Are you having a problem with your computer and would like to take a screenshot to show tech support what’s going on? Just put together a graphic and want some input from a coworker? Most of us know how to take a screenshot on our phones, but did you know there are lots of different ways to do it on your PC or MacBook as well?
Here are five keyboard combinations to screenshot on a Mac:
1. Shift + Command + 3: Press these three keys to take a screenshot of your entire screen.
2. Shift + Command + 4: This keyboard shortcut lets you select a portion of your screen to capture. The cursor turns into a crosshair – you hold the mouse button down and drag it to highlight the desired area, then release the mouse button to take the shot.
Take a screenshot on a Mac using Shift + Command + 4
3. Shift + Command + 4+ Space bar: By pressing these 4 keys together, you can take a screenshot of a window or menu. Your cursor will turn into a camera icon, and you can select the menu or window you wish to capture Take a screenshot on a Mac using Shift + Command + 4 + space bar
4. Shift + Command + 5: Introduced with the MacOS Mojave release, this combination opens a menu at the bottom of your screen with your screenshot options. You can take a shot of the entire screen, a specific window, or a selected area
Take a screenshot on a Mac using Shift + Command + 5
5. Shift + Command + 6: On a 16-inch Macbook Pro or another model with a Touch Bar (mostly 2016 -2020 models), you can take a screenshot of what’s currently showing in the Touch Bar with this shortcut.
Take a screenshot on some MacBook Pro models using Shift + Command + 6
And where is the screenshot saved on your Mac?
By default, your Mac will save it on your desktop as a .png file with a name like “Screenshot 2024-04-10 at 09.45.00 AM.png”. If you would prefer to copy your screenshot to your clipboard instead of saving it as a file, hold down Control in addition to Shift + Command + 3 or 4, then press Command + V to paste it wherever you’d like. Or open the screenshot menu with Shift + Command + 5, where the Options button will let you choose where to save the screenshot: Desktop, Documents, Clipboard, Mail, Messages, Preview, or Other Location. If you want to save your screenshot in a format besides PNG, use this screenshot menu to open the file as a Preview, then save it in a different format like JPG, TIFF or PDF.
What about screen recording on a Mac?
To record a video of what’s on your screen, you’ll also want to open the screenshot menu by pressing Shift + Command + 5. In addition to the functions listed above, there are also two screen-recording video options. Access them by clicking one of the video icons to the left of the Options menu. Click this icon to see your screen recording options
There are at least five different ways to take a screenshot on a computer running Windows 10 or Windows 11:
1. Windows key + Shift + S: This will open the Snip & Sketch tool – your screen will turn gray and a small menu will open at the top of the screen. Here you can choose to take a shot of the entire screen, a window, or a rectangular or freeform snip.
Take a screenshot in Windows 11 using Windows key + Shift + S
2. Snipping Tool: Search for “Snipping” in the Start menu to open this app, which has different options for time delay shots and where to save your screenshot.
Take a screenshot using the Windows Snipping Tool
3, The PrtScn key: Depending on your keyboard, this key will be labelled “PrtScn”, “Print Screen” or “Print”. Press it to take a screenshot of your entire screen. There are two keyboard shortcuts you can use with this key – Windows key + PrtScn to screenshot your entire screen and automatically save the shot, and Alt + PrtScn to screenshot the active window and automatically save it to your clipboard. If you’d like, you can set the PrtScn button to open the Snip & Sketch tool for more screenshot options. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard and toggle on the corresponding button.
Access your Windows keyboard settings to activate this shortcut
4. Windows logo + Volume down: On a Microsoft Surface device, you can use these buttons to screenshot the entire screen, just like you take a screenshot on other phones or tablets. Simply hold down the Windows Logo button at the bottom of the screen and press the volume-down button on the side of the screen. The screen will dim briefly to show the shot has been taken.
5. Game Bar: In Windows 10 and 11, you can use the built-in Game Bar to record capture videos and screenshots while playing PC games. During a game you can press the Windows key + G to open the Game Bar, and click the circle icon (Record from now) to record a video clip, or click the camera icon (Take screenshot) to take a picture. If the Game Bar doesn't open when you use this key combination, you may want to check in your settings (under Xbox Game Bar) to see if it's enabled.
Where are your screenshots saved on your PC?
In Windows 10, a screenshot taken with PrtScr will be copied to your clipboard. In Windows 11, the default storage place for screenshots is in the Pictures > Screenshots folder – or your One Drive if you have it enabled. By default, the Snip & Sketch tool will save your screenshot to your clipboard and a notification will appear in the lower corner of your screen giving you additional options.
Taking a screenshot of your email should be no different than any regular screenshot you take on your computer. Whether you are using Mac or Windows, the instructions provided in this article should enable you to screenshot as many emails as your heart desires.
However, if the email is too long to fit entirely on your screen, chances are you won’t be able to capture the full email using conventional methods. If you are faced with this issue, you can use an app like Snagit or the built-in screenshot feature of your browser. Keep reading to find out how to capture a long email in Chrome, Firefox, and Edge.
How to screenshot email in Chrome
To screenshot an entire email in Chrome, the steps to follow will differ slightly depending on whether you are a Mac or Windows user.
On Mac: Open the webpage of the email you’d like to screenshot then press Command + Option + I. Now that you’ve opened Developer Tools, press Command + Shift + P to open Chrome’s developer menu. A page should show up with a search bar that says “Run >”, type “screenshot”, and select Capturefull size screenshot. This should take a screenshot of the entire page and save it to your Downloads folder. You can then crop this image to include just the email you wanted to capture.
On Windows: Start by pressing Ctrl+ Shift + I, followed by Ctrl+ Shift + P. The same page with the search bar saying “Run >” should appear. Now, you just have to type “screenshot” and select Capture full size screenshot to take a screenshot of the full page that will be saved to your laptop immediately. Now, feel free to crop or make any edits to the screenshot as you see fit!
How to screenshot email in Firefox
To capture a full page in Firefox, start by right-clicking the webpage of the email you want to capture. Select Take Screenshot from the menu then click Save full page, a preview of the screenshot will appear. Make sure to click Download and the screenshot will be saved to your Downloads folder.
How to screenshot email in Edge
With the email you’d like to capture open, first press Command + Shift + S on Mac or Ctrl+ Shift + S on Windows. Now, choose Capture full page and click on the Save icon (it looks like a floppy disk). Once again, the screenshot will automatically be saved to your Downloads folder.
We hope this post will help you next time you’d like to take a screenshot! You can easily follow the steps above to capture a screen on Mac and Windows or even to capture the full length of your emails in Chrome, Firefox, and Edge. So, no need to struggle anymore! Screenshot away!
As always, if you found this article helpful, we’d appreciate your feedback! And if you still don’t have an email account with mail.com, sign up for free today!
This article first appeared on April 10, 2022, and was updated on Sept. 19, 2024
