By Marlo Anderson – The Tech Ranch
Taking a screenshot of your whole screen and then cropping it is the long way around. On a Mac, press Command + Shift + 4, drag a box around just the part you want, and let go. The screenshot lands right on your desktop.
The Shortcut
- ⌘ + Shift + 4: turns your pointer into a crosshair
- Drag a box around what you want, then let go
- The screenshot saves to your desktop
- Press Esc to cancel
Grab a Whole Window with Space
After you press ⌘ + Shift + 4, tap the Space bar. The crosshair turns into a camera, and the window under it lights up. Click to capture just that window.
On Windows?
Press Windows key + Shift + S and drag a box the same way.
Bonus Tip: Record Your Screen with ⌘ + Shift + 5
Press Command + Shift + 5 to open the screenshot toolbar. You can capture the whole screen, a window or a selection, or switch to recording the whole screen or just part of it. When you’re done recording, click the stop button in the menu bar. The recording saves just like a screenshot.
More Keyboard Shortcuts, Explained
This is part of my Keyboard Shortcuts Explained series: quick, plain-English tips that make everyday computer work faster. Watch the whole series on YouTube and subscribe to The Tech Ranch so you don’t miss the next one.
Got a shortcut you can’t live without? Tell me in the YouTube comments and it might show up in a future video.
