To take a screenshot on a Mac, you have several options depending on what you want to capture:

Capture the Entire Screen

• Press Shift + Command (⌘) + 3 simultaneously.
• The screenshot will be saved automatically to your desktop as a PNG file

Capture a Portion of the Screen

• Press Shift + Command (⌘) + 4.
• Your cursor will turn into a crosshair.
• Click and drag to select the area you want to capture.
• Release the mouse or trackpad button to take the screenshot.
• The image saves to your desktop

Capture a Specific Window or Menu

• Press Shift + Command (⌘) + 4 , then press the Space bar.
• The cursor changes to a camera icon.
• Click the window or menu you want to capture.
• The screenshot will be saved to your desktop.
• To exclude the window's shadow, hold the Option key while clicking

Use the Screenshot App (macOS Mojave and later)

• Press Shift + Command (⌘) + 5 to open the Screenshot toolbar.
• Choose to capture the entire screen, a window, or a selected portion.
• You can also record your screen here.
• Options allow you to set a timer, choose where to save the file, and show the mouse pointer

Screenshots typically appear as thumbnail previews briefly in the corner of your screen, allowing quick editing or sharing before they are saved

. These methods cover all common screenshot needs on a Mac.