How to Take a Picture of Your Computer Screen on a Mac

You can make a screenshot of whatever’s appearing on your Mac.

When you work with files, folders and applications on your Mac, you might want to take a picture of whatever appears on the computer screen to keep a record of what you’re doing. For example, you could be writing a memo with a word-processing application, and the document window is next to a browser window loaded with information that you are using for research. You can easily make a screenshot with Grab, an application that comes installed on every Mac.

Instructions

1. Click “Grab” in the Dock of the Mac to launch Apple’s native screen capture application. The Grab icon looks like a pair of scissors.

2. Click “Capture” from the Capture menu.

3. Click “Screen.” The “Screen Grab” window opens.

4. Click any place outside of the “Screen Grab” window to take a picture of the Mac’s screen. The picture appears, initially named “Untitled.”

5. Click “Save” from the Grab application menu. Click a folder on the Mac where you want to save the screenshot. Type a name for the screen shot, such as “Picture of My Mac (today’s date).” Click “Save.”

Tips & Warnings

• If Grab doesn't appear in your Dock, find it by using the Spotlight search by clicking the magnifying-glass icon at the top right of your monitor and typing "Grab" into the text field that appears.

References

• Apple: Mac OS X 10.6 Help: Taking Pictures of Your Screen with Grab