How to Snip on Mac: A Comprehensive Guide

Learning how to snip on Mac is easier than you might think. But, why would you need this small yet very useful trick? Well, there are situations when you want to capture a snippet, it could be an article, an interesting piece of report, a fact sheet or just a simple funny meme on the social media.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know to snip effectively on your Mac.

The Basics of Snipping on a Mac:

Before diving into the specifics and the step by step process to learn snipping on Mac, let’s cover some basics.

Built-in Screenshot Tools

macOS provides several ways to take screenshots using built-in features. These tools allow you to capture anything from a portion of your screen to the entire display.

Mac computers come with built-in tools for capturing screenshots, which are straightforward and good enough for most of the general stuff. These tools are flexible enough to capture anything from a portion of your screen to the entire screen display.

Third-Party Applications:

If you need more options or functionality like editing and ability to share the screenshots over the cloud, you also have to rely on some third-party applications. Some popular choices include Snagit, CleanShot X, and Skitch.

Using the Built-in Screenshot Tool to snip on Mac:

The built in snipping tool on Mac is developed with general use in mind. It is user friendly and versatile. Here’s the step by step process on how to snip on Mac using the built in screenshot tool on Mac.

Capturing the specific screen area on Mac:

• Press “Command (⌘) + Shift + 5” on your Mac keyboard to bring up a floating toolbar at the bottom of your screen with different screenshot options.
• To capture a specific portion of your Mac screen, click the “Capture Selected Portion” button on the toolbar.

• Now, “drag” to select the area you want to capture, then click “Capture” or press the Return.

Capturing the Entire Screen on Mac:

If you need to take a screenshot of the entire thing, just click the “Capture Entire Screen” button.

Once clicked, your entire Mac screen will be captured immediately and saved to the default location.

Capturing a Specific Window on Mac:

So often, you are working on multiple applications with separate windows at a time or in other cases, a single app may also have multiple windows. In such situation, snipping a specific window isn’t too difficult either.

• Just click the “Capture Selected Window” button on the screenshot toolbar.

• Next, “click the window” you wish to capture.

Advanced Snipping Techniques:

If you are comfortable snipping on Mac after learning the basics, you might be still be interested in exploring some advanced techniques for more efficient snipping.

Snipping on Mac using keyboard shortcuts:

Capturing screens on Mac using the keyboard short cut is more professional approach. Keyboard shortcuts can make taking screenshots on Mac even quicker. Here are a few useful keyboard screenshot shortcuts on Mac:

• “Command (⌘) + Shift + 3”: Captures the entire screen on your Mac.
• “Command (⌘) + Shift + 4”: To select/capture a portion of your Mac screen.
• “Command (⌘) + Shift + 4, then Space”: Capture a specific window, in case you are using multiple windows at a time.

Third-Party Snipping Tools For Mac:

Third party snipping tools for Mac which are specifically developed for improved functionality. They certainly provide more advance options as compared to the general purpose default screenshot tool that come built-in within the macOS.

Selecting the best snipping tool:

Each third party app for snipping on Mac has its strengths. There are hard and fast rules for choosing the best tool for taking screenshots on Mac. However, you need to consider small but important factors like editing capabilities, user friendliness and ease of use. Another important factor to consider is its ability to integrate with other tools on macOS.

Integration with Productivity Suites: A snipping tool’s ability to integrate with other productivity suites that work on Mac is vital. For instance, if your screenshot software works well with Microsoft Office or Workspace suites and it has the ability to directly insert captured images into documents or emails without leaving the tool, this will help you a lot.

Support for Cloud Storage: It can be a great help for you if third party snipping tools is compatible with a cloud-based storage service like Dropbox, Google Drive, or iCloud for the purpose of reforming the file management process. Any tool that can directly upload or sync over the cloud will simplify the the process of granting/controlling access and sharing screenshots across devices and platforms.

Compatibility with Design Software: If you have to work with design or image editing software like Adobe Photoshop, Sketch, etc. regularly, you can save a lot of time by selecting a snipping tool that supports exporting your files to these formats or directly opens in these applications directly.

File Format Options:  A good screenshot software has the flexibility of supporting multiple file formats, like the most commonly used formats, such as PNG, JPG, and PDF. This will ensure compatibility with other applications and systems. It will be easier to share and edit your screenshots files across different platforms.

Integration with Note-Taking Apps:

Note-taking applications like Evernote, Notion, or OneNote are famous on Mac. If screenshot tool is capable of working with these note taking applications, it will make it easier to organize and annotate screenshots.

Popular Third-Party screenshot tools for Mac:

• Snagit: known for strong editing features and it also supports video capture.
• CleanShot X: Comes with the cloud support in addition to the advanced editing tools.
• Skitch: It is great for annotation tasks and is also Known for its ease of use.

