Printscreen on macbook air. How to take a screenshot on a mac windows

Not every Makovod knows how to take a screenshot on a Mac! Let's talk today about how to take a screenshot in MacOS in various ways, with examples!

If you have worked for Windows for many years and switched to Mac OS, then you will be pleasantly surprised at how advanced the standard tools in this operating system are when creating screenshots from the screen of your iMac or MacBook.

How to take a screenshot of the entire screen in MacOS?

Shift-Command (⌘)-3

How to take a screenshot of a selected part of the screen in MacOS?

Press three keys at the same time Shift-Command (⌘)-4
After that, a cross will appear instead of the cursor, select the necessary part from the upper left to the lower right, releasing your hand from the mouse or trackpad.
The finished screenshot will be on the desktop in PNG image format.

How to take a screenshot of a window or menu in MacOS?

Press three keys at the same time Shift-Command (⌘)-4, when a cross appears instead of the cursor, press Space
Highlight the desired window or menu in Mac OS, click on the mouse or trackpad to take a screenshot.

The finished screenshot will be on the desktop in PNG image format.

Screenshot of Touch Bar on Macbook

Press three keys at the same time Shift-Command (⌘)-6. The finished screenshot will be on the desktop.

Change screenshot save format from PNG to JPG on Mac

How to remove shadow and transparent area in screenshot?

When creating a screenshot Shift-Command (⌘)-4 there will be a transparent area with a shadow. If you want to remove it, then open a terminal and run two commands:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture disable-shadow -bool true killall SystemUIServer

In order to return the shadow, also run 2 commands in the terminal:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture disable-shadow -bool false killall SystemUIServer

Do you have any further questions? Write them in the comments about what you did or vice versa!

That's all! Read more articles and instructions in the section. Stay with the site, it will be even more interesting!

Mac OS provides several ways to quickly and easily take a screenshot. These methods do not require the installation of third-party programs, they are available by default and work oniMac, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro.

Full Screen Image

Let's figure out how to take a screen on a macbook. So desktop. You can save its image on a Mac with a simple keyboard shortcut: Command + Shift + 3. Sometimes new users have trouble finding the shift key. Shift is the vertical arrow key that sits directly above the Fn key.

The fact that your actions were crowned with success will be notified by a sound signal in the form of a camera click. The screenshot file itself will be saved to the desktop and will be in PNG format. It is easy to find it by the name "Screenshot", next to which will be the date and time at which the screenshot was taken.

Screenshot of a screen area

If you need to capture not the entire screen, but a separate part of it, then taking a full picture and then cropping the unnecessary is too confusing. It is better to use the area snapshot function, which is called by the keyboard shortcut Command + Shift + 4.

After clicking, the mouse cursor will take the form of a cross with coordinate numbers. By holding the left mouse button, capture the desired area of ​​the screen. Next to the changed cursor, you will see the size of the selected area in pixels.

As soon as you remove your finger from the mouse button, the selected part of the screen will be saved and will lie on the same desktop.

Screenshot of a separate window

To capture the window of a particular program or application, it is not necessary to fiddle with the selection. To do this, repeat the keyboard shortcut for the previous method - Command + Shift + 4. Immediately after the combination, click on the “Space”.

The cursor will change once again - it will look like a camera. Move the cursor to the window you need (its color highlighting will become a signal of success), and then click the mouse again - again the left button. The image of the selected window will be sent directly to the desktop.

How to save a screenshot to the clipboard

Often, you no longer need a screenshot after sending it. In this case, in order to save time on deleting them and not clutter up the desktop, you should use the print screen function built into the OS, which will not be saved on the hard drive, but will go straight to the RAM - the clipboard.

To do this, you need to add one more key to the combinations listed above - Ctrl:

  • to take a screenshot of the entire screen to the clipboard - Command + Shift + Ctrl + 3;
  • for a screenshot of a screen area to the clipboard - Command + Shift + Ctrl + 4;
  • for a screenshot of a specific window to the clipboard - Command + Shift + Ctrl + 4 and then "Space".

Screenshot utility

Keyboard shortcuts aren't the only way to take screenshots. On Mac OS, you can use a special utility designed to create screenshots, which is called "Screenshot".This utility is located in the "Programs" section. You can also use Spotlight and find it there.

In the program window that opens, select one of the items, guided by which picture you want to save:


After clicking on the selected item, the system will notify you that you need to click on any area outside the notification window to take a screenshot. Further, the finished screenshot will appear directly in the utility window, from where it can be saved to the location you need. This utility has a small additional function - it fixes the position of the cursor on the screenshot, which is hidden by default.

How to save screenshots to another location

How to take a screenshot on a macbook air or other model is not the only problem. Ready-made screenshots can be useful in the future, and keeping them on the desktop is not very convenient, especially if there are a lot of images. Therefore, it is better to reassign the save location to a different folder.

You can do this in the following way:

  1. Choose a folder where your future screenshots will be stored, or create a new one.
  2. Enter command defaults write com.apple.screencapture location folder_path in terminal.
  3. It is not necessary to bother with indicating the full path to the desired folder, you can find it on your computer and drag the icon directly to the terminal, so the path will be written automatically.
  4. Run another command in the terminal - killall SystemUIServer.

After that, all new screenshots on Macbook will be saved to the location you specified.

I bought a MacBook: how to take a screenshot on a MacBook?

over 1 year ago

We are starting a new column called "I bought a MacBook: what to do next?". If you just switched from Windows to Mac and don't know how to do this or that action, this section will be your beacon in the night.


Working under Windows, I always took screenshots the old fashioned way. I pressed PrintScreen and inserted the image into Paint, after which I saved the file. When I needed to take a screenshot on a MacBook, I found that the PrintScreen key on the laptop keyboard simply did not exist.

