How to screenshot to the clipboard on Mac

Hold Control with the usual keys: ⌃⇧⌘4 copies the part of the screen you drag over, and ⌃⇧⌘3 copies the whole screen. No file is saved; paste the picture with ⌘V wherever you need it, such as a chat, an e-mail, a document or a design app.

Updated November 2, 2026

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Copy a screenshot and paste it

Press ⌃⇧⌘4 (Control, Shift, Command and 4 together).
Drag over the part of the screen you want. For a window, press Space and click it.
Go to the place where it should go and press ⌘V.

A small trick: start with ⇧⌘4 as usual and hold Control only as you let go. The capture goes to the clipboard instead of a file.

Always copy, without holding Control

Press ⇧⌘5 and click Options.
Under Save to, choose Clipboard.
From now on ⇧⌘3 and ⇧⌘4 copy instead of saving. Choose Desktop again to go back.

Copy and keep a file, both at once

macOS makes you choose: a file or the clipboard. SimpleShot, a free capture app for Mac, does both by default: every capture is on the clipboard the moment you take it and saved in your screenshot folder, and a thumbnail waits in the corner. From the thumbnail you can copy it again, drag it straight into a message as a file, open it in the editor, or press Link to put a link to it on the clipboard instead. Captures also stay in the Library, so the one you copied an hour ago is still there after you copied something else.

Before you paste a screenshot of a chat, a bill or a settings page, press Hide Sensitive Data: it covers the e-mail addresses, phone and card numbers, IBANs and keys it finds, and what you paste is the covered version. To have it done on every capture, turn on Hide sensitive data automatically in Settings › Capture.

Questions

How do I copy a screenshot on a Mac?

Press ⌃⇧⌘4 and drag, or ⌃⇧⌘3 for the whole screen. The screenshot is on the clipboard; paste it with ⌘V.

Where is a copied screenshot saved?

Nowhere: it lives only on the clipboard until you copy something else. To keep it, paste it into Preview with File › New from Clipboard and save it.

Why can’t I paste my screenshot?

Without Control, the screenshot was saved as a file, not copied. Hold Control, or drag the file or its thumbnail into the app instead. Some fields, like plain-text boxes, don’t take pictures at all.

Can I paste a Mac screenshot on my iPhone?

Yes, with Universal Clipboard: both devices signed in to the same Apple Account, with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and Handoff on. Copy on the Mac, then paste on the iPhone.

Copied, saved
and ready to paste.