MaciPhoneiPadmacOS 27iOS 27how-to

How to Crop a Screenshot on Mac, iPhone and iPad

Name: Pizazoo
Author: Pizazoo

Crop a screenshot on Mac with Shift-Command-4, the thumbnail, Preview or Photos, and on iPhone or iPad in the preview or Photos. macOS 27 and iOS 27 steps.

October 6, 20268 min read

Muhammed BasilFounder & maker of Pizazoo

To crop a screenshot on Mac, the fastest way is to skip cropping altogether: press Shift-Command-4 and drag over just the area you want. For a screenshot you already took, click the floating thumbnail and use the crop tool in Markup, or open the file in Preview or Photos. On iPhone and iPad, drag the crop handles in the screenshot preview before you save, or open the screenshot in Photos, tap Edit, then tap Crop.

The steps below follow Apple's macOS 27 Golden Gate, iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 guides and also work in macOS Tahoe 26 and iOS 26. They are the same on every Mac, from a MacBook Neo to a Mac Studio.

Which crop method should I use?

Where	Method	Can you undo it later?
Mac, before capturing	Shift-Command-4, then drag	Nothing to undo: only the area is captured
Mac, right after capturing	Floating thumbnail, then crop in Markup	Treat it as final once saved
Mac, any image file	Preview: Rectangular Selection, then Crop	Yes, with File > Revert To > Browse All Versions
Mac, Photos library	Photos: Edit, then Crop	Yes, with Image > Revert to Original
iPhone or iPad, right after capturing	Drag the handles in the screenshot preview	Apple does not say
iPhone or iPad, in Photos	Edit, then Crop	Yes, with Revert to Original

How do I crop a screenshot on Mac?

Capture only the area you need with Shift-Command-4

Press Shift, Command and 4 together. The pointer turns into a crosshair: drag over the area you want, then release the mouse or trackpad button to take the screenshot. Press Esc to cancel, and hold the Space bar while dragging to move the selection without changing its size (Apple).

If you capture the same area often, press Shift-Command-5 instead. Click the tool that captures a portion of the screen, drag the frame or its edges to fit, then click Capture. Under Options, Remember Last Selection keeps that frame ready for next time (Apple).

Crop from the floating thumbnail

After any screenshot, a thumbnail floats in the bottom-right corner for a few seconds. Click it to open a window where you can mark up the screenshot or share it before it saves (Apple):

Click the thumbnail, then click the Markup button at the top of the window and choose the crop tool (iDownloadBlog).
Drag the corner handles until only the area you want is inside the frame. You can drag the frame to reposition it. Click Crop (Apple).
Click Done to save the cropped screenshot.

No thumbnail? It is controlled by Show Floating Thumbnail in the Shift-Command-5 Options menu. The same crop tool appears when you select a screenshot in Finder, press the Space bar to open it in Quick Look (Apple) and click the Markup button. Apple warns that changes made in a Quick Look or Quick Actions window can't be undone after you close the window, so if you might need the full screenshot again, duplicate the file first: select it in Finder and press Command-D (Apple).

Crop a screenshot in Preview

Preview gives you the most control, including exact pixel dimensions. In Apple's macOS 27 Preview guide (Apple):

Open the screenshot in Preview.
Click the Show Markup Toolbar button if the toolbar isn't showing, then click the Rectangular Selection button.
Drag over the part you want to keep. To see the selection's size, choose Tools > Show Inspector and click the Crop Inspector button.
Click the Crop button in the Markup toolbar.

Preview's menu bar also has Tools > Crop, with the shortcut Command-K. Apple's guide documents only the toolbar button, but how-to guides from TechSmith and ScreenSnap both use the menu command. To undo right away, choose Edit > Undo Crop. To undo it later, choose File > Revert To > Browse All Versions and restore a version from before the crop.

Crop a screenshot in Photos on Mac

Mac screenshots save as files on your desktop, so they are not in Photos unless you import them: drag the file from Finder onto the Photos window (Apple). Screenshots from your iPhone are already there if you use iCloud Photos. Then (Apple):

Double-click the screenshot, then click Edit in the toolbar.
Click Crop in the toolbar. Drag the selection rectangle around the area you want to keep, or pick an aspect ratio in the sidebar, such as Square, 16:9 or Custom.
Click Done to save. Reset removes the current crop while you are still editing.

Apple notes that a crop changes the photo everywhere in Photos, including albums. If you want both versions, choose Image > Duplicate 1 Photo (Command-D) and crop the copy.

How do I crop a screenshot on iPhone?

