Hots On Mac

 

Taking a screenshot on a Mac® is as easy as on a PC—when you know the keyboard shortcuts to do so.

Not to be outdone, the Mac has four hot corners, one in-surprise!-each corner of the screen. You can use these hot corners to accomplish tasks with the flick of a finger that might otherwise require a more precise clicking of a dock icon or burrowing through a couple of levels of system preferences.

A hot MacBook is not just uncomfortable to work with, but it can reduce your battery's lifespan and possibly even damage other internal components. How to prevent your MacBook from getting too hot. Testing conducted by Apple in October 2020 on production 1.4GHz quad-core Intel Core i5-based 13-inch MacBook Pro systems with 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, and prerelease macOS Big Sur. Systems tested with WPA2 Wi-Fi network connection while running on battery power, with display brightness set to 12 clicks from bottom or 75%.

There are plenty of key commands in macOS® you might want to use for screen capture. Today, we’ll break down the six best shortcuts for screenshots that any Mac user NEEDS to know—plus the one useful application that accomplishes all that and more with just one click.

Capture a Screenshot of an Area

Figure 1 – Keyboard shortcut for taking a screenshot of part of a Mac screen

One of the most common needs for that “print screen” command on a Mac is when we need to capture a portion of the screen. It’s like a snipping tool for Mac. Be it an Instagram story, Twitter update, or part of a webpage to share with a colleague, you can screenshot any of those with just a few key combos.

(1) To capture a portion of the screen, do the following:

  1. Press Command-Shift-4 to change a pointer to a crosshair.
  2. Select the area of a screen you want to capture by moving and dragging the cursor.
  3. After releasing the mouse button, the screenshot will be saved as a PNG image on your desktop.

Figure 2 – Apple Support tweets the solution for screen capturing on Mac.

(2) To copy a portion of the screen to the clipboard, do the following:

  1. Press Command-Control-Shift-4 to change a pointer to a crosshair.
  2. Select the area of a screen you want to capture by moving and dragging the cursor.
  3. After clicking on the mouse, the screenshot will be saved to the clipboard.
  4. Select the application where you want to insert the captured image, such as Word, Skype, or Outlook.
  5. Press Command-V to paste the screenshot.

Capture a Screenshot of an Active Window

Figure 3 – The process of taking screenshots of an active application

If you need a screenshot of a specific application that you’re currently using, use this method. You can easily print screen an active window of any program, be it Safari, Chrome, Photoshop, or Microsoft Excel.

(3) To capture a screenshot of an active window, do the following:

  1. Press Command-Shift-4 to change a pointer to a crosshair.
  2. Tap on the spacebar on your keyboard. The cursor will change to a camera.
  3. Select the active application window you want to capture by moving your cursor.
  4. When you move the cursor over an application, the window will be highlighted.
  5. Click the mouse button on the window you want to capture. The screenshot will be saved as a PNG image on your desktop.

(4) To copy a screenshot of an active window to the clipboard, do the following:

  1. Press Command-Control-Shift-4 to change a pointer to a crosshair.
  2. Tap on the spacebar on your keyboard. The cursor will change to a camera.
  3. Select the active application window you want to capture by moving your cursor.
  4. When you move the cursor over an application, the window will be highlighted.
  5. Click the mouse button on the window you want to capture. The screenshot will be saved to the clipboard.
  6. Select the application where you want to insert the captured image, like Word, Skype, or Outlook
  7. Press Command-V to paste the screenshot.

Capture the Entire Screen

Figure 4 – Keyboard shortcut for capturing the entire screen on a Mac

(5) To capture a screenshot of a whole page, do the following:

  1. Press Command-Shift-3 to take a screenshot of the whole screen.
  2. The screenshot will be saved as a PNG image on your desktop.

(6) To copy a screenshot of a whole page to the clipboard, do the following:

  1. Press Command-Control-Shift-3 to copy the whole screen.
  2. The screenshot will be automatically saved to the clipboard.
  3. Select the application where you want to insert the captured image, like Word, Skype, or Outlook
  4. Press Command-V to paste the screenshot.

