How to print a screenshot on a Mac
This question hides two different needs, so here is the short answer to both. If you are coming from Windows and mean "how do I capture the screen", a Mac has no Print Screen key; the equivalent is Shift-Command-3 for the whole screen or Shift-Command-4 to drag a region. If you already have a screenshot and want it on paper, open the file in Preview, then choose File and Print or press Command-P, pick your paper size and let it fit to the page. The rest of this guide walks through each path, plus how to keep the print sharp.
There is no Print Screen key on a Mac: use a capture shortcut instead
If you are looking for a PrtScn or Print Screen key, a Mac keyboard does not have one. The job that key does on Windows, grabbing what is on screen, is handled by a set of keyboard shortcuts on macOS. Each one drops a PNG onto the Desktop, named with the date and time it was taken.
| Shortcut | What it captures |
|---|---|
| Shift-Command-3 | The entire screen |
| Shift-Command-4 | A region you drag a crosshair over |
| Shift-Command-4, then Space | A single window or menu |
If you would rather keep the shot in memory than save a file, add Control to any of those shortcuts, for example Control-Shift-Command-3, and it copies to the clipboard instead of saving. For the complete picture of capturing on a Mac, the full guide to taking screenshots on a Mac covers every method, and there is a quick reference for every screenshot keyboard shortcut if you just need the keys.
How to print a saved screenshot in Preview
To send a screenshot to a printer, open it in Preview and use the print dialog. Preview is the Mac app that opens images by default, so it is almost certainly already set up for this.
- Find the screenshot on your Desktop and double-click it to open it in Preview.
- Choose File then Print, or press Command-P.
- Pick your printer and your paper size, such as Letter or A4.
- If the image does not fill the page well, turn on Fit to page or set Scale to a percentage that fits, and check the preview before you commit.
- Click Print.
The same dialog has a Save as PDF option in its lower corner, which is handy when you want a tidy document to email or file rather than a sheet of paper. No printer needs to be connected to make a PDF this way.
How to keep the print sharp and on the page
A screenshot is measured in screen pixels rather than inches, so a small grab stretched to fill a page looks soft, and a large one can run off the edge. A few habits keep the result clean:
- Capture tightly. Use Shift-Command-4 to grab only the part you need, so there is less to enlarge when it prints.
- Use Fit to page. In the Preview print dialog, this scales the image to the sheet without distorting it, and the thumbnail shows you the result first.
- Trim before printing. If the shot has edges you do not want, crop it first; the guide to editing and cropping a screenshot on a Mac covers resizing and framing in Preview.
Before you print: check the shot for anything private
A printed page or a shared PDF is hard to take back, so it is worth a glance before you send the screenshot anywhere. If the shot has a customer email, an account number, a bank balance or a face in it, the safe move is to remove that detail from the image rather than print it as is. Drawing a black box over it in Markup is not the same as removing it, because the box is a separate layer that can be lifted off the file.
This is where ScrubShot helps: it pixelates the sensitive area straight into the image so there is nothing left to recover, all on your Mac. If your screenshot has something in it you need to hide before printing or sharing, scrub it first, then open the cleaned file in Preview and print as above.
FAQ
- Is there a Print Screen key on a Mac?
- No. A Mac keyboard has no Print Screen or PrtScn key. The equivalent is a keyboard shortcut: press Shift-Command-3 to capture the whole screen, or Shift-Command-4 to drag a box around just part of it. Both save a PNG to the Desktop by default.
- How do I print a screenshot from Preview?
- Double-click the screenshot on your Desktop to open it in Preview, then choose File and Print, or press Command-P. In the print dialog pick your printer and paper size, and if the image is too big or too small use Scale or the Fit to page option so it lands on the page cleanly. You can also choose Save as PDF from the same dialog instead of printing to paper.
- How do I screenshot and print on a MacBook Air?
- The same way as any other Mac. Press Shift-Command-3 for the whole screen or Shift-Command-4 to drag a region, which saves a PNG to the Desktop. Double-click that file to open it in Preview, then press Command-P and choose your printer. A MacBook Air has no Print Screen key because no Mac does; the keyboard shortcut is the replacement.
- Why is my screenshot printing blurry or cut off, and how do I fit it to the page?
- A screenshot is sized in screen pixels, not page inches, so a small grab blown up to fill a sheet looks soft, and a large one can run off the edge. In the Preview print dialog, turn on Fit to page or set Scale to a percentage that fits, and check the preview thumbnail before you print. Capturing tightly with Shift-Command-4 so there is less to enlarge usually gives the sharpest result.
Try it
ScrubShot is a Mac app that captures with a shortcut and pixelates sensitive areas into the image so they cannot be recovered, all on-device with nothing uploaded. Press the shortcut, scrub out anything private, crop or label the rest, then save the file and print it from Preview. There is a free 7-day trial with no card required. After that it is $30 once, with lifetime updates and no subscription.