Screen Capture On Mac Using Windows Keyboard

Jan 26, 2015 Thankfully, Apple accounted for this issue by mapping the traditional Windows Print Screen key to a keyboard shortcut. With the default Apple keyboard found on the MacBooks or the Apple Wireless Keyboard, you can use the following shortcut combinations to capture Windows screenshots to the clipboard.

The first and most obvious is that a Mac keyboard doesn't have a Windows key. More accurately, it doesn't have a key with the Windows symbol on it, but the one marked command or cmd acts as one.
To capture a portion of the screen, do the following: Press Command-Shift-4 to change a pointer to.
If you go to System Preferences and under Keyboard you can set up the shortcut for screenshot keys however you want. The defaults will be the same as on a Mac keyboard except the Command (apple) key will be the Windows key. So normal full screen screenshot would be Windows+Shift+3.

There are four ways to take a screenshot on a Mac, and all of them can be done with easy keyboard shortcuts.
If you press Shift + Command + 5 on your Mac's keyboard, you'll open the screenshot menu, which lets you take screenshots and videos, as well as customize your settings.
Pressing Shift + Command + 4 will let you take a quick screenshot anywhere on your screen, while Shift + Command + 3 will capture the entire screen at once.
If you have a MacBook with a Touch Bar, you can use Shift + Command + 6 to take a screenshot of the Touch Bar.
Visit Business Insider's Tech Reference library for more stories.

If you see something great online, it's only natural that you'll want to share it with others. Obviously you could send a link, but what if you only want to point out a specific section or image?

This is where screenshots come in. You can take high quality screenshots on any Mac computer, and then edit or share them however you like. They'll automatically be titled 'Screen Shot,' followed by the date and time you took them.

If you've bought or updated your Mac since 2018, you even have access to the advanced screenshot menu, which will let you take videos of your screen too.

Best of all, taking screenshots on a Mac only takes a single keyboard shortcut. Which shortcut you use, though, depends on how you want to take the picture.

Here's four ways to take screenshots on a Mac.

How to screenshot on a Mac

Every method for screenshotting on a Mac uses the Shift, Command, and number keys. In short:

Shift + Command + 3 takes a screenshot of the entire screen.
Shift + Command + 4 lets you highlight a specific part of the screen to capture.
Shift + Command + 5 opens the screenshot menu, which lets you do both of the above, as well as record videos and edit your screenshot options.
Shift + Command + 6 takes a screenshot of the Touch Bar, if your Mac has one.

We'll go over all of them below, starting with the most widely applicable method: the screenshot menu.

Taking a screenshot with the screenshot menu

The screenshot menu was introduced in MacOS Mojave, the big 2018 update — if you've bought or updated your Mac since then, there's a very good chance you have it.

To open this menu, press Shift + Command + 5. A small bar will appear at the bottom of the screen.

The three icons on the left will let you take a screenshot of the entire screen, a specific window, or a highlighted section, respectively. The next two icons to the right will let you record a video of the entire screen, or just a highlighted section.

The 'Capture' button on the far right will take the screenshot, or begin recording the video.

There's also a menu labeled 'Options.' This menu lets you choose where to save the screenshot or video, how much time you want between pressing 'Capture' and the screenshot or video being taken, and more.

Of note in this menu is the 'Show Floating Thumbnail' option, which is turned on by default. When this is enabled, after you take a screenshot, a tiny thumbnail of it will appear in the bottom-right corner of the screen. The screenshot won't be saved to your computer until this thumbnail disappears after a few seconds.

However, you can click this thumbnail before it disappears to open the screenshot in a new window. In this window, you can draw or type on it, crop it, share it via your Apple ID account, or delete it.

Taking a screenshot of a highlighted section or window

If you want to take a quick screenshot without going through the screenshot menu, you can use this shortcut.

When you press Shift + Command + 4, your mouse cursor will turn into a crosshair. You can then click and drag this crosshair across the screen to create a highlighted box — as soon as you let go of the mouse, your Mac will screenshot everything in the box.

But this isn't all you can do with this shortcut.

If you press Shift + Command + 4, and then press the spacebar, your crosshair will turn into a camera icon. You can then click on any open window to take a screenshot of that window — when the screenshot is saved, it'll have a gray border around it.

If you drag the crosshair to create a highlighted box, and then press and hold the spacebar, it'll lock the box so it can't change size. You can then drag the box anywhere on the screen. Just release the spacebar to take your screenshot.

Similarly, if you drag to create a highlighted box and then press and hold the Shift key, you can adjust solely the height or width of the box. Move your mouse up or down to adjust the height, and left or right to adjust the width. Let go of the mouse to take the screenshot.

Taking a screenshot of the entire screen

Pressing Shift + Command + 3 will immediately take a screenshot of your entire screen. If you're using multiple monitors, it'll take and save screenshots of every monitor.

Note that unless you enable it in the screenshot menu, this won't capture your mouse cursor. And if you have the floating thumbnail option enabled, taking screenshots in quick succession will capture the floating thumbnail in the corner, too.