Screen Capture a video on Mac:

The screenshot toolbar that comes built-in with macOS is not just for taking screenshots, it can also screen record the videos on Mac.  There are situations where you need to record and share an issue on your Mac, create tutorials or record a screen video for other purposes.

To capture a screen video on Mac with the screenshot toolbar

• Press “Shift + Command + 5”, this will bring up “screenshot toolbar”
•  You will be able to find the screen recording icons on right side of the “screenshot toolbar”

• Just click “Record Entire Screen icon” to record full screen video

• To record a specific screen portion video, click “Record Selected Portion icon”
•  When you are don recording just click “Shift + Command + 5” again and then click the Stop icon
• Find the Screen recording video file on the default location

Taking a Screenshot with Touch Bar on MacBook:

Some of the MacBooks come with a touch bar, although this feature is discontinued in the most recent MacBooks. The touch bar can be used to take screenshot on MacBook.

• Tap on  the “screenshot button”, it will be similar to the camera option
• Now, click on the window you want to take screenshot
• Now, just click “capture”  option present on the “screenshot toolbar”
• A screenshot will be saved to the default location

How to take screenshot of the Touch Bar:

Very rarely, you might want to save and share all the items present on your touch with someone else. Just press “Shift + Command + 6”, this will save your touch pad image that you can share or keep it saved for some other purpose. 

Additional Tips for snipping on Mac:

Here are some handy ticks and tricks that you can learn and use for your comfort.

How to add the screenshot toolbar to the Touch Bar:

“Screen shot” icon is generally present on your MacBook if you have a MacBook with a touch bar. In case you don’t find it, you can bring it on with some simple steps.

• Open “System Preference” on your MacBook
• Find and click on “keyboard”
• Next, click on “customize control strip”, to open a popup
• find “screenshot icon” and drag it to the touch bar using the track pad
• Finally, just click the “done” button

Automating or Scheduling the snipping on Mac:

There are situations where you want to take a screenshot periodically to monitor your Mac Screen. You can easily set a fixed or periodic schedule to take automatic screenshots.

• To open the Screenshot tool, just press “Shift+Command+5”

• You will find a timer option in the Screenshot Toolbar options, “select the time interval”

How to change default location for saving screenshots on Mac?

The default location for storing screenshots on Mac is desktop. When you are taking screenshots regular, your desktop is soon going to turn into chaos. If some other person also uses your Mac, you wouldn’t like everything you capture to be seen by others, easily. Desktop is first thing visible to very body who logs in. Changing the default screenshot saving location is necessary. macOS has kept desktop as the default location just of the purposes of simplicity.

• Open “screenshot toolbar” on Mac by pressing “Shift + Command + 5”
• Now click on the “Options” to open a dropdown menu

• On the dropdown menu, find “Other Location”
• Now, “choose” preferred location
• Click on “Other location” option, if you want to choose a custom save location.

Changing the Default File Name for Screenshots:

If you have to share these screenshot with others, you would ideally want it make it more understandable. Even if you want to record them for future use, you would like them to be named in a way that makes sense to you in the future.

Troubleshooting Common Issues while snipping on Mac:

You can always run into hiccups on your computer while snipping. Here’s how to tackle some common issues with screenshots on a Mac.

Screenshot Not Saving:

If your screenshots are not saving, ensure that your Mac has sufficient storage space and check your screenshot settings to confirm where screenshots are being saved.

Dealing with Screen Capture Quality Issues:

If you notice quality issues with your screenshots, check your screen resolution settings and ensure that you’re using the correct screenshot mode.

Wrapping Up:

This guide on how to snip on Mac provides a detailed overview of screenshot capturing as well as screen recordings on a Mac using both built-in tools and third-party applications. Here is summary of what we have covered:

macOS includes built-in screenshot tools  which are enough to capture portions of the screen, the entire screen, or even  specific windows. Simplest command to bring on the default screen capturing too is “Command (⌘) + Shift + 5.”

If you want advanced features like editing the screenshots, capability to share them over the cloud and easy integration with other application, third-party tools like Snagit, CleanShot X, and Skitch are recommended.

Keyboard Shortcuts to bring on screenshot options:

• Use “Command (⌘) + Shift + 3” for the entire screen.
• Use “Command (⌘) + Shift + 4” for a selected portion.
• Use “Command (⌘) + Shift + 4”, then Space for a specific window.
• Use “Shift + Command + 5”, then choose between recording the entire screen or a selected portion.
• Use “Shift + Command + 6”, to take screenshot of your touch bar.

You can change the default save location for screenshots to avoid cluttering your Mac desktop.

Screenshot toolbar provides a timer option to schedule automatic screenshots.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Share on Facebook

Post on X

Save

Zeeshan Saghir

Zeeshan Saghir is a tech enthusiast and writer with a passion for exploring cutting-edge technology and sharing his insights with the world. With a background in MBA (IT) and over 13 years of experience in the field, Zeeshan specializes in testing and quality assurance, ensuring that software products meet the highest standards of performance and reliability.