How to Print Screen on a Mac.
Pressing Windows + Print Screen is one of the fastest ways to take a screenshot on Windows computers. Mac and desktop keyboards do not have a Print Screen key. This explains why some people who recently switched from Windows are not comfortable taking screenshots on a Mac.
Read : How to Open the Emoji Keyboard on macOS
On macOS, there are also several ways to take screenshots of your Mac. You can use the touchpad or keyboard shortcuts. What’s more, you can create a makeshift Print Screen key on your Mac. We’ll also share some tips and tricks for taking screenshots like a pro on Mac.
Convert a Function Key to Print Screen Key
By assigning the Print Screen function to a function key, you can easily take screenshots on your Mac with a single keystroke.
Go to System Preferences and select Keyboard.
Click the Shortcuts tab and select Screenshots from the sidebar.
Continue to the next step to change any keyboard shortcuts for screen capture to a function key.
Shift + Command + 3 is the default keyboard shortcut for capturing the entire screen on Mac. To change the keyboard shortcut, select the current keyboard shortcut next to the description.
Enter the new key (or key combination) you want to assign to the action. In this case, press any of the 12 function keys (F1-F12) on your keyboard.
The selected function key becomes the active shortcut to capture the entire desktop screen on your Mac, which is equivalent to using “Print Screen” on Windows devices.
You can change or reconfigure all seven (7) screen capture options to use a unique function key. This is much easier and faster than using keyboard shortcuts.
We recommend changing the shortcut that launches the macOS Screenshot tool – pressing a function key is much faster than using keyboard shortcuts.
On the Screenshots menu page, select the keyboard shortcut next to the Screenshot and Record options and press F2 (or your preferred function key) in the dialog box.
When you press the assigned function key anywhere on your Mac, a menu of screenshots appears on the screen. You can then start taking personalized screenshots of your Mac.
We’ll look at alternative ways to access the Screenshot tool and explain what each icon does. But before that, learn how to reset screenshot shortcuts to factory defaults.
Click the “Restore Defaults” button to undo all changes and revert all screenshot shortcuts to Apple presets.
Alternate Ways to Access Screenshot Menu
In addition to using keyboard shortcuts, you can also open the macOS screenshot menu from the launcher or touchpad.
Open Launchpad, expand the “Other” folder and select “Screenshot”.
Better yet, expand the Touch Bar and tap the camera icon.
The Mac Screenshot Tool/Menu
Starting from the left, the first icon in the Screen Capture toolbar is the Capture Entire Screen option. Select this icon if you want to capture everything on your Mac’s screen. Your Mac’s cursor becomes a camera icon. Move the camera icon using the trackpad and select anywhere on the display to take a screenshot.
Next up is the “Capture Selected Window” option. Takes a snapshot of an application, window, or menu bar. Select an icon, move the camera icon to the window/application/menu bar, and tap the trackpad or mouse button.
Then there’s the “Capture Selected Part” option, which captures part of your screen. Select the icon, resize the dotted rectangle above the part of the screen you want to capture, and select Capture.
The icons in the following sections represent screen recording options. To record your Mac full screen, select the first icon (Entire Screen Recording) and choose Record. Otherwise, select the second icon (“Record Selected Part”) to record the selected area of your Mac’s screen.
To stop screen recording, select the Stop Recording icon in the menu bar.
If your MacBook Pro has a Touch Bar, tap the Stop icon to stop screen recording.
Customize Mac Screenshots and Recording Settings
Apple allows users to customize how your Mac saves, manages, records, and takes screenshots and recordings. Let’s take a look at some of the customization options for the macOS screenshot tool.
Change where screenshots are stored
The default storage location for screenshots and screen recordings depends on your operating system. On some Mac computers, screenshots are automatically saved to your desktop. On macOS Monterey, the Screenshot tool opens screenshots and recordings in Preview by default.
The good thing is that you can always change where screenshots are stored whenever you want.
Open the Screenshot tool, select Options, and select your preferred location for saving screenshots under Save to.
Set delay timer
By default, the screenshot tool takes screenshots (and recordings) as soon as you select Capture or Record. If your Mac is running macOS Mojave or later, you can set a timer to delay recording by a few seconds.
Open the “Options” menu in the screenshot tool and select the duration of the delay in the “Timer” section.
Show/hide mouse pointer
Do you want screenshots and recordings to include mouse pointers and cursor clicks? Open the options menu for the screenshot app and check the “Show mouse clicks” box.
Show or hide floating thumbnail
When you save a screenshot or recording, macOS displays a thumbnail of the file in the lower right corner of your Mac screen for a few seconds. Select a thumbnail to annotate or edit the preview screenshot or trim the recording. You can also drag the thumbnail to another application or document before it is saved to your Mac.
If you don’t want the thumbnail, open the screenshot options and uncheck Show Floating Thumbnail.
Remember last choice
This option saves the last captured area of the screen. The next time you open the Screenshot tool, the previous screen area you took or recorded is automatically mapped.
Screenshot the Mac Way
There’s a lot you can do with the Screenshot tool and its output. Check out our tutorials on cropping Mac screenshots and converting screenshots (to PDF, JPG, TIFF, and more).
How to Print Screen on a Mac
How to Print Screen on a Mac