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Screen Capture On Mac High Sierra

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To capture a specific part of your screen, press Shift+Command+4 and your pointer will change to a cross-hair. Click and drag the cross-hair so that it covers the area you wish to capture. Here Is How To Take A Screenshot On A Mac OS X And macOS Including Leopard, Mavericks, Yosemite, and High Sierra. For capturing the entire Mac screen. Capturing the entire screen is the basic screenshot operation. You can capture it by using three different keys – Command, Shift, and number 3 key. Screenshot a dropdown menu Follow the steps to capture a dropdown menu on Mac: First, open the menu and then, use 'Command + Shift + 4' keys at the same time, and next, drag the cross to the region of the menu. Now, release the mouse to screenshot the region, and next, use the Space key to alter the pointer to a camera. Also, the Touch Bar tool lets you pick the kind of screenshot you want to take, as well as where you save them to. Here's how to take screenshots with the MacBook Pro Touch Bar. Click the Apple. Launch the QuickTime Player on your Mac. On the menu bar, click the 'File' menu and then select 'New Screen Recording'. Next, hit the 'Record' button and choose a part of the screen that you want to capture. Or if you want to grab the full screen of your Mac, simply click the screen to start recording.

  1. Screen Capture On Mac High Sierra
  2. How To Screen Capture On Mac High Sierra
  3. How To Screen Capture On Mac High Sierra

Dec 16, 2020 • Filed to: Solve Mac Problems • Proven solutions

'Recently, I bought a MacBook Pro and it was working perfectly. But, I surprised to see that the screenshot on Mac not working and they are not saving to my desktop. So, can you tell me how I can fix the 'Mac OS Sierra screenshot not working and saving' problem?'

There is no doubt that taking a screenshot on Mac is quite straightforward because Apple has given an easy way to do that. However, a lot of users have complained that they have encountered a 'screenshot on Mac not working' problem. If you are also one of those users who are going through this same issue, then you might be looking for methods to fix it.

Well, you have come to the right place. Here, in this article, we have mentioned several ways you can try to come out of this problem without much hassle.

Part 1. What Is a Screenshot?

The term 'Screenshot' also known as a snapshot or screen capture, or print screen. It is a picture that shows the contents of your computer display. In simple words, it allows you to capture whatever you are seeing on your device screen. Once a screenshot is taken, you can save it as an image file where you can open it to edit.

At present, the screenshot feature is quite helpful and that's it is present in all electronic devices, such as smartphones, computers, and tablets. The feature is very useful in many situations, such as when you have to share the screen picture with others or to provide software reviews.

Part 2. How to Take a Screenshot on Mac?

Before you go for a solution to fix the 'screenshot on Mac not working' issue, you need to first learn how to take a screenshot on Mac in the right way. It might be the case that you are capturing your system screen using wrong commands and that's why you met with this annoying problem.

1. Screenshot a window

To screen capture for a window on Man, you need to follow the below steps:

  1. Use 'Command + Shift + 4' at the same time. As you see crosshairs on your screen, use the 'Space' key to hover the cursor over the window. Next, click either on the trackpad or mouse. Don't forget to hold the Space bar when you are dragging.
  2. Now, you will see the Camera icon, and your window will turn into a grey color. If you end up opening multiple windows, then select the one you like to capture. Finally, tap on the mouse, and you are done with capturing the screenshot for the window.
  3. After that, you can either right-click on the application icon and choose 'Move to Trash' option or you can simply drag the program icon to the Trash.

2. Screenshot the entire screen

To capture the entire screen, follow the steps:

  1. To start with, you have to use 'Command + Shift+ 3' keys at the same time.
  2. Next, you'll the camera shutter sound, and your screenshot will be saved on the desktop.

3. Screenshot a portion of the screen

Follow the below steps to capture a part of your screen:

  1. Use 'Command + Shift + 4' Keys at the same time. Using this shortcut, you will be able to take a screenshot of a specific portion.
  2. After pressing the keys, you will see a cross with some numbers. So, drag the cross across the region that you like to capture.

4. Screenshot a dropdown menu

Follow the steps to capture a dropdown menu on Mac:

  1. First, open the menu and then, use 'Command + Shift + 4' keys at the same time, and next, drag the cross to the region of the menu.
  2. Now, release the mouse to screenshot the region, and next, use the Space key to alter the pointer to a camera. Finally, press the menu to take a screenshot.

That's how you can take a screenshot on Mac. If the above steps didn't work to take and save a screenshot on your Mac, then check out the next section where we have mentioned some solutions that can fix the problem you're going through.