Mac App for Taking Screenshots

Figure 5 – Parallels Toolbox: The ultimate Mac application for screen and video capturing

Sometimes, remembering all the dozens of shortcuts to take a Mac screenshot is not our main priority. All we need is a simple application that has everything ready for us with just one click.

Parallels® Toolbox Screen and Video Pack is the best Designed to help optimize your workday, it has all the important tools for everyday needs, such as screen and video capturing, video converter, YouTube video downloader, and more.

You can try Parallels Toolbox without any obligations and decide for yourself whether a small introductory price is a fair cost for all the time saved.

Where to Find Screenshots on a Mac

Hots Mac Support

Figure 6 – The primary location for all screenshots on a Mac is the desktop

Once you’re done taking them, where do screenshots on a Mac go?

Normally, screenshots are saved as PNG images (titled with the current date and time stamp) right on the desktop. The format looks as follows: “Screen Shot 2018-07-04 at 12.25.36.png”. Alternatively, a user can copy Mac screenshots to the clipboard by adding Control to the key combination and then pasting it right in the needed document. Here at Parallels, we practice this often—we love taking a MacBook® screenshot and sharing it with coworkers. It’s an easy and quick way to effectively communicate what we see on our end.

What to Do if Screen Capture on Mac Is Not Working

The shortcuts for screen capturing may not work for a few reasons. One of the most common ones: they are simply disabled.

To fix that, do the following:

  1. From the Apple menu in the top left corner, open System Preferences and click on the Keyboard.
  2. In the new window, click on Shortcuts.
  3. Find Screen Shots in the left menu.
  4. Check if the shortcuts are active and have the same key combos you type.
  5. To change a shortcut, select it and click the new key combination.

If the shortcut is working but screenshots turn out blank, the reason is often copyright issues with the third-party application on the screen. To solve that, use the Parallels Toolbox application for screen capturing.

NOTE:

Between mid October 2019 and mid February 2020 everyone in the Army was migrated to use their PIV Authentication certificate for Email access. You no longer use the Email certificate for Enterprise Email or any CAC enabled websites

Mac users who choose to upgrade (or already have upgraded) to Mac OS Catalina (10.15.x) or Big Sur (11.xx.x) will need to uninstall all 3rd Party CAC enablers per https://militarycac.com/macuninstall.htm AND reenable the native smart card ability (very bottom of macuninstall link above)

If you purchased your Mac with OS Catalina (10.15.x) or Big Sur (11.xx.x) already installed, you can skip the uninstall part above and follow the instructions below.

6 'high level' steps needed, follow down the page to make this a painless systematic process

1.Is your CAC reader 'Mac friendly'?
2.Can your Mac 'see' the reader?
3.Verify which version of Mac OS you have
4.Figure out which CAC (ID card) you have
5.Install the DoD certificates
5a.Additional DoD certificate installation instructions for Firefox users
6.Decide which CAC enabler you want to use (except for 10.12-.15 & 11)

Step 1: Is your CAC reader Mac friendly?

Visit the USB Readers page to verify the CAC reader you have is Mac friendly.

Visit the USB-C Readers page to verify the CAC reader you have is Mac friendly.

'Some, not all' CAC readers may need to have a driver installed to make it work.

NOTE: Readers such as: SCR-331 & SCR-3500A may need a firmware update (NO OTHER Readers need firmware updates).

Hot Apple Cider Recipe Easy

Information about these specific readers are in Step 2

Hots On Mac

Step 2: Can your Mac 'see' the reader?

Plug the CAC reader into an open USB port before proceeding, give it a few moments to install

Step 2a: Click the Apple Icon in the upper left corner of the desktop, select 'About This Mac'

Step 2b: Click 'System Report...' (button)

Step 2c: Verify the CAC reader shows in Hardware, USB, under USB Device Tree. Different readers will show differently, most readers have no problem in this step. See Step 2c1 for specific reader issues.

Step 2c1: Verify firmware version on your SCR-331, SCR-3310 v.20, GSR-202, 202V, 203, or SCR-3500a reader. If you have a reader other than these 6, Proceed directly to step 3

Step 2c1a-SCR-331 reader

If your reader does not look like this, go to the next step.

