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On a Macbook, instead of pressing the Print Screen button as on Windows, you'll need to use a combination of shortcut keys to perform a specific screen capture operation, depending on the exact screen capture action you want.
This is much easier, here are 6 'unique' options to perform screen capture operations on a Macbook.
How to Capture and Save Screenshots as a Single File on Mac OS X?
The basic function of capturing window or screen images on Mac OS X is to capture the entire screen along with all open windows and running applications, then save it as a single file on the Mac computer screen. Each shortcut will use a combination of Command and Shift keys as the basis for execution, followed by another key or keys:
- Command + Shift + 3: captures the entire screen (or screens if multiple) and saves it as a file on the desktop screen.
- Command + Shift + 4:
- Command + Shift + 4, press Spacebar, then click to select a window: captures only that specific window.
Because this approach captures screen images on the desktop screen and saves them as a single file, it eliminates unnecessary steps like pasting the screenshot into another application and then saving manually. If you don't want to save the file on the desktop screen, you can copy it to the clipboard and then paste it anywhere just like on the Windows operating system.
How to Capture and Save Screenshots to Clipboard on Mac?
Directly saving screenshots to the clipboard is similar to the Print Screen feature on Windows operating systems. If you want to perform a similar Print Screen function on Mac, storing the image in the clipboard so you can paste it into any application or document, below are the commands you'll want to use instead:
- Command + Control + Shift + 3 : captures the entire screen and saves directly to the clipboard for pasting anywhere you want.
- Command + Control + Shift + 4, then select an area : captures a selected area of the screen using a rectangular drawing box and saves it to the clipboard for pasting anywhere you want.
- Command + Control + Shift + 4, press Spacebar, then click to select a window: captures a window screen image and copies it to the clipboard for pasting.
Note that for capturing screenshots on older generation Mac keyboards, the Command key is accompanied by the Apple logo, but on newer Macbook keyboards, it's simply the key labeled “command”.
The Command key is located next to the Spacebar. The Command + Control + Shift + 3 key combination on a standard Apple keyboard is equivalent to Print Screen on Windows.
One final note here regarding multiple monitors, screen captures to copy the entire screen will capture all monitors if the Mac is using multiple monitors.
This cannot be applied with the Rectangular drawn box method, or selecting to capture a specific window rather than the entire screen.
The Command + Shift + 3 shortcut captures the screen and saves it as a file on the Mac screen, while Command + Control + Shift + 3 captures the screen and saves it to the clipboard similar to Windows functions. Remembering this difference is important for better usage in various scenarios.
This article aims to support beginners transitioning to the Mac platform, especially those familiar with Windows. It's not surprising that many will ask: “Why doesn't Mac have a Print Screen button?”. The simple answer is that Mac offers more powerful options, far beyond the single-key option on the keyboard.
Although the term 'printing the screen' originated from the Windows computer world, it still applies to Mac OS even though technically this is incorrect.
The good news is that once you learn how to capture screenshots on a Macbook using shortcuts, you'll quickly understand why there's no need for additional complex keys, and you'll also see the benefits of using multiple options, controlling, and saving screen images on Mac.
When using a Macbook, similar to Windows, forgetting your login password is quite normal. If you encounter a situation where you forget your password on a Macbook, you can refer to the article How to Recover Macbook Password to find the best solution.
Just like Windows, you can change the wallpaper on your Macbook to replace it with new, beautiful images. Learn how to change the Macbook wallpaper in detail by following the articles available on Mytour.
