Here’re the top 5 best snipping tools for Mac in 2021. You can snip on Mac with any screen size and multiple editing tools. Well, you can get a snipping tool available on Mac to capture Mac images flexibly as well. Dropshare is a Mac snipping tool alternative that allows you to choose between capturing a specific area, capturing and editing, and recording an area or full screen. After you’re done, all URLs would be saved automatically and ready to share with your team. Note: This snipping tool kit was firstly introduced in macOS Mojave in 2018. So, only users of macOS Mojave and the later versions are able to use the method mentioned above for image capture on Mac. So, only users of macOS Mojave and the later versions are able to use the method mentioned above for image capture on Mac. What's new in this version. Create new screen snip or open image file. – Mark up images with pen, pencil, or highlighter. The drawing canvas supports inking in the margins. Save, copy to clipboard, or share your creation.
Best screen capturing app
Screenshots have become so ubiquitous nowadays that we don’t give them too much thought anymore. Yet every day we use them to show, explain, and communicate. Whether it’s sending an image of a software bug to customer support, a quick how-to GIF to a colleague, or a heartfelt joke to a loved one, screenshots help us enrich and liven up our daily communication.
Naturally, for creating and editing screenshots, Windows PC has its widely respected Snipping Tool. In fact, if you’ve recently switched your PC for Mac, at some point you’re guaranteed to wonder where and what is Snipping Tool for Mac.
Is there a snipping tool for Mac?
Rest assured, you’re not left without screenshots forever. A snipping tool for Mac does exist. Moreover, just like on Windows, it’s built right into the operating system — which is the answer to the common question of where to download snipping tool for Mac.
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macOS snipping tool is so baked into the operating system that it doesn’t even have a name. It just … well, works, mirroring the Snipping Tool you’ve grown accustomed to on Windows almost to a T. Plus, there’s not just one snipping tool on Mac — there are dozens. Below, we’ll compare the default screenshot snipping tool Mac offers to its Windows alternative, and introduce third-party tools like CleanShot, Dropshare, and Capto as well.
How to use snipping tool on Mac
Even if you don’t use keyboard shortcuts much, you probably know one or two that let you take screenshots. There are different options on how to take a snip on Mac. You can use a specific shortcut for each type of screen capturing — area, window, entire screen, etc. Or, you can start with a shortcut that opens the macOS snipping tool menu and choose the best option there.
Where do your screen snips go? By default, every screenshot you create is saved to Desktop. To change the location, press ⇧⌘5 to open the snipping tool menu > Options > Save to. Let’s dive a bit deeper into what shortcuts you should keep in mind to make the most of the macOS snipping tool.
A shortcut for snipping tool
What is the macOS snipping tool shortcut? The shortest answer to “how to snip on Mac?” is to press ⇧⌘5. The shortcut calls up a small menu in the lower part of the screen with lots of options to choose from.
This menu first appeared in macOS Mojave in 2018. Before then, Mac users were limited to either using ⇧⌘3 to take a screenshot of the whole screen or ⇧⌘4 to select an area (these shortcuts still work the same). If you’re using one of the macOS versions before Mojave, make sure to update to the latest macOS available to make full use of the snipping tool on Mac.
So the menu for the Mac OS snipping tool features the following options:
- Capture Entire Screen
- Capture Selected Window
- Caption Selected Portion (area)
- Record Entire Screen
- and Record Selected Portion (area).
Besides, there is also an Options dropdown, where you can change where to save the resulting image, set a timer, and choose whether to show the mouse pointer.
BTW, did you know that you can use Mac snipping tool to also take screenshots of the Touch Bar?
- To save a screenshot of Touch Bar as a file on your desktop press ⇧⌘6
- To copy what you see on Touch Bar to your clipboard press ⌃⇧⌘6
You can customize your keyboard shortcuts by going to System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts > Screenshots.
