Whether you are writing an email, reporting a bug, or making a presentation, screenshots can help you better show your ideas and communicate with others more easily. To capture screenshots on your Mac, you will need a snipping tool for Mac.

This post lists the eight best snipping tools for Mac that allow you to capture screenshots of your screen easily. Additionally, most snipping tools often come with additional features, such as the ability to annotate or edit the screenshot, making it even more helpful.

Let’s have a look!

1. Awesome Screenshot & Recorder

Reason for recommendation: The best all-in-one cloud snipping tool for Mac

OS: Mac, Windows

Lifetime free trial: Available

Awesome Screenshot & Recorder is a well-ranked browser extension that allows users to take screenshots of web pages or desktops and add annotations, comments, and other edits. It is available for several popular web browsers, including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Safari.

With Awesome Screenshot & Recorder, users can quickly and easily capture, upload to the cloud storage and share screenshots with others. This can be useful for creating tutorials, sharing information, or collaborating on projects.

This snipping tool for Mac and Windows can also help you record videos from the entire screen, any selected area, or a specific window. You are allowed to record the screen with audio and webcam at the same time!

Awesome Screenshot & Recorder

One extension for all your screen recordings & screenshots

Record screen and capture screenshots easily
Edit videos/images quickly
Store videos/images to the cloud and share instantly

Features:

Captures full web pages, selected areas of a page, or the visible part of your screen
Allows you to annotate the screenshot with text, shapes, and other visual elements
Lets you upload the screenshot to its free cloud storage to save your local space
Enables you to share the screenshot instantly via a link
Has the capability to record screen and edit it further

Capturing screenshots is easy with this snipping tool for Mac. Now, let’s check how to take a screenshot using Awesome Screenshot & Recorder.

Step 1. Download and install the Awesome Screenshot extension to your browser.

Step 2. Open the webpage that you want to capture.

Step 3. Click on the Awesome Screenshot icon in the browser toolbar to launch it. Hit the “Capture” tab, then select the type of screenshot you want to take: full page, visible part of the page, or a selected area.

awesome screenshot and recorder extension capture main interface

Step 4. The screenshot will be captured and displayed in the Awesome Screenshot interface. If desired, use the annotation tools to add text, shapes, and other visual elements to the screenshot. When you are finished, click on the "Done" button.

awesome screenshot & recorder extension annotation bar

Step 5. You can choose to Download it to your Mac, Copy or Print it directly, or Upload it to the cloud storage for easy sharing.

awesome screenshot & recorder screenshot download options

Note: The exact steps and interface may vary depending on the browser and version of the Awesome Screenshot extension you use.

2. Built-in snipping tool

Reason for recommendation: The quick and free snipping tool for Mac

OS: Mac

Lifetime free trial: Available

Have you ever heard that the Mac has a built-in snipping tool? This pre-installed snipping tool allows Mac users to capture various screenshots and record their screen.

It is very easy and quick to trigger the snipping tool - just press and hold the hotkeys: Shift+Command+5. Then, you will see a snipping toolbar that offers options for capturing the entire screen, a particular window, or just a portion of the screen. You can choose where you’d like to save the screenshot.

mac built in snipping tool

Pros:

Free to use. No download needed
Allows you to capture the entire screen, a specific window or a custom area
Lets you use hotkeys to launch it quickly

Cons:

Lacks annotation tools
No cloud storage

3. Snagit

Reason for recommendation: A powerful snipping tool for Mac and Windows

OS: Mac, Windows

Lifetime free trial: Not available

Snagit is a screen capture and recording software developed by TechSmith. It allows users to capture screen images, record video with audio and webcam, and edit the resulting content.

As a snipping tool for Mac and Windows, it allows you to capture your entire desktop, a custom region, a specific window, or a scrolling screen as you want. It also includes tools for adding annotations, effects, and other enhancements to the captured content. Once the screenshot is ready, Snagit lets you share it directly with popular apps, platforms, and cloud drives.

snagit interface

Pros:

Easy-to-use
Has the capability to capture images and videos
Offers powerful video editing and image annotation tools
Allows you to share the images/videos directly to various channels, such as email, social media, and cloud storage platforms.

Cons:

Only offers a 15-day free trial
Too pricey

4. Lightshot

Reason for recommendation: A quick snipping tool for Mac and Windows

OS: Mac, Windows, Linux

Lifetime free trial: Available

Lightshot is a free and easy-to-use screen capture tool that allows users to quickly take and share screenshots. It is available for Windows and macOS.

With Lightshot, you can capture any specific area of the screen, annotate and highlight important parts of the screenshot, and save it in various image formats. You can also share the screenshot online or upload it to the cloud for easy access. This snipping tool for Mac is a helpful tool for anyone who needs to capture and share screenshots for personal or professional purposes quickly.

lightshot interface Pros:

Free, fast, and lightweight
Provides basic image annotation tools
Allows you to save the screenshot to the cloud or social media

Cons:

No direct link to the screenshot
Doesn’t work on a 4K monitor
Has limited editing features

5. Monosnap

Reason for recommendation: Take, host, and share screenshots with ease

OS: Mac, Windows

Lifetime free trial: Available

Monosnap is a screenshot and screen recording tool that allows you to capture and share images and videos of your computer screen. It is available for Windows and Mac and will enable you to quickly and easily capture screenshots and record screencasts.

