely possible, and Mac OS X actually includes two different ways to capture either the entire screen or a portion thereof. First, though, I have to say that there's quite a bit of confusion as to whether what we're talking about is called "screen grab", "screen capture" or "screenshot". They're all the same thing. :-)

By default, the operating system includes the ability to capture your entire screen at any time by simply pressing the key combination of cloverleaf + shift + 3. Try it right now. When I do it, I hear a "camera taking a picture" sound and a file called "Picture 1.png" shows up on my desktop. Scaled down (for space reasons), it looks like this:

Simple, no frills, and ready to chop up and edit, if you so desire, with a graphics program like GraphicConverter.

If you want to have a bit more control over what happens, however, the Apple utility Grab is a splendid alternative. You can find it in Applications --> Utilities, and when you start it, there are no windows that open up for the application by default, just its options on the menu bar:

GRAB Utility for screenshot captures on Mac OS X

This is far more useful, as you can immediately see when you click on the "Capture" menu:

I'll choose "Selection" so I can draw a rectangle to define what on my screen I want to capture, and it pops up a helpful window to explain what's going on. More importantly, notice that the cursor now has x,y coordinates included, which is a bit weird, but at least you can see that something's happening:

Now just move to the top left corner of the region you want to capture, then click and hold down the mouse button while you drag the cursor to the other corner. As you do this, it'll produce a red rectangle and, in tiny digits, the dimensions of the region:

Screenshot capture / grab on Mac OS X: Selection

When you're done, let go of the mouse button and *poof* you've got your capture:

Captured Region on Mac with Grab Utility

Now all you have to do is either use Edit --> Copy to load the image into your copy/paste buffer (you can paste it into an email message, for example, or a Word document) or choose File --> Save As... and give it a meaningful name.

It's worth mentioning that there are third-party screen capture programs that offer greater flexibility and power too. I use SnapZ Pro X, a terrific capture utility from Ambrosia Software that can add drop shadows, change the shape of the edges of your captures, and much more.

Nonetheless, it's nice that even with a stock Mac OS X system, you can still capture regions, windows or the entire screen whenever you want. Very helpful, and doubly so with tech support problems!

Categorized: Mac OS X Help (Article 7582, Written by Dave Taylor)
Tagged: mac os x, screen captures, screenshots
Previous: Can you constrain Google search results by date?
Next: How do I change the format of a Mac screen capture?

Subscribe!

Never miss another Q&A article! Click to subscribe:

Comments

Apple+Shift+4 gives you a cross hair that you can click and drag over any area on your screen. This bypasses the need to go the grab utility.

Apple+Shift+4 then push the space bar afterwards will toggle between the cross hair and a camera. This camera will take a picture of any window that is open that you want.

If you hold the control key while doing any of these methods (including Apple+Shift+3), it will save it to the clipboard and you can paste into whatever program you like.

Posted by: Jerid Hill at September 15, 2007 8:17 AM

About 6 months ago I was playing around on my iBook G4 and I found the option to change the format that Apple+Shift+4 saves in. For some odd reason I choose JPG-2000 (picture.jp2).

Of course, now I can't find how to change it back. If anyone does, direct email or comment here would be appreciated.

Posted by: Dempsey at September 16, 2007 11:10 PM

Hey Jerid,
I also use the Apple+Shift+4 to do screen capture on the mac! Do you know how to change the filetype? Mine saves as a png, and I would prefer it to save as jpg sometimes but haven't gone to the exhaustive effort to find a solution!
Thanks...

Posted by: Zachary Cole at September 20, 2007 1:07 PM

Please check out:

http://www.askdavetaylor.com/how_to_change_format_mac_screen_capture_screenshot.html

I think that'll cover your question!

Posted by: Dave Taylor at October 1, 2007 11:49 PM

I use the APPLE+SHIFT+4 function plenty but how can I save the result in a specific directory instead of the automatic save mode that goes to clutter up my desktop?

Posted by: Daniel Truran at October 7, 2007 2:34 PM

I used clover + shift +4 to capture an image while iDVD was playing. It worked the first two times, but now when I try to capture an image, I get a box that says that I need to quit DVD Player before capturing the image. What is going on?

Posted by: Erin at February 4, 2008 10:43 AM

Is there any way to take a movie with this? If not is there free third party app which will do this?

