Every built-in shortcut for capturing your full screen, a selected area, or a single window — no extra software needed.
Beyond the basic shortcuts, a few details make screenshots easier to find, share, and use.
On Mac, screenshots save to the Desktop by default — change this in the Screenshot toolbar (Command + Shift + 5 → Options → Save to). On Windows, screenshots taken with Windows + PrtScn save automatically to Pictures → Screenshots, while Snipping Tool captures go to your clipboard first and only save to disk if you explicitly save them.
If you just need to paste a screenshot into an email, chat, or document, capturing to the clipboard (Ctrl/Cmd-based shortcuts without also opening Finder/Explorer) is faster than saving a file and then attaching it. On Mac, adding the Control key to any screenshot shortcut sends the capture to the clipboard instead of saving a file.
Standard OS shortcuts only capture what's visible on screen. For a full page including content below the fold, use your browser's built-in tools — most Chromium browsers support "Capture full size screenshot" through DevTools' Command Menu — or a dedicated full-page-capture browser extension.
Command + Shift + 3 captures the entire screen. Command + Shift + 4 lets you drag to select a specific area. Command + Shift + 4, then Spacebar, then click a window captures just that window. All are saved to the Desktop by default as PNG files.
Windows + Shift + S opens the Snipping Tool overlay, letting you select a rectangular area, a free-form area, a window, or the full screen — the capture is copied to your clipboard and a notification lets you annotate/save it. The plain PrintScreen key captures the full screen to the clipboard only.
By default, macOS saves screenshots directly to the Desktop as PNG files named "Screenshot [date] at [time].png." You can change the save location by pressing Command + Shift + 5 to open the screenshot toolbar and choosing Options.
On Mac: press Command + Shift + 4, then press Spacebar (the cursor becomes a camera icon), then click the window. On Windows: press Windows + Shift + S, choose the "Window Snip" mode from the Snipping Tool toolbar, then click the window you want.
Neither Mac nor Windows has a built-in scrolling-screenshot shortcut. Most browsers offer it through developer tools (in Chrome: open DevTools with F12, open the Command Menu with Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+P, and run "Capture full size screenshot"), or through a browser extension built specifically for full-page capture.