How to Paste a Screenshot on a Mac (Into Any App)

On Windows, a screenshot goes straight to the clipboard. On a Mac, the standard shortcuts (⇧ ⌘ 3 and ⇧ ⌘ 4) save a file to your Desktop instead. So you press ⌘ V in a chat and nothing happens, or the last thing you copied appears instead.

Here are four ways to paste a screenshot, from fastest to most flexible.

1. Screenshot straight to the clipboard (fastest)

1. Press ⌃ ⇧ ⌘ 4 and drag over the area you want. (Use ⌃ ⇧ ⌘ 3 for the whole screen.)
2. Click where you want the image: a message, an email, a document, a Slack box.
3. Press ⌘ V.

Holding Control is the whole trick: it sends the screenshot to the clipboard instead of saving a file. To capture one window, press ⌃ ⇧ ⌘ 4, then Space, then click the window. More in how to take a screenshot to the clipboard.

2. Drag the floating thumbnail

After a normal screenshot, a thumbnail appears in the bottom-right corner for a few seconds. Drag it straight into Mail, Messages, Slack, a Pages document or a browser upload box. It drops in like a file, and nothing is saved to the Desktop if you drag it away before it disappears.

3. Copy the screenshot file and paste it

1. Find the screenshot on your Desktop (or wherever yours go; see where screenshots go on Mac).
2. Click it once and press ⌘ C.
3. Go to the app and press ⌘ V.

Mail, Messages, Slack and most chat apps accept a pasted image file. Some apps, especially text editors, paste the file's name instead. If that happens, use method 4.

4. Open it in Preview and copy the image

1. Double-click the screenshot to open it in Preview.
2. Press ⌘ A to select all, then ⌘ C.
3. Paste with ⌘ V.

This copies the image itself, not the file, so it pastes into almost anything, including Word, Google Docs and design apps. You can also crop it first: drag over part of the image in Preview, then copy.

Make clipboard screenshots the default

If you always want to paste rather than save, press ⇧ ⌘ 5, click Options, and choose Clipboard under Save to. Every screenshot now goes to the clipboard, even without Control.

The catch: a clipboard screenshot is never saved. Copy anything else and it's gone. If you might need it again, keep a clipboard history.

Paste screenshots from earlier, not just the last one

The clipboard holds one item, so clipboard screenshots disappear the moment you copy something else. EasyPaste keeps them. Every screenshot you copy, and every new screenshot in your screenshot folder, lands in a visual history on your Mac:

• Press ⌃ ⌘ V, pick the screenshot (you see the image, not a file name), press Return, then ⌘ V.
• Search by the words inside the screenshot: "invoice", an error message, a name.
• On a MacBook with a notch, hover the notch and drag a recent screenshot straight into the app you're using.

Quick reference

Frequently asked questions

Why can't I paste my screenshot on a Mac?

Standard Mac screenshots are saved as files, not copied. Use Control-Shift-Command-4 to copy the screenshot to the clipboard, or select the saved file in Finder and press Command-C before pasting.

How do I screenshot and paste on a MacBook?

Press Control-Shift-Command-4, drag over the area, then click where you want it and press Command-V. It works the same on every MacBook and Mac.

How do I paste a screenshot into an email on Mac?

Copy the screenshot with Control-Shift-Command-4, click in the message body and press Command-V. Or drag the screenshot's floating thumbnail into the email.

Where does a clipboard screenshot go?

Nowhere on disk. It stays on the clipboard until you copy something else. Paste it into Preview with File, New from Clipboard if you want to save it as a file.