How to take a screenshot on a Macbook? Use one of the following options:

1. Take a screenshot of the entire screen

Command: Command (⌘) + Shift + 3.

You will hear the sound of the camera shutter. A screenshot of the entire screen will appear on the desktop.

Here's what happens:

2. Take a screenshot of part of the screen

Command: Command (⌘) + Shift + 4 then trackpad.

In this case, the cursor will take the form of a crosshair with coordinates. You need to move the cursor to the part of the screen that you want to take a picture of. Then hold down the trackpad and drag the cursor to the end of the part of the screen you want. As soon as you release your finger from the trackpad, the file with the captured area will be saved to the desktop:

3. Take a screenshot of a separate window with a white background

Command: Command (⌘) + Shift + 4, then Space, then trackpad.

This is a branded screenshot of the MacBook. As in the previous situation, the cursor will take the form of a crosshair. After that, place the cursor on the window you want to take a screenshot of. Press the spacebar - the crosshair will turn into a camera icon. Now click on the trackpad. Voila! Screenshot on the desktop.

Within each operating system, it is possible to capture images from the screen. This function is useful when the user needs to quickly capture information from the display and save it. Thanks to screenshots, you can avoid copying information from the site, taking pictures of the screen, and so on.

Let's figure out how to take a screenshot on a MacBook using all sorts of methods. The methods are very different from those that are built into the Windows operating system, so this material will be extremely useful for beginners.

Shooting Options

Depending on the task set by the user, you can take a screenshot on a MacBook in the following areas:

  • screenshot of the entire desktop;
  • screenshot of the selected part;
  • snapshot of a separate window;
  • screenshot of the selected menu;
  • Screenshot from the Touch Bar.

As you can see, the variability is very different from Windows, in which such a choice can only be achieved with the help of third-party programs.

How to take a screenshot on a Macbook Air?

On all devices that run the Mac OS operating system, the methods are no different. Therefore, the instruction is suitable, but even for iMac monoblocks. Let's figure out how to take a photo of the entire screen on a MacBook:

  • find the Shift, Command and number 4 keys on the device's keyboard;
  • hold them down at the same time;
  • the finished desktop frame will be automatically saved. It can be found among other files on the desktop in PNG format. The image will contain all the windows that were on the screen at the time of pressing the specified keys.

Snapshot of selected part

If you do not need a screenshot of the entire MacBook screen, then this method will suit you. With it, you can manually select an area of ​​the screen and capture it as a screenshot. To do this, follow these steps:

  • hold down the Shift + Command keys and the number 4 on the keyboard at the same time;
  • your cursor will change to a crosshair;
  • move the cursor to one of the corners of the future image and hold down the mouse button (touchpad);
  • drag the cursor over the entire area that you want to capture;
  • release the mouse button;
  • The screenshot will be automatically saved to your desktop in PNG format.

To cancel the selected area, you just need to hold ESC on the MacBook keyboard.

How to make a printscreen on a Macbook for a separate window?

If you do not want to manually select an area of ​​a specific window, then use the following method:

  • the display will again show a crosshair instead of a cursor;
  • now press the spacebar;
  • the crosshair will change to a camera icon;
  • hover over the required window;
  • right-click or touchpad;
  • The file will be saved to your desktop in PNG format.

You can also cancel the creation of the window image on the MacBook with the ESC button.

Menu snapshot

This method is very similar to the previous two. To take a screenshot on a MacBook within a single menu, follow these steps in order:

  • hold down Shift+Command+4;
  • then you can manually select the menu area with a crosshair, or click on the space bar;
  • in the second case, click the camera icon on the required menu area.

You can take a screenshot on a Mac with the Touch Bar using the combination Shift + Command + 6.

By default, all screenshots on a MacBook are saved to the desktop.

In order not to clutter up the desktop, but immediately add a picture to the clipboard, in addition to the indicated combinations, hold down Control on the keyboard. Keep in mind that not all programs allow you to take screenshots of their windows. You can open images using the standard View utility, Safari, as well as through third-party applications from the App Store designed to view and edit images.

Making a screenshot without a keyboard

If for some reason you do not want to use hotkeys, you can always use a special Mac OS utility.

From the Launchpad/Others menu, select the Screenshot utility. It provides similar functionality from its menu.

It is also convenient to use the Spotlight menu to search for a program, press the Command + Space key combination

If you, like millions of people around the world, are the happy owner of a Macbook Air, then you probably noticed that the device does not have the Print Scrn button that is familiar to everyone, which allows you to take a screenshot of the screen. Of course, users have a question, how to take a picture of the screen? It is this topic that this review is devoted to, in which I will describe several ways that will allow you to take a screenshot on the MacBook Air.

As is the case with computers based on the Windows operating system, there are several ways to take a screen on a MacBook, the easiest of them is to simultaneously press the "Command" - "Shift" - "3" keys. This will capture the entire screen, but in most cases, the user only needs to capture a certain part of the image, for this you will have to use alternative methods.

The same keyboard shortcut, only at the end instead of a triple, four, will allow you to select the necessary area of ​​​​the picture, and if you add a space here, you can transfer the picture to a file. To copy the screenshot to the clipboard, for further pasting, the Ctrl key, also added to the initial combination, will help.

Another method for taking screenshots on the MacBook Air is through special utilities, software created specifically for this purpose. "Grab" is one of the standard programs from Apple, which has extensive functionality, including allowing you to capture an image from the screen, crop it and save it in the required format. The interface of this software is quite simple, so there should be no difficulties with settings and use.

Although the Mac is not as easy to use as computers running the Windows OS, taking a screenshot of the screen on it is not so difficult, these tips will help you deal with this process.