Video Guide on How To Take A Screenshot on Mac

Save the screenshots but deleted them accidentally? Come to recover deleted photos on Mac.

Part 3. How to Fix 'Screenshot on Mac Not Working'?

Well, you now got an idea about how to take a screenshot on Mac in the right way. But, if you still met with a 'screenshot on Mac not working' problem, then try below methods that can probably help you to fix the issue with ease.

1. Check the Keyboard Shortcut Settings

You can use the keyboard shortcut 'Command + Shift + 3' to take a full-screen screenshot and shortcut 'Command + Shift + 4' to capture selected area unless you've activated the screenshots shortcuts.

By default, the screenshot keyboard shortcuts are activated. But, it might be the case that you have configured the settings and don't remember at all. Thus, in this case, all you have to do is to check if the screenshot shortcut is active on your Mac.

Here are simple steps on how you can check:

  1. To start with, go to the 'Apple' menu and then, navigate to 'System Preferences'.
  2. Next, tap on 'Keyboard' and next, tap on the 'Shortcuts' tab.
  3. After that, tap on the 'Screenshots' option from the left side of the window.
  4. Finally, make sure that all options here are check or active.

Once you ensure keyboard shortcuts for screenshots on your Mac are active, try again to take a screenshot and see whether the problem is gone. If no, then don't be panic as you can try the following solutions to fix it.

2. Restart the Mac

Another thing you can try is simply restarting your Mac. Applications and programs won't work perfectly if you've not restarted your system for a long time. Thus, in such cases, a simple restart on Mac can probably fix the problem without many efforts. Luckily, many users have fixed the problem with this method and so, you must try it too.

There are three ways you can try to restart your Mac, which include:

  1. Press and hold down the 'Power' button and choose the 'Restart' option. Alternatively, you can use 'Control + Eject' and choose 'Restart'.
  2. Go to the 'Apple' menu and next, choose 'Restart'.
  3. Use 'Control + Command + Eject' or 'Control + Command + Power' and next, choose 'Restart'.

After restarting your Mac, the problem should be fixed now. But, if not, then go for the next solutions to fix the 'screenshot on Mac not working' issue.

3. Use Grab to Screenshot on Mac

There are also other ways to take a screenshot on Mac you might don't aware of them. So, instead of taking screenshots using keyboard shortcuts, use Grab to capture screen on your system. Grab is a pre-installed application for Mac OS X and macOS that allows you to take screenshots of the entire screen, the whole window, or only a specified area of your screen.

Here are the simple steps on how to use Grab utility to take screenshots on Mac:

  1. To start with, you need to open 'Applications' and next, tap on 'Utilities'.
  2. After that, look for 'Grab' and select it.
  3. Now, click on 'Capture'.

As per your requirements, you can choose any one option and take a screenshot.

4. Use Preview to Screenshot on Mac

If you encounter a problem like a screenshot on Mac not working, then you can use Preview to capture screenshots. Well, Preview is nothing, but default utility that lets you open and modifies or edit images. Besides this, you can also take a screenshot on Mac using the Preview tool.

Here are simple steps on how to use Preview to screenshot on Mac:

  1. To begin with, navigate to 'Preview'.
  2. Next, tap on 'File' and after that, select 'Take Screenshot'.
  3. Now, choose any one option as per your need.

As you can see there are many alternatives to take a screenshot on Mac. Hopefully, the above methods help you to resolve the problem for you.

Part 4. How to Recover Lost Screenshots on Mac?

In some cases, although screenshots are saved by resolving the problem 'screenshot on Mac not working', there are chances that you still lost them due to unknown reason. But, don't be panic if this situation happens to you because you still have a powerful method to recover your lost screenshots on your Mac. And that method is using Recoverit data recovery for Mac.

Luckily, Recoverit Data Recovery software is primarily designed to help those users who accidentally lost their files, such as photos, videos, audio, and documents. No matter how you lost your screenshots whether deleting by mistake, virus attack, or sudden power failure, the tool is powerful enough to work under numerous data loss scenarios.

Screen Capture On Mac High Sierra

Recovering media files with this tool takes a few minutes and three easy steps. In order to get back lost screenshots using Recoverit, you need to first download and install the software on your computer. Once you installed the software, follow the below steps:

Step 1: Select the screenshot drive

To start with, run Recoverit. Now, you need to choose a hard drive location from where you have lost your screenshots and click the Start button.

Step 2: Scan the Location

Now, the program will start looking for lost files by performing a scan on your selected hard drive location. Here, it may take several minutes to complete the entire scan process.

Step 3: Preview and Recover

Finally, preview the files and choose the desired files you want to get back after the scan is complete. And click on the 'Recover' button to save recovered screenshots on your Mac.

