There are several ways of sharing the information, data, or photo which is currently displaying on your PC or laptop screen. Clicking a screenshot and then sharing it is the most viable and commonly used. It is even better as it is easier than another way of sharing your screen with a colleague, friends, or family. It takes the least effort and is incredibly easy to remember. But based on your preference, you might be using a Windows PC or laptop, or an iMac or MacBook which run Apple’s MacOS. Both have different shortcuts and different ways of performing specific functions. They both use different graphic design, a unique user interface, and a particular file system. Of course, their shortcuts and features will not be the same, as they’re based on different system types. One uses the MS-DOS system while the other uses Unix.
These differences between the two systems, while significant, as rather fundamental and makes them unique for the same. There are things which Windows excels at while there are things which MacOS excels in. However, despite their differences, both are one of the most widely used systems in the entire world. And it indeed is a shame that most people don’t know their essential shortcuts. Well, worry not, because this article is focused at telling you everything you need to know about clicking a screenshot on your PC or laptop, be it a Mac, an iMac, or a Windows-powered computing machine.
Screenshot on Windows
There are keyboard shortcuts, and there are simple mouse clicks to capture a screenshot in Windows. Let’s have a look at them.
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- Using keyboard shortcuts – One of the simplest ways of clicking a screenshot is to simultaneously press “Windows” key and the “Print Screen” key on your keyboard. However, be advised, if your “Print Screen” key is embedded with your function keys, you will have to press “Windows” + “Fn” + “Print Screen.” This shortcut takes a screenshot, and a pop-up appears asking you to save the file. This shortcut works on both PC and laptops running Windows 7, 8, or 10.
- Partial screenshot – You can take a screenshot of the selected screen estate as you like. You might not want to overshare whatever is on the screen but only a small portion of it. The keyboard shortcut “Windows” + “Shift” + “S” is what you need to click partial screenshots. What this does it, it sort of greys out the display screen, and you’re supposed to click the left mouse button and drag around to form a window of the data you’d like to include in the screenshot.
More options
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- Screenshot without saving it – All you have to do is press “Print Screen.” This clicks a screenshot of the entire window and saves it in your clipboard. It is not saved as an entire file. However, some laptops have this a little twisted as you have to press “Alt” + “Fn” + “Print Screen” to do the same process. We recommend you to check with your laptop specifications and settings once.
- Snipping Tool – There’s an inbuilt application of tool in the latest Windows software (7, 8, 10) which lets you use just the mouse to take a screenshot. Open your start menu, and type “Snipping Tool” in the search bar. As soon as the tools window opens, you’ll be able to see several functions like Screenshot, Partial Screenshot, Markup, Edit, etc. You can click on the screenshot option to take a screenshot and can save it wherever you want. However, by default, it is saved in the “Downloads” folder.
Screenshot on MacOS
The keyboard shortcuts for taking a screenshot on a device running MacOS are pretty standard, and uniform as all devices use only one or two keyboard shortcuts. It is very standardized. Here’s how to do it.
- Full screenshots – On your MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, MacBook, or the iMac press the combination of keys “Shift” + “Command” + “3” to initiate a screenshot. There will be snapping audio played as soon as the screenshot is taken. And by default is saved on your Desktop itself for easier functionality and use. The default image configuration is.PNG for more comfortable sharing, however, you can change it later to any format you like.
- Partial screenshots – It is almost the save as the shortcut for the full screenshot. Except for this time you simultaneously press “Shift” + “Command” + “4”. You can now click and drag across the screen to take the screenshot of the window you want.
