The main Mac screenshot shortcuts are ⇧⌘3 for the whole screen, ⇧⌘4 to drag over an area, and ⇧⌘5 for the screenshot toolbar with every option. For one window, press ⇧⌘4, then Space, and click the window. Add ⌃ (Control) to any of them to copy the screenshot to the clipboard instead of saving a file.
Screenshots are saved to your Desktop as PNG files. Here's every shortcut, plus the modifier keys most people never find.
The cheat sheet
| Shortcut | What it captures | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|
| ⇧⌘3 | The whole screen (each display, if you have several) | Desktop |
| ⇧⌘4 | An area you drag over | Desktop |
| ⇧⌘4, then Space | One window or menu you click | Desktop |
| ⇧⌘5 | Opens the toolbar: screenshots, recordings and options | Your choice |
| ⌃⇧⌘3 | The whole screen | Clipboard |
| ⌃⇧⌘4 | An area you drag over | Clipboard |
| ⌃⇧⌘4, then Space | One window | Clipboard |
| ⇧⌘6 | The Touch Bar, on Macs that have one | Desktop |
| Esc | Cancels a screenshot in progress | — |
⇧⌘3: the whole screen
Press ⇧⌘3. You hear a camera shutter (if sound is on) and a thumbnail appears in the bottom-right corner. Click it to mark it up, or leave it and it's saved to the Desktop.
With more than one display, you get one file per display.
⇧⌘4: part of the screen
Press ⇧⌘4. The pointer becomes a crosshair. Drag over the area you want and let go to take the screenshot. Press Esc before letting go to cancel.
The hidden keys while you drag
These work while you're still holding the mouse or trackpad button down:
| Hold | Effect |
|---|---|
| Shift | Locks the height or the width, so you can stretch one side only |
| Option | Resizes the selection from its center |
| Space | Moves the whole selection without changing its size |
They're ideal for getting a tight, even crop on the first try.
⇧⌘4 then Space: one window
Press ⇧⌘4, then press Space. The crosshair turns into a camera, and the window under it turns blue. Click to capture that window, with its shadow, on a transparent background.
- Hold Option while you click to leave the shadow out.
- It also works on menus, the Dock and the menu bar.
⇧⌘5: the screenshot toolbar
⇧⌘5 opens a toolbar at the bottom of the screen with buttons for:
- Capture Entire Screen, Capture Selected Window and Capture Selected Portion
- Record Entire Screen, Record Selected Portion and, on macOS 26 Tahoe and later, Record Selected Window
- Options: where to save, a 5- or 10-second timer, show the floating thumbnail, remember the last selection, and show the mouse pointer
Use it when you need the timer, for example to capture a menu that closes when you press a key, or when you want to change where screenshots are saved. Screen recording has its own guide: how to screen record on Mac.
Change where screenshots are saved
- Press ⇧⌘5 and click Options.
- Under Save to, choose Desktop, Documents, Clipboard, Mail, Messages, Preview or Other Location.
The choice sticks for every shortcut from then on. To stop screenshots cluttering the Desktop, make a Screenshots folder and pick it with Other Location.
Change or turn off the shortcuts
- Open System Settings > Keyboard.
- Click Keyboard Shortcuts, then choose Screenshots in the sidebar.
- Double-click a shortcut and press a new key combination, or uncheck it to turn it off.
Turning a shortcut off is useful when another app wants the same keys, for example a screenshot app that you'd like on ⇧⌘4.
After the screenshot: mark up, crop, share
Click the thumbnail that appears after any screenshot to open Markup: crop, draw, add text, shapes, a signature or arrows, then click Done. The full walkthrough, including how to hide private details since macOS has no blur tool, is in how to annotate a screenshot on Mac.
What the shortcuts can't do
The built-in shortcuts capture exactly what's on screen, and that covers most needs. A few jobs need more:
- A whole long page: macOS has no scrolling screenshot. See how to take a scrolling screenshot on Mac.
- Copying the text in an image: Live Text works in many apps. For any part of the screen, see how to copy text from screen on Mac.
- Blurring private details: Markup has no blur or pixelate.
- A polished look: backgrounds, padding and rounded corners for sharing on social or in docs.
Smooth Recorder puts all of this on one shortcut. Press ⌥1, pick an area, a window or the screen, then press Return for a screenshot, S for a scrolling capture or T to copy the text. Screenshots open in an editor with arrows, numbered steps, blur and pixelate, backgrounds and 3D tilt, and Smart Redact finds emails, phone numbers, links, card numbers, API keys and passwords, IP addresses, money amounts and faces and covers them for you. Hide them in one click, and Show puts them back.