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On macOS, take a full-screen screenshot from Bash with screencapture "$HOME/Desktop/shot.png". The same utility can select a region or window, capture a fixed rectangle, target the main monitor, delay a capture, copy it to the clipboard, and choose PNG, JPEG, TIFF or PDF output. The examples below show each mode and the shell patterns needed for repeatable captures.
Prerequisites and the basic command
screencapture is built into macOS; run it from Terminal or any Bash script. Give the command a destination path. PNG is the documented default format.
screencapture "$HOME/Desktop/shot.png"Quote paths so spaces and shell metacharacters in folder or file names do not break the command. A successful run writes the image and returns control to the shell. If a file already exists, test your macOS version’s behavior before relying on overwrite semantics in an automated job.
Choose what to capture
Entire current display
#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail
out="$HOME/Desktop/full-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S).png"
screencapture "$out"
printf 'Saved %sn' "$out"The timestamp prevents repeated runs from using the same name. It also makes a useful shell-script pattern for periodic evidence or test captures.
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Main monitor only
screencapture -m "$HOME/Desktop/main-monitor.png"-m restricts a non-interactive capture to the main monitor. Multi-display arrangements differ, so verify which display macOS considers primary.
Interactive region or window
# Drag a rectangle, or use the onscreen selection controls
screencapture -i "$HOME/Desktop/selection.png"
# Window-oriented modes
screencapture -w "$HOME/Desktop/window.png"
screencapture -W "$HOME/Desktop/window-focused.png"-i starts interactive selection. The -w and -W switches select window-oriented modes; the exact interaction can vary by macOS release, so try them manually before embedding one in unattended automation.
Fixed rectangle
# x,y,width,height
screencapture -R 100,100,800,600 "$HOME/Desktop/rectangle.png"The rectangle is measured in screen coordinates. Display scaling, menu bars, and multiple monitors affect those coordinates. Confirm the origin and dimensions on the target Mac rather than assuming they match another machine.
Control format, timing, sound and cursor
Image formats
Use -t followed by a format listed by the manual: png, jpg, tiff or pdf.
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screencapture -t jpg "$HOME/Desktop/photo.jpg"
screencapture -t tiff "$HOME/Desktop/print.tiff"
screencapture -t pdf "$HOME/Desktop/page.pdf"Keep the filename extension consistent with the selected type. PNG is a practical default for interface text; JPEG is smaller for photographic content but introduces lossy compression.
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Delay the capture
# Wait five seconds before capturing
screencapture -T 5 "$HOME/Desktop/delayed.png"
# Delay and select JPEG explicitly
screencapture -T 5 -t jpg "$HOME/Desktop/delayed.jpg"-T takes a delay in seconds. A delay lets you open a menu, move a window, or prepare a demonstration without racing the command.
Suppress sound or include the pointer
screencapture -x "$HOME/Desktop/silent.png"
screencapture -C "$HOME/Desktop/with-cursor.png"
screencapture -C -x "$HOME/Desktop/with-cursor-silent.png"-x suppresses the capture sound. -C includes the cursor. These switches can be combined with display, region, format, and delay options.
Copy directly to the clipboard
screencapture -c-c writes the capture to the clipboard instead of a file. Paste it into an image editor, message, or document. Because no destination path is supplied, this is best for interactive use rather than archival scripts.
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Reusable Bash scripts
Validate a destination and create a dated capture
#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail
folder="${1:-$HOME/Desktop/screenshots}"
mkdir -p -- "$folder"
out="$folder/shot-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S).png"
screencapture -x -- "$out"
printf 'Screenshot saved to %sn' "$out"This script creates the destination directory, uses a unique timestamped name, and silences the shutter sound. Invoke it as ./capture.sh or pass another folder as the first argument. The -- protects paths beginning with a hyphen where supported; if a particular macOS release rejects it, remove that separator and keep the path quoted.
Capture repeatedly at an interval
#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail
folder="$HOME/Desktop/series"
mkdir -p -- "$folder"
interval=10
count=6
for ((i=1; i<=count; i++)); do
out="$folder/frame-$(printf '%03d' "$i")-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S).png"
screencapture -x -- "$out"
printf 'Wrote %sn' "$out"
(( i < count )) && sleep "$interval"
doneThis takes six captures, ten seconds apart. For a long-running monitor, replace count with a controlled stop condition and add log rotation so the directory cannot grow without limit. Avoid capturing sensitive information and confirm that the user session remains unlocked; a locked or unavailable display can produce an unusable result.
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Combine options for common jobs
| Goal | Command | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Quiet main-monitor PNG | screencapture -m -x "$HOME/Desktop/main.png" |
Main display, no sound |
| Interactive selection | screencapture -i "$HOME/Desktop/selection.png" |
User chooses a region or target |
| Known screen coordinates | screencapture -R 100,100,800,600 "$HOME/Desktop/rect.png" |
Repeatable rectangle |
| Delayed JPEG | screencapture -T 5 -t jpg "$HOME/Desktop/delayed.jpg" |
Five-second delay and JPEG output |
| Clipboard image | screencapture -c |
No file; image goes to clipboard |
| Pointer visible | screencapture -C "$HOME/Desktop/pointer.png" |
Includes cursor |
Permissions, display behavior and reliability
macOS privacy controls can prevent screen capture. If the command reports a permission failure or produces a blank image, open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen Recording, enable access for the application launching the command (for example, Terminal or your script runner), then restart that application if macOS requests it. Organization-managed Macs may enforce a policy that you cannot change.