Posted by: Julius at February 17, 2008 9:45 PM

If you're trying to save a shot while playing iMovie / iDVD, there are a couple of options. I recommend checking out the following forum:

http://forums.appleinsider.com/archive/index.php/t-5609.html

Posted by: Justin VerBurg at February 20, 2008 11:54 AM

Is there any way to take a "video" of what is going on on my screen?

Posted by: August Masquelier at February 17, 2009 6:31 PM

what the heck is a cloverleaf?!

Posted by: Jessica at February 26, 2009 10:11 AM

Hi, I know about shift, apple & 4 to do the screenshots. But is there a way to have the screen shot go the entire webpage down. As if it is scrolling down the page?
thanks, Christine

Posted by: christine at March 8, 2009 9:26 PM

>>Posted by Jessica at February 26, 2009 10:11 AM:

>>"what the heck is a cloverleaf?!"

Jessica, "cloverleaf" refers to the command key. You should have one located on each side of the spacebar. Notice how the little symbol on it resembles a 4-leaf clover?

Posted by: Alice at May 14, 2009 1:02 PM

mm... nice suggestion, but as for me I prefer to use Macvide ScreenCap

Posted by: vuko at November 27, 2009 4:58 AM

Vuko, what about Macvide ScreenCap do you prefer over either the built-in screen capture capability in Mac OS X or a popular app like SnapZ Pro X?

Posted by: Dave Taylor at November 27, 2009 8:03 AM

I had a simle question, and you gave me more then enough information. I have to say, thank you! This is really awesome that you could help me so much. 

Posted by: Nazwick at February 4, 2010 8:47 PM

I like Macvide ScreenCap too:)

Posted by: ritos at February 5, 2010 8:13 AM

to change the extension of the snapshot pic ... just click in the pic u want then " Get info " ... then go to its name and change the extension from there ...

if it's png just delete .png & write .jpeg

it will WORK !!!

Posted by: Armandon at July 5, 2010 3:31 PM

Uhm, no it won't, Armandon. Different graphic formats are more than just a different filename suffix, they're actually encoded and stored in a different format. Sure the mis-named file (where the suffix NAME doesn't match the actual encoding format) will open on your Mac because it actually stores the data type elsewhere, but it sure won't work for emailing those images to anyone or using on a Web page or profile. A nice conversion program is GraphicConverter, btw. Google it, I've used it for years...

Posted by: Dave Taylor at July 5, 2010 5:21 PM

ok - I can copy my screen using , but when I try to paste the screenshot into an e-mail, it just puts in a number! (034)
How do I get it to send the actual screen shot?
I don't know if it makes a difference, but I am running VMware Fusion, so my screenshot is from the mac end, but my mail program is on my windows section (using Eudora).
Thanks for any help,
--Michael

Posted by: Michael at September 10, 2010 12:35 PM

How do you capture a web page as an image on a Mac when in Bootcamp?

Posted by: JLA at March 21, 2011 6:19 PM

I figured it out.. fn shift F11 I found it on the apple site at http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1171

Posted by: JLA at March 21, 2011 6:31 PM

IT WORKED!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!

Posted by: Mikayla Afele at June 24, 2011 4:10 AM

It's good to note that you CAN NOT take a screenshot if there is a DVD playing. Just one of those copyright things that Apple thought of. And besides grabit, there are probably more than 50 free snapshot utilities that I've found on
Macupdate.com. I believe MacScreenshot.com lists quite a few as well.

Posted by: Mike at July 2, 2011 9:52 AM

What is a "copy/paste buffer"? Is there an easier way to put a screen shot into a forum without signing up for some kind of service? Just lazy and looking for a quick easy way to post my screen shot to get some help!

Posted by: Carla at July 12, 2011 5:10 PM

I've been taking screen shots for years and opening them from my desktiop. Suddenly, today, I've lost the ability to open them. I can right click on the picture and do "quicklook", but that's it. They just won't open.

Similary, if I scan an image and save it as a PDF file in pictures, I'm suddenly not able to open it either!

Why?

Thanks so much.

Posted by: Ann Peece at July 12, 2011 9:14 PM

I have something to say, now that you mention it, but ...

I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you for all your efforts on this Web site by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!