Learn the simple keyboard shortcuts that engage the screenshot abilities of your Mac so you can give context to your issue in our existing correspondence.

Whole Screen

The most basic screenshot is the whole screen. Press Shift+Command+3. You’ll get a picture of the screen saved on the Desktop as a PNG image file with the date and time of the capture.

Selected Section

To capture a specific portion of the screen, press Shift+Command+4. The arrow cursor will change to crosshairs and you can click and drag to identify the area you want in your picture. As you drag, the cursor indicates the dimensions of the selection in pixels.

Specific Window

If your issue is with a particular application, you may want to capture a window without the areas around it. Press Shift+Command+4 and then tap the spacebar. The crosshair cursor will change to a camera.

As you mouse over various areas of the screen, you’ll see each window or other object become highlighted. This includes the Desktop, Dock, and Menu bar. Even if a window or area is covered by other windows, when you click it you’ll capture it alone.

Mojave Flexibility

If you’ve installed macOS Mojave, there is some additional functionality with taking screenshots. When you initiate a capture, a thumbnail of the screenshot will appear in the bottom right corner.

Click the thumbnail to immediately review, annotate, share, or delete the picture. Or, right-click it for a number of contextual choices.

Mojave also adds a new shortcut, Shift+Command+5, that opens a new Screenshot tool (replacing Grab), which provides an interactive overlay for choosing the screen capture or recording mode as well as several additional options.

If we have an existing email thread about your issue, please send me your screenshots in your reply email. It’s more difficult for me to review when you send a screenshot in a separate email or text message, disconnected from our previous correspondence.

P.S. If possible, please avoid using your iPhone camera to take a photo of your Mac screen.