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Method 3: Take a Screenshot of a Window
Step 1. Open the required window
Open the window that you need to capture with a screenshot. Even if there are multiple windows open on your screen, it doesn’t matter. Just be sure the one you need is among them.
Step 2. Push Command + Shift + 4 and hit Spacebar
Like the selection techniques mentioned in the previous method, this one also requires you to first push the “Command + Shift + 4” keys. When the crosshair reticle appears, press the “Spacebar”.
Once you hit the “Spacebar”, the crosshair will change to a camera icon. Hover the camera over the window and it will become highlighted.
If your window is hidden by a larger window, press “Command + Tab” to toggle between the windows. Bring your window to the forefront, place the camera icon on the window and click the mouse button. You will hear a camera shutter sound, if the sound is not on mute, indicating the screenshot is captured.
Step 3. The screenshot is saved
Your screenshot is stored on the desktop with the filename ‘Screenshot [date] at [time]’ and the file type as PNG.
Step 4. Use the screenshot
Now you are free to use the screenshot as needed. By default, the screenshot will open in the Preview application from where you can copy it and paste it in the desired location. You can open the file directly or drag it into the application window.
Copy screenshot of window to clipboard
Like all the previous methods, you can copy the screenshot of a window directly in a clipboard to be used in a picture compatible application instead of saving it as a file.
1. Press Command + Control + Shift + 4 and then Spacebar
Press the keyboard shortcut “Command + Control + Shift + 4”. As soon as the mouse pointer turns to crosshairs, press the “Spacebar”. The crosshair reticle will turn into a camera icon. Hover the camera over the desired window and it will become highlighted.
If your window is hidden by a larger window, press “Command + Tab” to toggle between the windows. Bring your window to the forefront, place the camera icon on the window and click the mouse button.
You will hear a camera shutter sound if the sound is not on mute. It will indicate that the screenshot has been taken and saved on the clipboard.
2. Use the screenshot
Open an application that is compatible with pictures like a text or picture editor application. Inside the application window, right-click on the screen and select “Paste” from the drop-down menu or press Command + V to paste in the screenshot.
Method 4: Take a Screenshot via Grab Application
Step 1. Go to Applications
Click on the “Go” tab in the Menu bar and select the “Applications” option from the drop-down menu.
Step 2. Go to Utilities
In the “Applications” window, double click on “Utilities” folder.
Step 3. Double click on Grab application
Inside “Utilities”, double click on the “Grab” application.
Step 4. Take the screenshot
a) Capture a selected portion
Click on the “Capture” tab in the Menu bar and choose the “Selection” option in the drop-down menu, or simply press the keyboard shortcut “Command + Shift + A”.
A dialog box will appear on the screen asking you to make a selection. Click and hold the mouse button to make the selection.
As you release the mouse button, the selected area will be captured excluding the dialog box.
b) Capture a window
Click on the “Capture” tab in the Menu bar and choose the “Window” option in the drop-down menu, or simply press the keyboard shortcut “Command + Shift + W”.
Click the “Choose Window” button in the dialog box that appears on the screen.
Click on the desired window and it will be captured, excluding the dialog box.
c) Capture the entire screen
Click on the “Capture” tab in the Menu bar and choose the “Screen” option in the drop-down menu, or simply press the keyboard shortcut “Command + Z”.
A dialog box will appear on the screen asking you to click outside the box. As soon as you click outside the box, the entire screen (excluding the box) will be captured.
d) Timed capture
Sometimes, you need to show an activity on the screen, but the keyboard shortcuts are involved in some other activity in that application. In this case, you can use the timed capture option.
Click on the “Capture” tab in the Menu bar and choose the “Timed Screen” option in the drop-down menu, or simply press the keyboard shortcut “Command+ Shift + Z”.
Click the “Start Timer” button in the dialog box that appears.
After 10 seconds, your screen will be captured as it is, excluding the dialog box. So adjust whatever you need to be captured within 10 seconds.
Step 5. Save the screenshot
As soon as you capture a screenshot in any form as mentioned in the previous step, your screenshot will display in an untitled window that you need to save. Click on “File” in the Menu bar and select “Save” from the drop-down menu.
In the “Save As” box, type the name of the file. Select the location where you want to store it. Now click the “Save” button. The Grab application does not automatically save the screenshot like other methods, and another difference is that Grab saves the screenshot in TIFF format by default.
If you wish to change the format, open the Preview application and open the “File” drop-down menu. Select “New from Clipboard”. Your last screenshot is saved in the clipboard by default.
Save the screenshot in Preview by going to “File” on the Menu bar and selecting “Save”.
Determine the name and location of the screenshot as well as the format.Now click the“Save” button.
Additional Tips:
- Apps designed to display copy-protected subject matter may prohibit taking screenshots of the contents of their window.
- Clipboard is a virtual space where all the captured/ copied items are stored temporarily until they are pasted or used in an application.
- There is no direct method to take a screenshot of the log-in screen before the latest update of Mac OS X (El Capitan).