With this snipping tool, you can capture the entire screen, a specific window, or a selected region and edit your screenshots with various tools, including arrows, text, and shapes. You can also annotate your screenshots with notes and comments and share them with others via various online services such as email and social media.

Like Awesome Screenshot & Recorder, Monosnap provides cloud storage for users. So, users can upload their videos/snapshots to the cloud to free up their local storage space and easily share with others.

monosnap interface

Pros:

Allows you to record screen and take screenshots as well
Lets users host videos on Monosnap’s server
Enables you to adjust the settings for custom screen capture

Cons:

No video editing tools
Might not be stable sometimes

6. Greenshot

Reason for recommendation: A lightweight snipping tool for Mac and Windows

OS: Mac, Windows

Lifetime free trial: Available

Greenshot is a free and lightweight screenshot software program that allows users to quickly and easily capture and edit screenshots. Available for Mac and Windows, this snipping tool enables users to capture the entire screen, a specific window, or a selected area of the screen. You can even capture scrolling web pages from Internet Explorer.

Once the screenshot is captured, users can annotate it with text, shapes, and other elements and then save it or share it with others.

Mac users can download it for free from the Mac App Store. Windows users can easily download it from its official site.

greenshot interface

Pros:

Free to download and use on Windows
Allows users to annotate their screenshots with text, shapes, and other elements
Supports multiple image formats, including JPEG, PNG, and BMP

Cons:

The Mac version has fewer features than the Windows version
Doesn’t provide as good customer support as other Premium software do

7. Textsniper

Reason for recommendation: Take screenshot and extract text from images and other digital documents

OS: Mac

Lifetime free trial: Not available

Textsniper is more than just a simple snipping tool for Mac. It allows users to quickly and easily select and extract text from images and PDF files.

With Textsniper, users can select text from a screenshot or a scanned document and then copy and paste it into another document or text editor. This can be useful for extracting text from images and PDFs that cannot be easily edited or for quickly copying text from a source without manually typing it.

textsniper

Pros:

Can be used offline
Recognizes pictures and videos with text, barcodes, and QR codes

Cons:

Only offers a 7-day free trial
Requires macOS Catalina or newer

8. TinyTake

Reason for recommendation: An easy-to-use screen capture and video recording software

OS: Mac, Windows

Lifetime free trial: Available

TinyTake is a screen capture and video recording software for Mac and Windows. It allows users to capture images and videos of their computer screen and share them with others. The software is available for Windows and Mac operating systems.

With this snipping tool for Mac and Windows, users can capture a specific screen area or the entire screen. They can also annotate the images and videos they capture and share them through email or social media.

tinytake interface

Pros:

Allows users to capture images and videos
Enables you to annotate images
Offers cloud storage
Lets you share files directly to YouTube

Cons:

Has a 5-minute recording time limit for the free version
Some features are not available on Mac

FAQs about snipping tool for Mac

1. How do I snip and paste on Mac

To take a screenshot on Mac, you just press Shift + Command + 4 and drag the pointer to select the capture area and then press and hold Control and then take the screenshot.

To copy a screenshot to the Clipboard, press and hold the Control key while you take the screenshot. You can then paste the screenshot somewhere else.

2. Is there a free snipping tool for Mac

Yes, there is a built-in snipping tool on Mac called the Screenshot app. To use it, follow these steps:

Step 1. Press the Shift + Command + 5 keyboard shortcut to open the screenshot toolbar.

Step 2. Click on the type of screenshot you want to take from the available options:

Capture the entire screen: Click on the first option in the toolbar, which looks like a screen with a thick border around it.
Capture a window: Click on the second option in the toolbar, which looks like a screen with a thin border around it.
Capture a portion of the screen: Click on the third option in the toolbar, which looks like a crosshair cursor.

Step 3. After selecting the type of screenshot you want, the screenshot will be taken, and the screenshot thumbnail will be displayed in the bottom-right corner of the screen.

Step 4. Click on the thumbnail to open it and edit it using the tools in the Screenshot app.

Alternatively, you can use the Shift + Command + 4 keyboard shortcut to take a screenshot of a specific area of the screen. When you press this shortcut, your cursor will turn into a crosshair. You can then click and drag to select the area of the screen you want to capture and release the mouse button to take the screenshot.

3. What is the alternative to snip on Mac

Awesome Screenshot & Recorder is the best alternative to Snip on Mac. It helps you to capture screenshots from scrolling web pages, any custom areas, or a visible part. It also offers annotation tools to resize, blur, or add text, highlights, and other elements to the screenshots. You can download the images to your Mac, host them on its website, or share it instantly via a link.

8 Best Snipping Tools for Mac

Miley Shen

Miley Shen