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Snipping Tool for Mac: The Built-In Equivalent (2026)

Name: Pizazoo
Author: Pizazoo

Macs have no Snipping Tool, but Shift-Command-4 and Shift-Command-5 do the same job. Every Snipping Tool feature mapped to macOS, plus apps that fill gaps.

October 6, 20267 min read

Muhammed BasilFounder & maker of Pizazoo

There is no Snipping Tool on a Mac, and you do not need to download one: macOS has the same features built in. The Mac version of Windows logo key + Shift + S is Shift-Command-4, which turns the pointer into a crosshair so you can drag over part of the screen. Shift-Command-5 opens a toolbar with window capture, a timer and screen recording, much like the Snipping Tool window.

Snipping Tool is a Windows app: Microsoft's Snipping Tool guide applies to Windows 11 and Windows 10 only, so anything sold as "Snipping Tool for Mac" is a third-party app using the name. On a Mac, the equivalent is the Screenshot app, included since macOS Mojave 10.14 and found in Applications > Utilities (Apple).

What is the Snipping Tool shortcut on a Mac?

On Windows	On a Mac
Windows logo key + Shift + S (snip overlay)	Shift-Command-4 to drag over an area, or Shift-Command-5 for the full toolbar
Print Screen (whole screen to the clipboard)	Control-Shift-Command-3 (or Shift-Command-3 to save a file)
Windows logo key + Shift + R (video snip)	Shift-Command-5, then a Record tool
Alt + D (delay)	Shift-Command-5, then Options > Timer
Ctrl + C (copy the snip)	Add Control when you capture, for example Control-Shift-Command-4
Ctrl + S (save)	Not needed: the Mac saves a file to the desktop automatically

Windows shortcuts are from Microsoft; Mac shortcuts are from Apple's Mac User Guide for macOS 27, which matches macOS Tahoe 26.

The big difference: a Mac snip goes either to a file or to the clipboard, not both. Without Control you get a file on the desktop; with Control you get a clipboard copy and no file.

How do I snip on a Mac?

Press Shift-Command-4. The pointer becomes a crosshair.
Drag over the area you want and let go. Hold the Space bar while dragging to move the selection, or press Esc to cancel.
For a window instead, press Shift-Command-4, then the Space bar, and click the window. Hold Option as you click to leave out its shadow.
A thumbnail appears in the bottom-right corner. Click it to mark up, crop or share the snip, or ignore it and the file saves to your desktop (Apple).

To snip and paste straight into a chat or document, press Control-Shift-Command-4, drag, then press Command-V where you want it. Our full guide to taking a screenshot on Mac covers every other shortcut.

Which Snipping Tool features does a Mac have?

Snipping Tool feature	Built into macOS?
Rectangle snip	Yes: Shift-Command-4, then drag
Window snip	Yes: Shift-Command-4, then Space bar
Full screen snip	Yes: Shift-Command-3
Freeform snip	Not built in. Workaround: Preview's Smart Lasso after capture (below)
Delay	Yes: Screenshot app Options > Timer
Pen, highlighter, shapes, crop	Yes: click the thumbnail for Markup, or open the file in Preview
Copy to clipboard	Yes: add Control to the shortcut
Text actions (copy text)	Yes, after capture: Live Text in Preview
Quick redact emails and phone numbers	Not built in
Video snip	Yes: Shift-Command-5, then Record (MOV files)
Color picker (Copilot+ PCs)	Yes, as a separate app: Digital Color Meter
Perfect screenshot (Copilot+ PCs)	Not built in. Window capture snaps to a whole window
Save to a Screenshots folder	Saves to the desktop; change it in Options > Save to

Microsoft's guide describes the Windows features, including that Perfect screenshot and Color picker need a Copilot+ PC and that Text actions run on the device (Microsoft).

How do I set a delay like Snipping Tool?

Press Shift-Command-5, click Options, and choose a delay below Timer (Mac User Guide). Macworld lists the choices as None, 5 seconds and 10 seconds. Click Capture, then open the menu or hover state you want while the countdown runs.

