How To Fix Screenshot On Mac Not Working Problem

Are your Mac screenshot shortcuts not responding properly? Did you hear the camera shutter sound, but are they not appearing on your screen? Well, no doubt, taking screenshots on Mac is a damn straightforward process because Mac comes with an easy way to do that. But since several users are complaining about the “screenshot on Mac not working” problem, we are here to help. 

Well, read our guide to find six best fixes to misplaced Mac Screenshot shortcuts & ways to take a screenshot on Mac easily!

Ways To Fix Screenshot On Mac Not Working Problem

PART 1: The Correct Way To Take A Screenshot On Mac

Well, before you go for finding the solutions to fix “Screenshots on MacBook” not working problem. You first need to make sure that you are capturing the Mac screen the right way. 

Check out the default Mac Screenshot Shortcuts:

• Command ? + CTRL + SHIFT + 3 = To Print Full Screen To Clipboard 
• Command ? + SHIFT + 3 = To Capture Full Mac Screen & Save As File 
• Command ? + CTRL + SHIFT + 4 = To Capture Selected Area To Clipboard 
• Command ? + SHIFT + 4 = To Print Selected Area & Save As File

That’s how you take screenshots on Mac. If you think you are using them correctly but still not be able to capture the screen and save it, keep reading our upcoming part. We have mentioned some effective solutions that would help you capture screenshots on MacBook Pro without any hassle!  

PART 2: Quick Fixes To Resolve Screenshot On Mac Not Working Issue: MacBook Pro

If you are sure that you are pressing the Mac Screenshot Shortcuts correctly but are still not able to capture the Mac screen, apply the following fixes. 

FIX 1: Restart & Update Your macOS

If you haven’t forced restart your Mac in a long time, then it might be possible that certain functions stop responding. So, we will try with a simple fix to see if it helps you to solve the Apple screenshots problem. Check out different ways to restart MacBook. 

• Hold down the Power button & choose the Restart option. 
• Hit the Control + Eject button altogether & select Restart option. 
• Click on the Apple menu and hit the Restart button. 
• Alternatively, you can also press CTRL + CMD + Power buttons to choose the Restart option. 

If Mac restart doesn’t solve your problem, then check out whether there’s an update available for your MacBook. Quite often, the company releases specific bug fixes that can help you resolve the common problems. 

To check for Mac updates, follow the steps:

• Open System Preferences & go to Software Update 
• Hit the Update Now button. If there’s a new macOS version available, you can follow the on-screen prompts to start the installation process. 

FIX 2: Check The Keyboard Settings 

Though the keyboard shortcuts are enabled by default if in case they have been turned off at some point or have been set to combinations other than defaults, you have to check them once: 

• Click on the Apple menu (located in the Dock) > Open System Preferences.
• Keyboard > head towards the Shortcuts tab. 
• Click on Screenshots option & go through the settings.
• If by any chance the Mac Screenshot Shortcuts are disabled, check the boxes to turn them back on. 
• Hit Restore Defaults option to restart Mac with your default keyboard shortcut settings. 

FIX 3: Confirm The Location Of Saving Mac Screenshots

By default, all the taken Mac Screenshots are saved to the Desktop. However, if you have ever changed the location settings, your screenshot may get hidden from you. To make sure the location of saving screenshots on MacBook, check out these steps.

• Launch the Screenshot app > Options 
• Now verify the location that is set to save the Mac Screenshots, if it is correct, hit the Save to section. 
• If not, change it to Desktop and Save it!

FIX 4: Try Using Grab To Screenshot On Mac 

There are a few other ways to take screenshots on Mac. If your Mac screenshot shortcuts aren’t responding correctly, try giving Grab tool a chance to capture the screen on Mac machine. If you are already aware, Grab is a native Apple application that lets users take screenshots of the entire window or a specific area of your display. 

To take a screenshot with Grab Apple Screenshot tool, follow the steps below:

• Launch Applications  & go to Utilities 
• Locate ‘Grab’ macOS app & hit the Capture button

According to your requirements, choose the desired option to take a screenshot on a Mac machine. 

FIX 5: Make Use Of Preview To Screenshot On Mac 

You must already be aware of the excellent default utility Preview, that Mac offers to open, manage & edit images easily. You can utilize the Preview tool to grab screens on Mac, next time you encounter the problem of ‘Screenshot on Mac not Working’ properly. 

To use the Preview app on Mac for capturing screenshots, follow the steps below: 

• Navigate to the Preview app, located in the Dock. 
• Hit the File option & from the drop-down menu, choose Take Screenshot option. 

• You can either choose to take a screenshot of the whole window, your entire Mac screen or a specific selection of the window.

Hopefully, you found these methods to take a screenshot on MacBook effortless. However, if you want to fix the Mac Screenshot Shortcuts quickly, here’s another workaround worth trying! 

FIX 6: Try Resetting Your Mac’s NVRAM

The methods mentioned above should probably rule out the problem of ‘Screenshot on Mac not responding’ and also the misplaced screenshot shortcuts. But if these old school tricks didn’t work out for you, then you might need to go a little deeper to check out the internal settings of your MacBook. 

Since NVRAM (Nonvolatile Random-Access Memory), is entirely responsible for controlling the internal settings for your Mac, you can try giving it a quick reset to see if it solves your ‘Screenshot on Mac’ not working issue. 

Here’s a complete guide on How To Reset Mac NVRAM? Check out!  

FIX 7: Load Mac in Safe Mode

It could be that there is malware on your Mac or there are some issues that you can’t resolve in normal mode. You can tackle all such issues in Safe Mode. We have already covered a detailed post on how you can boot Mac in Safe Mode.

FIX 8: Check Mac For Malware

Since we have mentioned malware, any instances of malware can interfere with the functionality of your Mac, it is therefore important that you take due measures to get rid of malware on your Mac.

PART 3:  How To Recover Lost Screenshots On Mac?

Well most probably, as soon as the “Screenshot On Mac Not Working” problem gets resolved, all your captured screens should be saved securely. But in case, you lost them due to unknown reasons, don’t worry, we’ll be telling you specific ways to recover your accidentally deleted or lost screenshots on Mac. We recommend using EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for this purpose. 

The Mac data recovery software is designed in a way that can restore accidentally deleted, missing or lost files such as photos, music files, documents, videos and other multimedia data. No matter what the data loss scenario is, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard works amazingly well to recover your lost media files in just a few clicks. You can try it NOW! 

PART 4: Connect With Us

Have any concerns regarding your Mac? Facing any other troubleshooting problems? Well, feel free to connect with us on our Social Media Platforms. We’ll try our best to help you with accurate diagnosis and solutions! 

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