So, you now know what you can do if you ever lost your important files on Mac. However, while you are saving recovered screenshots on Mac, don't save them to the location from where they get lost.

Part 5. Tips against 'Screenshot on Mac Not Working'

Hopefully, the problem 'screenshot on Mac not working' is fixed for you with the help of the above-mentioned methods. However, here are some more tips and tricks you can try to avoid facing the same problem again in the future.

  • If you're not good at remembering keyboard shortcuts, then use Grab or Preview to take a screenshot on your system.
  • It might be the case that keyboard shortcuts of your Mac are damaged and that's why you are not able to capture a screen using keys.
  • You may have changed the default location for saving screenshots and that's why it seems to you that screenshots aren't working on your Mac. So, check the location where your Mac screenshots are saved.
  • Sometimes, third-party applications installed on your system prevent the proper functioning of other Mac utilities or programs. So, uninstall or get rid of third-party apps if you've on your system.
  • Mac systems are also susceptible to bugs and viruses, which can corrupt your system. As a result, you can face a screenshot, not a working issue. Thus, use anti-virus to protect your system from bugs.

The problem 'screenshot on Mac not working' can be easily resolved if you know the right solutions for this. Luckily, here we have listed all probable methods that can help you to fix the issue with ease. Plus, if you ever end up losing your important screenshots on Mac, then we have also provided the solution to this problem too. It is Recoverit data recovery for Mac. With the help of this tool, you can easily rescue your lost screenshots.

What's Wrong with Mac

Recover Your Mac
Fix Your Mac
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Learn Mac Hacks

Taking screenshots is the most effective way to do step-by-step tutorials, facilitate troubleshooting, or simply document what you have on your screen. There are many ways to take screenshots on Mac, depending on how much and which part of the screen you want to capture.

Here are the shortcuts to take screenshots on a Mac:

  • Press Command + Shift + 3 to capture the entire screen.
  • Hold Shift + Command + 4, then press the space bar to capture a window.
  • Press Shift + Command + 4 to capture a selected area of the screen.

The screenshots are automatically saved to the Desktop or to your specified destination folder. You can also choose to copy it to the clipboard and directly paste it to other applications, such as Microsoft Word, Google documents, email, Notes, and more.

However, some Mac users reported encountering blank screenshots in High Sierra recently. The problem occurred whenever they tried to capture their screen using the different shortcuts. Some users even tried using the Take Screenshot feature of Preview, but the images turned out to be blank. They heard the camera shutter sound, which meant that the screenshot was taken, but the screenshots still turned out to be white or gray blank images.

This problem has caused a lot of inconvenience to the affected users. Although most of the reported issues happened on macOS High Sierra, it is possible that the problem affects other macOS versions as well.

The issue of blank screenshot in High Sierra can be caused by different factors, including:

  • A corrupted .plist file
  • Incorrect keyboard settings
  • Malware infection
  • Incompatibility issue with third-party apps or processes

If screenshot in High Sierra is not working, you can follow the steps outlined below to resolve this issue and get this feature working properly again.

What to Do If Screenshots Turn Up Blank in High Sierra

It can be annoying getting blank screenshots in High Sierra, especially if the moment you want to capture is difficult or impossible to recreate, such as the results of your online game that you want to brag about or an error that you need to document.

There are several ways to fix this issue, depending on the cause. But before you do anything else, close all running applications, delete junk files using Outbyte MacRepair, and reboot your Mac to refresh the system. If your problem is caused by a temporary glitch, restarting the system should easily fix this. Try your luck and see if screenshot is now working. If not, proceed with the steps below.

Step 1: Check Keyboard Settings.

The first thing you need to do is to check whether the screenshot shortcuts are enabled on your keyboard. To do this:

  1. Open the Apple Menu and choose System Preferences.
  2. Click Keyboard, then click on the Shortcuts tab.
  3. Choose Screen Shots from the left menu, then make sure all these options are ticked off:
    • Save picture of screen as a file
    • Copy picture of screen to the clipboard
    • Save picture of selected area as a file
    • Copy picture of selected area to the clipboard
Screen Capture On Mac High Sierra

You can also see the corresponding shortcuts for each type of screenshot.

If everything looks good, proceed to the next step.

Step 2: Reset Screenshot Settings.

Over time, your screenshot settings can get corrupted due to various reasons. The easiest way to reset this is by deleting the .plist file associated with this feature. To do this:

  1. Click Go in the Finder Menu.
  2. Choose Go to folder.
  3. Type in this address in the dialog box: ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.screencapture.plist.
  4. Move the .plist file to the Trash, then empty it.