Right away you can see how similar the functionality of a snipping tool on Mac is to its Windows counterpart. Let’s compare screenshot capabilities side by side:
- Full screen: Mac and Windows
- Single app window: Mac and Windows
- Area: Mac and Windows
- Freeform: Windows only
- Video: Mac only
- Delay: 5 or 10 seconds on Mac, 1 to 5 seconds on Windows
- Editing: full toolkit on Mac, limited on Windows
Diving into details, you might notice that the snipping tool on Mac doesn’t allow for a freeform capture. Likewise, its Windows alternative can’t record video and only offers limited annotation options. So naturally, this default screenshot grabber on Mac would be your go-to in most cases. However, if you need to be able to capture screenshots with a freehand selection or you’re just eager to use something more powerful, third-party Mac apps have a lot to offer.
Snipping tool alternatives
Download apps that allow to customize and enjoy screenshotting on Mac – better than default programs.
Snipping tool to capture your screen without distractions
While Mac’s default snipping tool can create basic screenshots, a professional utility like CleanShot X seamlessly enhances its functionality. It allows you to hide all desktop icons to capture your screen with no distractions, change the wallpaper, preview screenshots before you save them, copy the resulting image or video into your clipboard, annotate images with ease, and much more.
CleanShot X is also way more robust than the macOS tool in terms of how you snip and copy different parts of your screen. You can take a scrolling capture, record GIFs and videos (in fact, all the GIFs you see in this article were created with CleanShot X), etc.
To give yourself an example of what CleanShot X is truly capable of, choose Capture Area within the app (notice how desktop icons disappear), drag your mouse to make a screenshot, and click the pen icon to edit the result before it gets saved.
To be able to always capture your screen without all the desktop icons getting in your way, set and use custom hotkeys in the Preferences menu of the CleanShot X app. And if you wonder what’s the most effective way to share your screenshot with others, you need to know about one more app.
Extract text from PDFs, images, presentations, or videos
If you don’t want to capture screen but rather text from a specific area of your screen, TextSniper does the job perfectly. This OCR tool allows you to extract text from a YouTube video, someone’s online presentation, graphical image, PDF document, you name it.
Here’s how to grab text from anywhere with TextSniper:
- Open the app via Setapp — you’ll see the icon appear in the menu bar
- Click on the icon > Capture text and select the area from where you want to copy text
- The text is automatically saved to your clipboard.
Share screenshots with others instantly
Unlike the default snipping tool on Mac, we have a tool that approaches the problem of screen snips as a sharing problem first and foremost.
Dropshare is a Mac snipping tool alternative that allows you to choose between capturing a specific area, capturing and editing, and recording an area or full screen. After you’re done, all URLs would be saved automatically and ready to share with your team. Every time you take a screenshot, Dropshare swiftly uploads it to the cloud and gives you a short link to share with others. It’s also robust in its uploading options, offering you a choice between 10 GB of its own storage or any of the cloud providers you already use, such as Dropbox, Google Drive, Rackspace, Amazon S3, etc.
However, if you want to make 100% freehand selections or take webpage screenshots of any length, you need to combine Dropshare with another brilliant utility.
How to capture freehand region on a Mac
Compared to other tools discussed above, Capto is in a league of its own and virtually redefines how to snip on Mac. It lets you capture full screen, circle area, rectangle area, freeform area, single app window, menus, webpages, and more. Besides, it features a robust editor to help you modify the results.
To create screenshots of any type, open the app, click Area > Freehand and draw out the shape. Hit Option to capture a screenshot — it will appear in the Capto app automatically. You can then edit your screen capture and share it anywhere.
Similarly, the options for instantly taking seamless screenshots of long web pages are available under the Web tab, where you can choose to use a built-in browser to search for the website or open the current URL. This feature completely eliminates the need for the old-school way of taking screenshots as long as your display allows and then somehow stitching them all together by hand.
What is the best snipping tool for Mac?
As you can see, your Mac has a wide array of snipping tools to cover every need possible. And hopefully, by reading this far, you’ve come a long way from wondering whether “Mac has snipping tools at all” to “how to use snipping tool for Mac” to “omg, which snipping tool do I choose.”