Taking a screenshot of the Touch Bar

Not all Mac computers have the Touch Bar, a long but thin touch screen built into the keyboard. But if your MacBook does have one, you likely know how useful it can be.

If there's something on your Touch Bar that you'd like to show others, you can screenshot it by pressing Shift + Command + 6. This will immediately capture everything on your Touch Bar.

If your Mac doesn't have a Touch Bar, pressing this won't do anything.

Maya Kachroo-Levine contributed to an earlier version of this article.

Related coverage from Tech Reference:

There may be times when you need to take a screenshot on your Mac. You might have a software bug to report, an important pop-up, threaded web conversations, or even just a payment receipt you need for your records.

There are several ways to take a screenshot on a Mac computer running OS X or MacOS operating systems. You can

Take a screenshot on Mac with Grab Utility.
Use keyboard shortcuts to grab a screenshot.
Use third-party applications to take your screenshot.

Keep in mind, you can also record your screen instead of taking a picture by using the QuickTime application.

How to take a screenshot on Mac with Grab Utility

The most common way to take a screenshot on a Mac is by using the built-in Grab application. This application can be found within your Utility folder located inside Finder and Launchpad.

Click on Finder or Launchpad to locate the Utility folder.
Click on Finder.
Select Applications from the sidebar.
Locate and double-click the Utilities folder to open it.
Click on Launchpad and then click again on the Utilitiesbubble to open it.
Locate the Grab icon inside the Utility folder/bubble and launch the application.

Using the grab application is easy. There is no “windowed” user interface for this application. It is completely controlled from the MacOS or OS X menu bar and/or keyboard shortcuts.

Using the grab application, you can choose four different types of screenshots.

Selection: This option allows you to highlight the desired area you want to capture. Select Selection or press Shift+Command+A on your keyboard. Click and drag the highlighted box to make your selection.
Window: The Window option allows you to choose a specific window to capture. Select Window or press Shift+Command+W. Click on the desired window.
Screen: Choosing the Screen selection lets you to capture the whole screen. Select Screen or press Command+Z. Click anywhere on the screen.
Timed Screen: The Timed Screen choice captures the whole screen on a ten-second delay. Select Timed Screen or press Shift+Command+Z. Click anywhere on the screen to start the timer.

Choose the option that works best for your needs. Once you have taken the screenshot, a pop-up will appear to show you a preview of your shot. When you close the preview, your Mac will prompt you to save your image. If you are happy with the results, label the image, select a save destination, and click on the Save button. Otherwise, click Don’t Save and try again.

Screen Capture On Mac Using Windows Keyboard

Grab saves in .tiff format automatically. If you need to convert the image into a friendlier format, you will have to do so with another application.

How to take a screenshot on a Mac using keyboard shortcuts

If you do not want to deal with launching the Grab application or converting your images from .tiff to formats such as .png or .jpeg, then you are in luck. Mac has offered a way to take screenshots with keyboard shortcuts for decades now. This little-known feature is easy to use.

Screen: Press Shift+Command+3 and a .png of the entire screen will automatically save to your desktop.
Selection: Press Shift+Command+4, click and drag curser to make your selection. Press Escape (esc) to cancel. A .png of your selection will be waiting on your desktop.
Window:Press Shift+Command+4 and the spacebar. Select desired window. Press Spacebar again to return back to selection mode or esc to cancel. A .png of the selected window will be saved to your desktop.

If you are using a PC keyboard, the following commands are as follows:

Control is the Ctrl key.
Option is the Alt key.
The button with the Windows logo is the Command key.

Newer versions of Mac OS or OS X label the saved file as “Screen Shot” followed by the date and time. Older versions of Mac OS or OS X label the saved file as “Image” followed by a number, but only if more than one file labeled “Image” is located on your desktop.

How to take a screenshot on a Mac using third-party applications

There are numerous applications available for taking screenshots. You can scour the web or look inside the Mac App Store for any screenshot application that might appeal to you.

Click on the App Store located on the MacOS and OS X dock to launch the application.
Type the word screenshot in the search box and hit enter.

Be aware that many screenshot applications do cost money. Check to see the cost before you download. If you do decide to download an application that costs money and you are not happy with it, you must remove it promptly in order to receive a refund.

Keep in mind, there are countless applications to try and using them will likely differ from the MacOS and OS X native process.

Lightshot, Apowersoft Screenshot, and Cloud App, are the top-rated applications in this category.

How to record your screen on a Mac using the QuickTime application

To record your screen instead of taking a photo, simply launch the Quickytime.app from Finder or Launchpad and press Control+Command+N on your keyboard.

Mac Screenshot Keyboard Shortcut

When the black box appears labeled “Screen Recording,” click on the Record button.
Follow the on-screen instructions to finish recording your screen.

Screen Capture On Mac Using Windows Keyboards

If you are a diehard Apple fan and also own iOS devices, you can take screenshots with them by pressing the Home and Lock buttons at the same time. The image will be saved to your camera roll and you can access it through the Photos app.