Screen Capture On Mac High Sierra

Deleting the screencapture .plist file should reset the preferences for this feature to their default settings. Try doing a screenshot again and check if the image is now okay.

Step 3: Boot Into Safe Mode.

If resetting the system preferences did not work, try booting into Safe Mode. To boot into Safe Mode, restart your Mac then immediately press the Shift button when you hear the startup sound. Release the Shift button once the login window appears. You should now be running macOS in Safe Mode.

While in Safe Mode, try doing a screenshot. If the screenshot image looks fine, then a third-party app might be interfering with the screen capture process. What you need to do is find out which app is causing the problem.

Delete the apps that you don't need or use to narrow down your options. Uninstall all recently installed apps, particularly those you installed around the time the screen capture feature went wonky.

Once you've figured out the culprit, uninstall the app then re-install a fresh copy. Check if doing this gets the screenshot problem fixed.

Step 4: Use Terminal to Capture a Screenshot.

How To Screen Capture On Mac High Sierra

If you're still getting a blank screenshot in High Sierra, you can try running commands to do a screen capture. Launch Terminal from the Utilities folder and enter the command that corresponds to the type of screenshot you want to make:

  • screencapture -iW ~/Desktop/screen.jpg (if you want to capture an active window)
  • screencapture -c (if you want to capture the whole screen)
Screen Capture On Mac High Sierra

Recovering media files with this tool takes a few minutes and three easy steps. In order to get back lost screenshots using Recoverit, you need to first download and install the software on your computer. Once you installed the software, follow the below steps:

Step 1: Select the screenshot drive

To start with, run Recoverit. Now, you need to choose a hard drive location from where you have lost your screenshots and click the Start button.

Step 2: Scan the Location

Now, the program will start looking for lost files by performing a scan on your selected hard drive location. Here, it may take several minutes to complete the entire scan process.

Step 3: Preview and Recover

Finally, preview the files and choose the desired files you want to get back after the scan is complete. And click on the 'Recover' button to save recovered screenshots on your Mac.

So, you now know what you can do if you ever lost your important files on Mac. However, while you are saving recovered screenshots on Mac, don't save them to the location from where they get lost.

Part 5. Tips against 'Screenshot on Mac Not Working'

Hopefully, the problem 'screenshot on Mac not working' is fixed for you with the help of the above-mentioned methods. However, here are some more tips and tricks you can try to avoid facing the same problem again in the future.

  • If you're not good at remembering keyboard shortcuts, then use Grab or Preview to take a screenshot on your system.
  • It might be the case that keyboard shortcuts of your Mac are damaged and that's why you are not able to capture a screen using keys.
  • You may have changed the default location for saving screenshots and that's why it seems to you that screenshots aren't working on your Mac. So, check the location where your Mac screenshots are saved.
  • Sometimes, third-party applications installed on your system prevent the proper functioning of other Mac utilities or programs. So, uninstall or get rid of third-party apps if you've on your system.
  • Mac systems are also susceptible to bugs and viruses, which can corrupt your system. As a result, you can face a screenshot, not a working issue. Thus, use anti-virus to protect your system from bugs.

The problem 'screenshot on Mac not working' can be easily resolved if you know the right solutions for this. Luckily, here we have listed all probable methods that can help you to fix the issue with ease. Plus, if you ever end up losing your important screenshots on Mac, then we have also provided the solution to this problem too. It is Recoverit data recovery for Mac. With the help of this tool, you can easily rescue your lost screenshots.

What's Wrong with Mac

Recover Your Mac
Fix Your Mac
Delete Your Mac
Learn Mac Hacks

Taking screenshots is the most effective way to do step-by-step tutorials, facilitate troubleshooting, or simply document what you have on your screen. There are many ways to take screenshots on Mac, depending on how much and which part of the screen you want to capture.

Here are the shortcuts to take screenshots on a Mac:

  • Press Command + Shift + 3 to capture the entire screen.
  • Hold Shift + Command + 4, then press the space bar to capture a window.
  • Press Shift + Command + 4 to capture a selected area of the screen.

The screenshots are automatically saved to the Desktop or to your specified destination folder. You can also choose to copy it to the clipboard and directly paste it to other applications, such as Microsoft Word, Google documents, email, Notes, and more.

However, some Mac users reported encountering blank screenshots in High Sierra recently. The problem occurred whenever they tried to capture their screen using the different shortcuts. Some users even tried using the Take Screenshot feature of Preview, but the images turned out to be blank. They heard the camera shutter sound, which meant that the screenshot was taken, but the screenshots still turned out to be white or gray blank images.