Test interactive commands in the same display arrangement used in production. Coordinates can move when a laptop is docked, a monitor is rearranged, or display scaling changes. A fixed rectangle is deterministic only when those conditions remain stable. For unattended jobs, prefer a known destination, explicit format, delay where needed, and error checking with set -euo pipefail. Check that the output file exists and has nonzero size before handing it to another process:
if [[ ! -s "$out" ]]; then
printf 'Capture failed or produced an empty file: %sn' "$out" >&2
exit 1
fiTroubleshooting
“command not found”
screencapture is a macOS utility. It will not be available on Linux or Windows, and a nonstandard PATH can hide system tools. Confirm you are running macOS and try /usr/sbin/screencapture in a diagnostic shell.
The output is blank, black or missing
- Grant Screen Recording permission to the launching app, then restart it.
- Ensure the target display is awake and an interactive user session is present.
- Remove an experimental rectangle and test a full-screen capture to distinguish coordinate errors from permission problems.
- Check the file path, parent directory, and available disk space.
The wrong monitor or area is captured
Use -m for the main monitor, or recalibrate -R x,y,width,height after changing display arrangement or scaling. Use -i when a human can select the area safely.
The window selection does not behave as expected
Try both -w and -W, and test on the macOS release used by your script. Window-focused interaction is inherently more sensitive to the current desktop state than a fixed rectangle.
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The file type and extension disagree
Set the format explicitly with -t and use the matching extension. Downstream tools often infer type from the extension, even when the file bytes are valid.
Or skip the browser setup
For a website screenshot rather than the physical Mac display, ScreenshotNeo returns a PNG, JPEG, WebP or PDF from one request. It accepts consent banners before capture and removes more than 60 known consent platforms, newsletter popups and chat widgets; each cleanup step can be disabled. Bot checks, CAPTCHAs, blank pages, timeouts, failed loads and cache hits are not billed, and response headers identify the page verdict and whether it was billed. Its MCP server provides take_screenshot, get_page_info and capture_pdf tools for Claude, Cursor and other MCP clients.
cURL (see the ScreenshotNeo API documentation):
curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://stripe.com -o shot.webpPython:
import requests
r = requests.get("https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot", params={"access_key": "YOUR_API_KEY", "url": "https://stripe.com"}, timeout=90)
r.raise_for_status()
open("shot.webp", "wb").write(r.content)Node.js:
const q = new URLSearchParams({ access_key: 'YOUR_API_KEY', url: 'https://stripe.com' });
const res = await fetch(`https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot?${q}`);
if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`HTTP ${res.status}`);
const fs = await import('node:fs/promises');
await fs.writeFile('shot.webp', Buffer.from(await res.arrayBuffer()));The API also supports full-page lazy-image loading, CSS-selector element capture, dark mode, 12 device presets or any viewport, retina scale, PDF paper settings and page ranges, custom CSS and JavaScript, clicks before capture, hidden selectors, waits for selectors/delays/network idle, request and resource blocking, custom headers/cookies/user agents and Authorization, timezone and geolocation, transparent backgrounds, resizing, chosen cache TTLs, signed image links, asynchronous jobs with signed webhooks, bulk capture of up to 100 URLs per call, a usage API and an OpenAPI specification. Parameter names used by other screenshot APIs work as well.
Plans include 1,000 free shots each month with no card; paid plans start at $5 for 3,000 shots. Higher plans are Starter $5/3,000, Growth $15/15,000, Pro $39/60,000, Scale $99/250,000 and Business $249/1,000,000; yearly billing gives two months free, and every feature is included on every plan. Start with the free ScreenshotNeo account.
FAQ
Can screencapture record video?
The utility documents video-recording flags as well as still-image capture, but this article covers still screenshots. Consult the local manual with man screencapture for the recording switches available on your macOS release.
Which option is safest for an automated script?
A full-display or main-monitor capture with an explicit destination, format, timestamped filename and permission check has fewer environmental dependencies than interactive window selection.
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Can I capture a website without opening a Mac desktop session?
No. screencapture captures the macOS display. Use a website screenshot API such as ScreenshotNeo when the input is a URL and the job should run independently of a logged-in desktop.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can screencapture record video?
The utility documents video-recording flags as well as still-image capture, but this article covers still screenshots. Consult the local manual with man screencapture for the recording switches available on your macOS release.
Which option is safest for an automated script?
A full-display or main-monitor capture with an explicit destination, format, timestamped filename and permission check has fewer environmental dependencies than interactive window selection.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteCan I capture a website without opening a Mac desktop session?
No. screencapture captures the macOS display. Use a website screenshot API such as ScreenshotNeo when the input is a URL and the job should run independently of a logged-in desktop.
Quick Recap
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