How to Take a Screenshot on Mac, Windows, Chromebook, iPhone and Android

Quick answer: On Mac, press Shift-Command-3 for the entire screen or Shift-Command-4 to drag out a selection, and Shift-Command-5 for the Screenshot app with a timer and save options. On Windows 11, press Windows-Shift-S to open the Snipping Tool overlay (rectangle, window, full screen or freeform), which copies to the clipboard and saves to Pictures > Screenshots. On a Chromebook, press Ctrl + Show windows. On iPhone, press the side button and volume up together. On Android and Samsung, press power and volume down together. Each one saves in a slightly different place, which is where most of the confusion actually lives.

Below: every method, where the file ends up, and the part almost no guide covers, what a screenshot reveals about you and how to clean it up before you send it.

How to take a screenshot on Mac

Apple gives you three keyboard shortcuts and one app:

• Whole screen: press and release Shift, Command and 3 together.
• Part of the screen: Shift, Command and 4. The pointer becomes a crosshair; drag to select. Hold Space while dragging to move the selection without resizing it, or press Esc to cancel.
• A window or menu: press Shift, Command and 4, then tap Space. The pointer turns into a camera. Click the window to capture it, and hold Option as you click if you want to lose the drop shadow.
• The Screenshot app: Shift, Command and 5 opens a toolbar with a timer, a choice of where files are saved, whether to show the pointer, and screen recording.

Screenshots save to the desktop by default, named with the date and time. If a thumbnail appears in the corner, click it to mark up or crop before it saves.

One recent wrinkle worth knowing: on supported Macs running macOS 26 or later, the Screenshot app lets you capture in HDR, which produces a HEIF file rather than a PNG. That is great for fidelity and awkward for sharing, since HEIF/HEIC does not open everywhere. If you hit that, our HEIC guide covers how to open or convert one.

How to take a screenshot on Windows 11

• Windows key + Shift + S opens the Snipping Tool overlay. Choose Rectangle, Window, Full screen or Freeform. The capture goes to your clipboard and, with auto-save on, to Pictures > Screenshots.
• Print Screen (PrtScn) can be set to launch the same overlay: turn on "Use the Print screen key to open screen capture" in Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard.
• Windows key + Shift + R starts a screen recording in the same tool.

Note the difference from Mac: on Windows the shot lands on the clipboard first, so if you never paste or never enabled auto-save, it can feel like the screenshot vanished.

How to take a screenshot on a Chromebook

• Whole screen: Ctrl + Show windows (the key with the rectangle and two lines, where F5 sits on a normal keyboard).
• Part of the screen: Ctrl + Shift + Show windows, then drag a selection.
• On a tablet-mode Chromebook: press power and volume down together.

Files land in Downloads, and a preview appears in the corner for quick sharing.

How to take a screenshot on iPhone and iPad

• Face ID models: press the side button and volume up at the same time, then release.
• Home button models: press the home button and the side (or top) button together.
• iPad with Face ID: top button and volume up. iPad with a home button: top button and home.

A thumbnail slides into the bottom corner: tap it to crop and mark up, or swipe it away to save. Screenshots go to Photos > Screenshots, and on iPhone they are PNG files.

How to take a screenshot on Android and Samsung

• Any modern Android: press power and volume down together.
• Samsung Galaxy: the same combination, and Samsung additionally supports palm swipe: swipe the edge of your hand across the screen, if it is enabled in Settings > Advanced features > Motions and gestures.
• Scrolling screenshot: after capturing, tap the scroll-capture icon in the preview bar to extend the shot down a long page. Samsung and most Android skins support this; iPhone does the same for full pages in Safari via the "Full Page" tab.

Files save to Pictures > Screenshots in your gallery.

Do screenshots contain hidden data?

More than most people expect, and this is where a screenshot differs from a photo. A screenshot carries no camera EXIF and no GPS, so it will not leak where you were. What it does carry is the timestamp of when it was taken, the device or software that produced it, and, far more importantly, whatever was on your screen: names, account numbers, addresses, open tabs, notification banners.

We went through exactly what is inside one in does a screenshot have metadata. If you want to check a specific file, drop it into our EXIF viewer and see the fields for yourself; nothing is uploaded.

What to do with a screenshot afterwards

The four things people almost always need next, all free and all in your browser:

• Crop out the parts you did not mean to share (sidebars, tabs, that email preview) with the crop tool.
• Redact sensitive details permanently with the pixelate and blur tool. Drawing a black box in a slide app is not the same thing: our redaction is baked into the exported pixels, so it cannot be undone by whoever receives it.
• Pull the text out of a screenshot with image to text OCR, which is the fastest way to copy an error message, a receipt total or a table someone sent you as a picture.
• Shrink the file for an upload limit with the image compressor, or convert PNG screenshots to smaller JPGs with the PNG to JPG converter.

FAQ

How do I screenshot on a Mac laptop?

The same shortcuts as any Mac: Shift-Command-3 for the full screen, Shift-Command-4 for a selection, Shift-Command-5 for the Screenshot app. MacBook keyboards need no extra function key for these.

Where do my screenshots go?

Mac: the desktop by default (changeable in the Screenshot app's Options). Windows: the clipboard, plus Pictures > Screenshots when auto-save is on. Chromebook: Downloads. iPhone and Android: the Screenshots album in your photo library.

How do I screenshot just one window instead of the whole screen?

Mac: Shift-Command-4 then Space, then click the window. Windows: Windows-Shift-S and pick the Window mode from the overlay toolbar.

How do I take a scrolling screenshot?

Android and Samsung offer scroll capture in the preview bar after you take a shot. On iPhone, take a screenshot in Safari, tap the thumbnail, then choose the Full Page tab and save it as a PDF.

Why can't I find my Windows screenshot?

Because Windows-Shift-S copies to the clipboard rather than saving a file by default. Paste it somewhere, or turn on auto-save in the Snipping Tool settings so future captures land in Pictures > Screenshots.

Do screenshots have GPS or location data?

No. Screenshots are generated by the operating system rather than a camera, so there is no GPS and no camera EXIF. The risk with a screenshot is what is visible in it, not what is hidden inside it.

How do I hide private information in a screenshot?

Redact it properly: use a tool that writes the blur or black bar into the exported image, like our pixelate and blur tool. Highlight boxes drawn in a document editor can often be removed by the recipient, which has caused real leaks.

What format are screenshots saved in?

PNG on Mac, Windows, Chromebook and iPhone, which keeps text crisp but produces large files. Android varies between PNG and JPG. If a form rejects your file for size, convert or compress it before uploading.

Bottom line

Shift-Command-3 or 4 on Mac, Windows-Shift-S on Windows, Ctrl + Show windows on a Chromebook, side button plus volume up on iPhone, power plus volume down on Android. The capture itself is the easy half; the half that matters is what you do next, so crop what you did not mean to share and redact anything private before the screenshot leaves your device.