How to Use Snipping Tool on Mac

Many people want to know how to Use Snipping Tool on Mac. MacOS doesn’t have an official snipping tool like Windows does, but the Screenshot app can do a lot of the same things. As the name suggests, it makes it easy to take a picture of a certain part of the screen. A snipping tool is available on Macs. It lets you take a picture of only the part of your screen you want. It’s easy to use with a few computer shortcuts, but it’s also part of a larger screenshot interface that can do a lot of cool things.

If you switched from a PC running Windows to an Apple iMac or Macbook running Apple’s macOS, you may be having trouble finding Mac versions of useful Windows apps and features like the Windows Snipping Tool. You might be looking for an option to Windows Snipping, a useful tool that lets you take screenshots or save images of parts of your screen. You don’t need to run a third-party app to take screenshots on macOS because the capture tool already does a good job. So, if you just moved from Windows, keep reading and we’ll show you how to Use Snipping Tool on Mac.

What is a snipping tool?

Snipping tool is a Windows program that lets you take screenshots. You can take screenshots of your system screens with this tool. The photos can then be saved as a picture file or an MHTML file, or they can be emailed. The Snipping tool also lets you use different coloured pens, an eraser, and a highlighter to make simple changes to the picture. The same can be done on PCs running macOS.

Features of Snipping Tool on Mac

1. Capture Options: You can choose to capture the entire screen, a selected portion of the screen, a specific window, or a menu using the capture options available.
2. Delay Timer: The screenshot tools on Mac allow you to set a delay timer before capturing the screenshot. This feature is useful when you need to capture a specific state or menu that appears after a certain time.
3. Annotations: After capturing a screenshot, you can use the built-in tools to annotate and edit the image. You can add text, shapes, arrows, highlights, and other annotations to emphasize specific areas.
4. Save Location: By default, screenshots on Mac are saved to the desktop. However, you can change the default save location to a different folder if desired.
5. File Formats: Screenshots can be saved in various file formats, including PNG, JPEG, TIFF, and PDF.
6. Keyboard Shortcuts: Mac provides keyboard shortcuts to quickly capture screenshots. The standard shortcuts include Command + Shift + 3 to capture the entire screen and Command + Shift + 4 to capture a selected portion of the screen.

How to Use Snipping Tool on Mac

Snipping tool shortcut to take screenshot

1. Press Command+Shift+3 or Command+Shift+5 on your keyboard.
2. With the first one, you can take a picture of the whole screen.
3. With Command+Shift+5, you can only take a picture of a part of the screen.
4. You can change the image by clicking on the thumbnail in the corner of the screen.
5. The snip will be saved in the usual place, which is the desktop, with the name “Screen Shot [date] at [time].png.”
6. But if you have macOS Mojave or a later version, you can change the default position by going to the Options menu in the Screenshot app.
7. You can also drag the picture to the folder or document you want.

Snipping tool shortcut to capture a screen

1. Press Command, Shift, and 4.
2. Move the crosshair to select a part of the screen. To move the pick, press and hold the spacebar key while dragging. To take a picture, let go of the mouse or trackpad.
3. You can change the image by clicking on the thumbnail in the corner of the screen.
4. The snip will be saved in the usual place, which is the desktop, with the name “Screen Shot [date] at [time].png.” But if you have macOS Mojave or a later version, you can change the default position by going to the Options menu in the Screenshot app. You can also drag the picture to the folder or document you want.

Snipping tool shortcut to capture a window or a menu

1. When you press Command, Shift, 4, and Spacebar, the pointer turns to a camera icon.
2. Now, click the window or menu you want to record. If you want to get rid of the window’s shadow, click while holding down the Option key.
3. You can change the image by clicking on the thumbnail in the corner of the screen.
4. The snip will be saved in the usual place, which is the desktop, with the name “Screen Shot [date] at [time].png.” But if you have macOS Mojave or a later version, you can change the default position by going to the Options menu in the Screenshot app. You can also drag the picture to the folder or document you want.

Common Issues with Snipping Tool on Mac

1. No built-in Snipping Tool: Unlike Windows, Mac does not come with a built-in snipping tool. This means that people who want to take screenshots will have to use other ways or third-party apps.
2. There aren’t many options for taking screenshots of specific areas: Unlike Windows’ Snipping Tool, which lets users take screenshots of specific parts of the screen by drawing a rectangle, the default shortcut for taking screenshots on a Mac (Command + Shift + 4) takes a picture of the whole area chosen and doesn’t let you change the shape.
3. Not able to capture menus or drop-downs: With the normal Mac screenshot methods, it can be hard to capture menus or drop-downs. When people take pictures with keyboard shortcuts, these things often go away.
4. No delayed capture: The Windows Snipping Tool has a delay feature that lets users set a timer before taking a picture. This is not one of the choices for taking screenshots on a Mac.
5. Lack of advanced editing tools: On Windows, the Snipping Tool lets you do simple things like highlight, crop, and add notes to screenshots. The editing choices that come with a Mac screenshot aren’t very good, so users may need to use third-party image editing software for more advanced changes.

Conclusion

Since we’ve used both the Windows and Mac versions of the snipping tool alternative, we can say that the macOS version is slightly easier to use, and the shortcuts above make it easier to get to the choices, whether you’re taking a screenshot, selecting the screen, or recording a video of the screen. But it’s easy to take pictures or videos of your screen on either app. Visit the main Apple Official Website if you need more help with your Apple Mac.

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