Can I take a freeform snip on a Mac?

Not at capture time; macOS captures the full screen, a window or a rectangle only. The closest built-in route is to capture a rectangle, then cut the shape out in Preview (steps from Apple's Preview User Guide for macOS 27):

Take a normal screenshot with Shift-Command-4 and open it in Preview.
Click the Show Markup Toolbar button, click the Selection Tools menu, then choose Smart Lasso.
Trace around the part you want, and connect the end back to the start.
Choose Edit > Copy, then paste the cut-out wherever you need it.

How do I copy text from a snip on a Mac?

Snipping Tool's Text actions button has a Mac counterpart in Live Text, which works on any screenshot you open in Preview (Apple):

Open the screenshot in Preview and hold the pointer over the text.
Drag to select the text, Control-click the selection, then choose Copy Text.
If you cannot select text, choose Tools > Text Selection.

The same menu can look up, translate or search the selected text. What macOS lacks is Snipping Tool's Quick redact for emails and phone numbers; see how to redact screenshots on Mac for the options. More ways to grab text are in how to copy text from a screenshot on Mac.

How do I record my screen like a video snip?

Press Shift-Command-5 and choose Record Entire Screen, Record Selected Window (macOS Tahoe 26 or later) or Record Selected Portion, then click Record. Stop it from the menu bar or with Command-Control-Esc. In macOS 27, Options adds Include System Audio (Apple). Recordings save as .mov files; click the floating thumbnail to trim one, or open it in QuickTime Player.

Is there a color picker like Snipping Tool's?

Yes, as a separate app. Open Digital Color Meter (search for it in Spotlight), point at any pixel, and press Shift-Command-C to copy the color value as text (Apple). It is included with macOS, while Snipping Tool's Color picker needs a Copilot+ PC.

Where do Mac screenshots save?

On the desktop, not in a Screenshots folder like Windows. To match the Windows habit, make a Screenshots folder in Pictures, then press Shift-Command-5, click Options, choose Other Location and pick that folder. Step-by-step and Terminal options are in how to change the screenshot location on Mac.

Which apps fill the gaps?

If you want freeform-style editing, scrolling capture, one-key text grabs or sharing links, these are the usual picks. Prices and requirements are from each app's own site, checked October 6, 2026:

App	Price	Runs on	Adds over the built-in tool
Shottr	Free to use; $12 one-time Basic, $30 Friends Club	macOS 10.15 or later	Scrolling screenshots, OCR and QR reading, pixelate and object removal, screen ruler, color picker
CleanShot X	$35 one-time with a year of updates; Pro $10 per user per month, billed annually	macOS 13 or later	Scrolling capture, on-device text recognition, self-timer, MP4 and GIF recording, cloud links
Lightshot	Free	Mac App Store app, last updated 2019	Quick area capture with arrows and text, upload for a short share link, similar image search

Details worth knowing before you choose:

Shottr: free use comes with occasional prompts to buy after 30 days, and a license is required for commercial use. One license covers one user on up to five computers (Shottr).
CleanShot X: there is no trial, but there is a 30-day money-back guarantee, and updates after the first year are an optional $19 per year. It is also included in Setapp, which has a 7-day free trial (CleanShot).
Lightshot: the Mac version is Lightshot Screenshot on the Mac App Store, version 2.22, last updated in July 2019. Its Mac hotkey is Shift-Command-9, and uploads go to Lightshot's prntscr.com server to create the share link, so keep private screenshots local.
ShareX: if you used it on Windows, there is no Mac version. Its site describes it as a screenshot tool for Windows (ShareX).

For a deeper comparison of capture apps, see the best screenshot apps for Mac.

What happens to all those snips afterwards?

Disclosure: we make Pizazoo. Whichever capture tool you pick, the snips pile up. Pizazoo for Mac does not capture anything itself; it watches the folders your screenshots save to (the macOS screenshot folder, plus folders you add for Shottr or CleanShot X), imports new ones automatically, and makes the text inside them searchable with on-device OCR. Those parts are free, on macOS 14 Sonoma or later: download Pizazoo.