Your choice in using a specific snipping tool should correlate to your needs. It’s probably a good idea to disregard the default macOS snipping tool and instead use CleanShot X right away, as it features more functionality and a much cleaner experience. But if communication is key, turn to Dropshare, which enables you to stay in the loop in a super-productive and visual way. TextSniper will work great for your OCR tasks — saving text from graphics, video, etc. And finally, no screenshot functionality is too complicated for Capto, which brings all custom screenshot needs under one roof.
Best of all, you can try and download all these apps, and decide which one you like the most for free because all of them are available through Setapp, a suite of 200+ best-in-class Mac and iOS apps for any job. Taking screenshots with unique apps from Setapp will bring you the most beautiful results of the highest quality in no time. Screenshot away!
Snipping Tool is the default Windows screenshot utility for Windows 10/8/7/Vista. You can take a screenshot on Windows for free with Snipping Tool. Some Mac users also want to get a Snipping Tool on Mac. Though there is no official Snipping Tool for Mac version, you can get Snipping Tool alternatives instead. What programs for Mac you can use? This article reviews 5 popular Mac screenshot tools alternative to Windows Snipping Tool. You can compare and choose one to snip on Mac.
Snipping Tool Mac
Part 1: Top 5 Snipping Tools for Mac
What is the best snipping tool for Mac? If you don’t know which Mac snipping tool to choose, you can continue reading to get more details. Here’re the detailed pros and cons of each screen snipping tool for all Mac users.
Top 1: AnyMP4 Screen Recorder – Your Annotated Snipping Tool for Mac
AnyMP4 Screen Recorder is an HD screen recorder and screenshot capture tool for Mac OS X 10.10 or above, including the macOS Monterey version. You can take a screenshot of or capture the streaming video online and webcam in one click. The hotkey controls also allow users to grab any moment in full screen.
If you want to take snapshots on Mac, you can enter into its Screen Capture section. It is your Mac snipping tool. You can take high-resolution screenshots on Mac with customizable screen sizes and multiple drawing tools. If you want to quickly create annotated screen capture images on Mac, AnyMP4 Screen Recorder is your first choice.
Like:
- 1. Take a screenshot on Mac in full screen, active window, and any other custom screen.
- 2. Edit a screenshot with annotations, including border, shape, line, text, callout, and more in custom size and color.
- 3. Save your captured Mac screenshot to JPG, PNG, BMP, TIFF, GIF, and many other formats.
- 4. Set custom screen snipping tool hotkeys.
- 5. No watermark in free snipping tool Mac version.
Dislike:
- 1. Its free trial version has limited features.
Top 2: Grab – Former Default Mac Snipping Tool
Grab is pre-installed on macOS 101.3 (High Sierra) by default. There is no need to install extra snipping tool Mac software. Though Grab is replaced by the Screenshot utility since macOS 10.14 (Mojave) update, you can still take a screenshot on Mac with Grab for free.
Like:
- 1. Capture Mac screen in the selection, window, screen, and timed screen mode.
- 2. Show or hide the cursor/pointer in Mac screenshots.
- 3. Save the Mac snips to JPEG, TIFF, GIF, or PDF format.
Dislike:
- 1. Grab may fail to work after a macOS update.
- 2. The new Screenshot utility replaces Grab since macOS 10.14 update.
Top 3: Lightshot – Light Snipping Tool for Mac
Lightshot allows users to set the sniping area and take its screenshot in 2 clicks. Before exporting, you can use the online editor to edit the Mac screenshot instantly. Later, you can upload your screenshot and get a short link. Lightshot Mac snipping tool allows users to share a screenshot on Mac.
Like:
- 1. Add text, rectangle, line, and arrow to your Mac screenshot picture.
- 2. Save, share, or upload screenshots to the cloud server.
- 3. Get Lightshot for Chrome extension to quickly screenshot on Chrome browsers.
Dislike:
- 1. Sometimes it takes a lot of time to generate a screenshot sharing link.
- 2. There are only basic drawing tools in the Mac screen capture tool.
