Copy Mac Screenshots Directly to the Clipboard

When taking a screenshot on a Mac, you may not always want the resulting image to be saved as a file on your desktop or in another directory. In such cases, the ability to save a captured screenshot directly to your clipboard can come in handy. This is especially useful when you need to use the screenshot immediately in another application, like editing it in Photoshop or sharing it via Mail.

The good news is that this extra functionality is built right into Mac OS and uses a simple modification of the already familiar Mac screenshot shortcuts. To save your Mac screenshot to the clipboard instead of to a file on your desktop, the magic key is Control (displayed as ⌃ on some older Mac keyboards).

For example, the keyboard shortcut to capture the entire screen is Shift (⇧) + Command (⌘) + 3. By adding Control to this combination – Control (⌃) + Shift (⇧) + Command (⌘) + 3 – you can capture your entire screen and place the image as a new PNG file on your desktop.

However, if you use Control (⌃) + Shift (⇧) + Command (⌘) + 3 to take a screenshot of your entire screen, nothing will appear on your desktop. Instead, pressing this key combination will capture your entire screen and place the image as a new PNG file on your desktop.

In addition to capturing the entire screen, you can also use other screenshot types, including Selection (Control (⌃) + Shift (⇧) + Command (⌘) + 4) and Window (Control (⌃) + Shift (⇧) + Command (⌘) + 4 + Spacebar). But if you open an app that can accept a pasted image, such as Pages, and try to paste the contents of your clipboard (Command + V), you'll see your screenshot appear.

The clipboard trick also works with other screenshot types, including Selection and Window. This means that instead of having to save each screenshot as a file on your desktop or in another directory, you can save them directly to your clipboard for use in another application.

Mac cut and paste screenshot