In the 'Hardware' drop down, click 'USB.' On the right side of the screen under 'USB Device Tree' the window will display all hardware plugged into the USB ports on your Mac. Look for “SCRx31 USB Smart Card Reader.” If the Smart Card reader is present, look at 'Version' in the lower right corner of this box: If you have a number below 5.25, you need to update your firmware to 5.25. If you are already at 5.25, your reader is installed on your system, and no further hardware changes are required. You can now Quit System Profiler and continue to Step 3.

Step 2c1b-SCR-3310 v2.0 reader

If your reader does not look like this, go to the next step.

In the 'Hardware' drop down, click 'USB.' On the right side of the screen under 'USB Device Tree' the window will display all hardware plugged into the USB ports on your Mac. Look for “SCR3310 v2.0 USB Smart Card Reader.” If the Smart Card reader is present, look at 'Version' in the lower right corner of this box: If you have a number below 6.02, it will not read the 'G+D FIPS 201 SCE 7.0' CAC on Mac OS 11.xx.x or 10.15.7. I contacted HID (the company that makes these readers) on 14 DEC 2020 to find a way to update the firmware to 6.02. They said there is not firmware update for the reader. If your reader is older, you may need a new one. Please look at: https://militarycac.com/usbreaders.htm to find a compatible one. If you are already at version 6.02, your reader should work fine on your Mac and no further hardware changes are required. You can now Quit System Profiler and continue to Step 3.

Step 2c1c-SCR-3500A reader

If you have the SCR3500A P/N:905430-1 CAC reader,you may need to install this driver, as the one that installs automatically will not work on most Macs. Hold the control key [on your keyboard] when clicking the .pkg file [with your mouse], select [the word] Open

Step 3: Verify which version of MacOS you have?

(You need to know this information for step 6)

Step 3a: Click the Apple Icon in the upper left corner of your desktop and select 'About This Mac'

Step 3b: Look below Mac OS X for: Example: Version 10.X.X, or 11.X

Step 4: Figure out which CAC (ID Card) you have

(You need to know this information for step 6)

Look at the top back of your ID card for these card types. If you have any version other than the six shown below, you need to visit an ID card office and have it replaced. All CACs [other than these six] were supposed to be replaced prior to 1 October 2012.

Find out how to flip card over video

Step 5: Install the DoD certificates (for Safari and Chrome Users)

Go to Keychain Access

Click: Go (top of screen), Utilities, double click Keychain Access.app

(You can also type: keychain access using Spotlight (this is my preferred method))

Select login (under Keychains),and All Items (under Category).

Download the 5 files via links below (you may need to <ctrl> click, select Download Linked File As... on each link) Save to your downloads folder

Please know... IF You have any DoD certificates already located in your keychain access, you will need to delete them prior to running the AllCerts.p7b file below.

https://militarycac.com/maccerts/AllCerts.p7b,

https://militarycac.com/maccerts/RootCert2.cer,

https://militarycac.com/maccerts/RootCert3.cer,

https://militarycac.com/maccerts/RootCert4.cer, and

Double click each of the files to install certificates into the login section of keychain

Select the Kind column, verify the arrow is pointing up, scroll down to certificate, look for all of the following certificates:

DOD EMAIL CA-33 through DOD EMAIL CA-34,

DOD EMAIL CA-39 through DOD EMAIL CA-44,

DOD EMAIL CA-49 through DOD EMAIL CA-52,

DOD EMAIL CA-59,

DOD ID CA-33 through DOD ID CA-34,

DOD ID CA-39 through DOD ID CA-44,

DOD ID CA-49 through DOD ID CA-52,

DOD ID CA-59

DOD ID SW CA-35 through DOD ID SW CA-38,

DOD ID SW CA-45 through DOD ID SW CA-48,

DoD Root CA 2 through DoD Root CA 5,

DOD SW CA-53 through DOD SW CA-58, and

Mac

DOD SW CA-60 through DOD SW CA-61

NOTE: If you are missing any of the above certificates, you have 2 choices,

1. Delete all of them, and re-run the 5 files above, or

2. Download the allcerts.zip file and install each of the certificates you are missing individually.

Errors:

Error 100001 Solution

Error 100013 Solution

You may notice some of the certificates will have a red circle with a white X . This means your computer does not trust those certificates

You need to manually trust the DoD Root CA 2, 3, 4, & 5 certificates

Double click each of the DoD Root CA certificates, select the triangle next to Trust, in the When using this certificate: select Always Trust, repeat until all 4 do not have the red circle with a white X.