Crop in the screenshot preview

In iOS 26 and iOS 27, a new screenshot opens full screen by default (Apple), and you can crop it right there:

Take the screenshot (side button and volume up, or side button and Home button).
Drag the handles at the edges and corners to keep only the part you want (Apple).
To save, swipe up, or tap the Done button at the top right and choose an option. Tap Close to discard the screenshot instead.

If you turned off Full-Screen Previews in Settings > General > Screen Capture, tap the thumbnail in the lower-left corner first. Thumbnail-style screenshots save automatically. The iOS 26 guide uses slightly different wording ("Drag the handles to save only the portion you want") but the same steps (Apple, iOS 26).

Crop in Photos, with aspect ratios

For a screenshot already in your library (Apple):

Open the screenshot in Photos and tap the Edit button.
Tap the Crop button. Drag the corners to enclose the area you want, or pinch.
Dragging a corner keeps the original aspect ratio. Tap the lock at the top-right corner of the photo to crop freely.
For a preset shape, tap the Aspect Ratio button and choose Square, Wallpaper, 9:16, 5:7 or another option.
Tap Done. Or tap Cancel, then Discard Changes.

A shortcut most guides skip: while viewing a screenshot, pinch to zoom in until it looks the way you want, then tap Crop in the top-right corner. Photos opens the crop tool already framed on what you zoomed to.

How do I crop a screenshot on iPad?

The same two ways. In iPadOS 26 and 27 the screenshot also opens full screen by default (Apple): drag the handles, then tap Done to save (Apple). With Apple Pencil, swipe up from a bottom corner to take the screenshot and go straight to markup (Apple).

In Photos on iPad, tap Edit, then the Crop button on the left side of the screen. The Aspect Ratio button sits at the top (Apple).

How do I crop a full-page screenshot?

Full-page screenshots, such as a whole webpage in Safari, have their own crop button. Take a screenshot, tap Full Page, then tap the Crop button and drag the handles to keep a smaller portion (Apple). Apple's iOS 26 guide lists two ways to save the result: Save to Photos for an image, or Save PDF to Files (Apple, iOS 26). For long captures in other apps, see how to take a scrolling screenshot.

How do I undo a crop on a screenshot?

iPhone or iPad, in Photos: open the screenshot, tap the More button, then tap Revert to Original (Apple). While still editing, the Undo button steps back one change at a time.
Mac, in Photos: select the screenshot and choose Image > Revert to Original, or click Revert to Original in the editing toolbar (Apple).
Mac, in Preview: Edit > Undo Crop right away, or File > Revert To > Browse All Versions later.
Mac, in Quick Look or Quick Actions: Apple says changes can't be undone after you close the window. Treat a crop made from the screenshot thumbnail the same way, which is why the duplicate-first tip above matters.

Apple does not say whether a crop made in the iPhone screenshot preview, before the screenshot is saved, can be reverted in Photos. If you might want the full screen later, save the screenshot first and crop it in Photos.

Does cropping remove the hidden part of a screenshot?

From the file you send, yes. On your own device, not always.

Photos keeps your original. Apple says that when you change a photo, Photos keeps the original so you can always revert (Apple). With iCloud Photos, edits sync across your devices (Apple). Anyone with your unlocked phone can tap Revert to Original. On a Mac, Preview's Browse All Versions can bring back an uncropped version of a file in the same way.
A normal share sends the cropped version. Apple lists one share option that sends more: All Photos Data, under Options in the share sheet, shares "the original file with edit history and metadata" and works with AirDrop only. Without it, the recipient gets the screenshot as it looks now. Leave it off when the crop hides something (Apple).
The 2023 cropping bug was not Apple's. The "aCropalypse" bug left cropped-out image data at the end of edited files in Google Pixel's Markup tool (BleepingComputer) and the Windows 11 Snipping Tool (BleepingComputer). Macworld reported at the time that Apple devices weren't affected (Macworld).

Cropping removes pixels, not metadata: Apple notes that sharing a photo also shares details such as the date, time, location and device (Apple). See do screenshots have metadata. If the sensitive part sits in the middle of the screenshot, crop won't help; redact it or black it out on iPhone instead.

Can I crop a screenshot without installing anything?

Yes. Besides the built-in tools above, the free online Screenshot Editor crops in Safari or any browser: drop or paste the image, choose Crop, drag over the area, press Apply crop, then download a PNG. The image stays in your browser and is never uploaded. It also adds arrows, text, step numbers and blur in the same pass.

Cropping inside a screenshot organizer

Disclosure: we make Pizazoo. If you crop screenshots to keep in a library rather than to send, Pizazoo for Mac and Pizazoo for iPhone and iPad both have a markup editor with a crop tool next to arrows, numbered steps and blur. The iPhone app is free on the App Store for iOS 17 or later, and both apps make the text in your screenshots searchable on your device. See the markup editor for the full tool list.