# How to Take a Screenshot on Mac, Windows, Chromebook, iPhone and Android > Every screenshot shortcut that works: Mac, Windows 11, Chromebook, iPhone, iPad and Samsung, where the files are saved, and what to do with a screenshot afterwards. *Published: 2026-08-19* ยท *7 min read* Canonical URL: https://timestampcamera.net/photo-guides/how-to-take-a-screenshot-on-any-device **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](/photo-guides/what-is-a-heic-file) 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](/photo-guides/does-a-screenshot-have-metadata). If you want to check a specific file, drop it into our [EXIF viewer](/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](/crop-image). - **Redact sensitive details permanently** with the [pixelate and blur tool](/pixelate-image). 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](/image-to-text), 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](/image-compressor), or convert PNG screenshots to smaller JPGs with the [PNG to JPG converter](/png-to-jpg). ## 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](/pixelate-image). 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](/pixelate-image) before the screenshot leaves your device.