You may be prompted to enter computer password when you close the window

Red Hot Apples

Once you select Always Trust, your icon will have a light blue circle with a white + on it.

The 'bad certs' that have caused problems for Windows users may show up in the keychain access section on some Macs. These need to be deleted / moved to trash.

The DoD Root CA 2 & 3 you are removing has a light blue frame, leave the yellow frame version. The icons may or may not have a red circle with the white x

or DoD Interoperability Root CA 1 or CA 2 certificate
DoD Root CA 2 or 3 (light blue frame ONLY) certificate
or Federal Bridge CA 2016 or 2013 certificate
or Federal Common Policy CAcertificate
or or SHA-1 Federal Root CA G2 certificate
or US DoD CCEB Interoperability Root CA 1 certificate

If you have tried accessing CAC enabled sites prior to following these instructions, please go through this page before proceeding

Clearing the keychain (opens a new page)

Please come back to this page to continue installation instructions.

Step 5a: DoD certificate installation instructions for Firefox users

NOTE: Firefox will not work on Catalina (10.15.x), or last 4 versions of Mac OS if using the native Apple smartcard ability

Download AllCerts.zip, [remember where you save it].

double click the allcerts.zip file (it'll automatically extract into a new folder)

Option 1 to install the certificates (semi automated):

From inside the AllCerts extracted folder, select all of the certificates

<control> click (or Right click) the selected certificates, select Open With, Other...

In the Enable (selection box), change to All Applications

Select Firefox, then Open

You will see several dozen browser tabs open up, let it open as many as it wants..

You will eventually start seeing either of the 2 messages shown next

If the certificate is not already in Firefox, a window will pop up stating 'You have been asked to trust a new Certificate Authority (CA).'

Check all three boxes to allow the certificate to: identify websites, identify email users, and identify software developers

or

'Alert This certificate is already installed as a certificate authority.' Click OK

Once you've added all of the certificates...
• Click Firefox (word) (upper left of your screen)
• Preferences
• Advanced (tab)
• Press Network under the Advanced Tab
• In the Cached Web Content section, click Clear Now (button).
• Quit Firefox and restart it

Option 2 to install the certificates (very tedious manual):

Click Firefox (word) (upper left of your screen)

Preferences

Advanced (tab on left side of screen)

Certificates (tab)

View Certificates (button)

Authorities (tab)

Import (button)

Browse to the DoD certificates (AllCerts) extracted folder you downloaded and extracted above.

Note: You have to do this step for every single certificate

Note2: If the certificate is already in Firefox, a window will pop up stating: 'Alert This certificate is already installed as a certificate authority (CA).' Click OK

Note3: If the certificate is not already in Firefox, a window will pop up stating 'You have been asked to trust a new Certificate Authority (CA).'

Hots On Mac

Check all three boxes to allow the certificate to: identify websites, identify email users, and identify software developers

Once you've added all of the certificates...
• Click Firefox (word) (upper left of your screen)
• Preferences
• Advanced (tab)
• Press Network under the Advanced Tab
• In the Cached Web Content section, click Clear Now (button).
• Quit Firefox and restart it

Hots Macro

Step 6: Decide which CAC enabler you can / want to use

Only for Mac El Capitan (10.11.x or older)

After installing the CAC enabler, restart the computer and go to a CAC enabled website

NOTE: Mac OS Sierra (10.12.x), High Sierra (10.13.x), Mojave (10.14.x), Catalina (10.15.x), and Big Sur (11.1) computers no longer need a CAC Enabler.

Try to access the CAC enabled site you need to access now

Mac support provided by: Michael Danberry