How to Take a Screenshot on a PC or Mac: A Comprehensive Guide

Screenshots have become an important tool in the digital age because they make it easy to capture and share what's on your screen. Screenshots can be used for many things, from saving proof of an online conversation to making visual tutorials. This article will show you step-by-step how to take a screenshot on both a PC and a Mac, so you can easily capture whatever you need.

Part 1: Using a Windows PC to take a screenshot

The Print Screen Method (PrtScn): The easiest way to take a screenshot on a Windows PC is to use the Print Screen key, also called "PrtScn" or "Prt Scr." This key is usually near the Function keys in the top row of the keyboard.

Pressing the PrtScn key will take a picture of the whole screen. This will take a picture of what's on the screen and put it on the clipboard.

Press Alt + PrtScn together to take a picture of only the active window. This will copy a picture of the active window to the clipboard.

Once you've taken a screenshot using either of these methods, you can paste it into an image-editing program like Microsoft Paint by pressing Ctrl + V (paste). From there, you can save the picture wherever you want.

The Snip Tool:

The Snipping Tool is a built-in program that came with Windows Vista. It gives you more options for taking screenshots. To use the Snipping Tool, you must:

Click or press the "Start" button or the "Windows" key.

Type "Snipping Tool" into the search bar and pick it from the list of results.

Once you open the Snipping Tool, you can choose from several ways to take a screenshot:

Free-form Snip: Draw a shape that isn't perfect around the area you want to cut.

Rectangular Snip: To use this, drag a rectangle around the content you want to grab.

Window Snip: Choose an open window to grab the whole thing.

Full-screen Snip: Take a screenshot of the whole screen.

After you take a snip, the image will open in the Snipping Tool window, where you can make simple changes like adding highlights or cropping. The picture can then be saved in the format and location of your choice.

Snip & Sketch is an improved version of the Snipping Tool. It comes with Windows 10 and later versions. To use Snip & Sketch, you must:

Press Windows + Shift + S at the same time.

The screen will get darker, and a small toolbar with four snipping options will appear at the top: Rectangular Snip, Freeform Snip, Window Snip, and Fullscreen Snip.

Choose the option you want and take a picture of the part of the screen you want to save.

The screenshot will be copied to the clipboard, where you can paste it into an image-editing program or directly into Microsoft Word or PowerPoint.

Part 2: Using a Mac to take a screenshot

The Keyboard Shortcut Method: MacOS has keyboard shortcuts built in that make it easy to take a screenshot quickly:

Press Shift + Command + 3 at the same time to take a picture of the whole screen. The picture will be saved on your desktop as a PNG file.

Press Shift + Command + 4 to take a picture of a certain part of the screen. The pointer will become a crosshair. Click and drag to choose the area you want to capture, then let go of the mouse button. Your desktop is where the screenshot will be saved.

This is the Screenshot App:

In macOS Mojave and later, the Screenshot app gives you more ways to take screenshots. How to get to the app: To open the Screenshot app, press Shift + Command + 5. The toolbar will show up at the bottom of the screen and give you options for taking screenshots and recording your screen.

Click this button to take a picture of the whole screen. You can also press Shift+Command+3 at the same time.

Click this button, then click on the window you want to capture. You can also press Shift + Command + 4, then the Spacebar.

Capture Selected Portion: Click this button to manually choose the part of the screen you want to capture. Shift+Command+4 is another option.

When you use the Screenshot app to take a screenshot, a small version of the picture will show up in the bottom-right corner of the screen. When you click on the thumbnail, the screenshot will open in the Markup Quick Action window, where you can make changes and add notes. By default, the picture will be saved as a PNG file on your desktop.

Changing Where Screenshots Are Saved by Default: If you want to change where your Mac saves screenshots by default, follow these steps:

Open the Terminal app, which you can find in Applications > Utilities.

Type this command, replacing "path/to/folder" with the location where you want to save the file: defaults ============================= path/to/folder

To run the command, press Enter.

Type "killall SystemUIServer" and hit "Enter" to make the changes take effect.

Now, your screenshots will be saved in the new place you chose.

Part 3: Screenshot Apps Made by Other People

PC and Mac both have built-in tools for taking screenshots, but there are also a lot of third-party apps that offer even more features and flexibility. Here are a few well-known choices:

Lightshot is a small and easy-to-use tool for taking screenshots that works on both Windows and macOS. With Lightshot, you can quickly take a picture of a certain part of the screen, edit it, and either save it to your computer or upload it to the Lightshot server so it's easy to share. Other features include the ability to change the hotkeys and search Google for similar images.

Greenshot is a powerful screenshot tool for Windows that can be used in a lot of different ways. It can take pictures of the whole screen, a window, a region, or even a scrolling web page. Greenshot also has a built-in image editor for annotating and editing screenshots, as well as options for saving, copying to the clipboard, printing, and sending screenshots to other programs or online services.

Snagit: Snagit is a tool for both Windows and macOS that lets you take screenshots and record your screen. It lets you capture a lot of different things, like the whole screen, a window, a region, a scrolling web page, or a video. The built-in image editor in Snagit lets you make advanced changes and add notes, which makes it a great choice for making professional images for tutorials, presentations, and documentation. Snagit is a paid app, but users can try it out for free first to see what it can do.

Conclusion

Using a PC or Mac to take screenshots is a simple and useful skill that can help you be more productive and communicate better. Taking a picture of your screen is easy, whether you use the tools that come with your computer or a third-party app. By using the steps in this article, you can quickly and easily save important information, make visual guides, and share content with others.