Top 4: Snagit – Professional Snipping Tool with Scrollable Screeshot
Snagit was initially designed for business visual instructions. You can take snapshots and screen videos with complex edits. Compared with other screen snipping tools for Mac, Snagit can snip a scrollable screenshot. Thus, you can screenshot an entire webpage on Mac.
Like:
- 1. Capture a scrolling screen on your Mac computer with Snagit.
- 2. Add effects with the Mac screenshots within the Snagit editor.
- 3. Save the snipped Mac screenshot to JPG, BMP, GIF, and other popular formats
Dislike:
- 1. The price of Snagit full version is expensive.
- 2. The Snagit font options are limited.
Top 5: Monosnap – Enterprise-level Mac Snipping Tool
Monosnap allows users to capture full screen, part of the screen, and the selected window on Mac. Moreover, you can add annotation to your screen captured image. You can save the Mac screenshot, share it on social media, or send it to Photoshop for further editing.
Like:
- 1. Capture screenshots on Mac with full screen, or record specific window based on your need.
- 2. Use hotkeys to control Mac snipping and screen video recording.
- 3. Edit and blur on your Mac snapshot to highlight or hide details.
Dislike:
- 1. Many users complain that Monosnap detects their screenshots for commercial use.
- 2. Monosnap free users cannot share a screenshot to Dropbox and Google Drive directly.
Part 2: How to Use Snipping Tool on Mac
It is easy to screenshot on Mac. You can use a third-party Mac snipping tool or its default screenshot hotkeys. Just do as the following steps show.
Way 1: Take a Screenshot with Annotation on Mac
No matter you want to take Mac screenshots for tutorials, businesses, educations, and more, you can use AnyMP4 Screen Recorder to solve the problem perfectly. You can capture any area on your MacBook Pro or MacBook Air screen clearly. Here’re the detailed steps to use the snipping tool and do a screenshot on Mac.
Step 1. Launch AnyMP4 Screen Recorder on your Mac computer. Choose Screen Capture to access the Mac snipping tool.
Step 2. Hover your mouse on the Mac screen. Drag and drop the left-click mouse to set the area.
Step 3. Draw on your screenshot with customized shapes and colors.
Step 4. Find and click the Save icon to download a screenshot on Mac.
What’s more, it can be also used as an online mic recorder.
Way 2: Default Mac Snipping Tool Shortcuts
Or you can capture a screenshot on Mac with shortcut combinations. Just press and release the following Mac screenshot hotkeys. Select any portion and then release the mouse button. Later, you can get a Mac screenshot in PNG format.
Take a screenshot on Mac of full screen: Shift + Command + 3
Snipping Tool Mojave Windows
Take a screenshot on Mac of any portion: Shift + Command + 4
Take a screenshot on Mac of an active window/menu: Shift + Command + 4 + Space bar
Snipping Tool Mojave Free
Part 3: FAQs of Mac Snipping Tools
Where do Mac screenshots go?
The captured screenshots are saved in PNG format on Mac desktop by default. You can find the Mac screenshot with the file name like Screen Shot xxxxx.png.
How To Snipping Tool Mac
Can I change the keyboard shortcuts for Mac screenshot?
Yes. Choose System Preferences from the Apple drop-down list. Go to Keyboard and select Keyboard Shortcuts. Choose Screen Shots from the list. Check the box before the screen capture shortcuts you want to edit.
How to take screenshots with Mac Screenshot?
Snipping Tool Mac Mojave
Press Shift, Command, and 5 keys at the same time on the Mac keyboard. Choose a snipping tool from the bottom menu bar. Here you can capture entire screen, program window, or a portion of the Mac screen based on your need.
Snipping Tool Mojave Windows 10
Conclusion
Those are highly reviewed Mac snipping tools in 2021. You can snip on Mac with any screen size with high resolution. Furthermore, you can add annotations and make other changes while capturing Mac snips. If you want to capture and edit a Mac screen in one stop, AnyMP4 Screen Recorder can be your first choice. When you’re free, you can try to learn how to record videos on mac with it. The intuitive interface and powerful functions are beginner-friendly. Just free download and have a try right now.