This problem has caused a lot of inconvenience to the affected users. Although most of the reported issues happened on macOS High Sierra, it is possible that the problem affects other macOS versions as well.

The issue of blank screenshot in High Sierra can be caused by different factors, including:

  • A corrupted .plist file
  • Incorrect keyboard settings
  • Malware infection
  • Incompatibility issue with third-party apps or processes

If screenshot in High Sierra is not working, you can follow the steps outlined below to resolve this issue and get this feature working properly again.

What to Do If Screenshots Turn Up Blank in High Sierra

It can be annoying getting blank screenshots in High Sierra, especially if the moment you want to capture is difficult or impossible to recreate, such as the results of your online game that you want to brag about or an error that you need to document.

There are several ways to fix this issue, depending on the cause. But before you do anything else, close all running applications, delete junk files using Outbyte MacRepair, and reboot your Mac to refresh the system. If your problem is caused by a temporary glitch, restarting the system should easily fix this. Try your luck and see if screenshot is now working. If not, proceed with the steps below.

Step 1: Check Keyboard Settings.

The first thing you need to do is to check whether the screenshot shortcuts are enabled on your keyboard. To do this:

  1. Open the Apple Menu and choose System Preferences.
  2. Click Keyboard, then click on the Shortcuts tab.
  3. Choose Screen Shots from the left menu, then make sure all these options are ticked off:
    • Save picture of screen as a file
    • Copy picture of screen to the clipboard
    • Save picture of selected area as a file
    • Copy picture of selected area to the clipboard

You can also see the corresponding shortcuts for each type of screenshot.

If everything looks good, proceed to the next step.

Step 2: Reset Screenshot Settings.

Over time, your screenshot settings can get corrupted due to various reasons. The easiest way to reset this is by deleting the .plist file associated with this feature. To do this:

  1. Click Go in the Finder Menu.
  2. Choose Go to folder.
  3. Type in this address in the dialog box: ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.screencapture.plist.
  4. Move the .plist file to the Trash, then empty it.

Screen Capture On Mac High Sierra

Deleting the screencapture .plist file should reset the preferences for this feature to their default settings. Try doing a screenshot again and check if the image is now okay.

Step 3: Boot Into Safe Mode.

If resetting the system preferences did not work, try booting into Safe Mode. To boot into Safe Mode, restart your Mac then immediately press the Shift button when you hear the startup sound. Release the Shift button once the login window appears. You should now be running macOS in Safe Mode.

While in Safe Mode, try doing a screenshot. If the screenshot image looks fine, then a third-party app might be interfering with the screen capture process. What you need to do is find out which app is causing the problem.

Delete the apps that you don't need or use to narrow down your options. Uninstall all recently installed apps, particularly those you installed around the time the screen capture feature went wonky.

Once you've figured out the culprit, uninstall the app then re-install a fresh copy. Check if doing this gets the screenshot problem fixed.

Step 4: Use Terminal to Capture a Screenshot.

How To Screen Capture On Mac High Sierra

If you're still getting a blank screenshot in High Sierra, you can try running commands to do a screen capture. Launch Terminal from the Utilities folder and enter the command that corresponds to the type of screenshot you want to make:

  • screencapture -iW ~/Desktop/screen.jpg (if you want to capture an active window)
  • screencapture -c (if you want to capture the whole screen)

You should hear a camera shutter sound to confirm that the screenshot was taken. Check if the image captured from this method looks okay. If not, you can use other methods of taking screenshots discussed below.

Step 5: Use Preview to Take a Screenshot.

Preview is the macOS built-in app that allows users to open and edit images. You can also use this tool to take a screen capture using the toolbox icon.

To use Preview as a screenshot tool, follow the steps below.

  1. Open any image using Preview.
  2. Click File from the top menu, then choose Take Screenshot.
  3. Choose from the three options:
    • From Selection
    • From Window
    • From Entire Screen

Check the screenshots taken if they look good.

Step 6: Use Third-Party Apps to Take Screenshots.

If you can't use macOS built-in tools to take screenshots, you can use third-party apps instead. There are a lot of screenshot apps for macOS that provide different ways to capture screens. Aside from installing stand-alone apps for screen capture purposes, you can also use browser extensions to take shots of webpages. Best movie download app for windows 7.

Summary

Screenshots are highly useful for making step-by-step tutorials or for sharing something on your screen. Recent reports of blank screenshots in High Sierra have caused inconvenience to several users, making screen capture almost impossible. Following this guide should be able to help the affected users fix their faulty screen capture tool.

How To Screen Capture On Mac High Sierra

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