Apple has a very good, brief, written tutorial that describes the basics of taking screenshots.
Each of the techniques described in that tutorial results in a file being saved to your computer’s Desktop.
That is fine, but… your Desktop will end up cluttered with files over time.
There is a better way.
Use the clipboard
The clipboard on your Mac is a special space in memory that holds anything that you might want to move from one application to another application – be that text, an image, or something else.
You are probably familiar with these keyboard shortcuts already:
| Shortcut | Name | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Command-C | Copy | Copies an item or text to the clipboard |
| Command-V | Paste | Pastes an item or text from the clipboard into the current document |
We can capture a screenshot directly into the clipboard on our computer, and then paste that screenshot anywhere – such as straight into a Notion post.
Here is a very short example, showing how Mr. Gordon shared the results of his Name Plate task:
When you take a screenshot in this way, no files are left behind on your Desktop – you just get a screenshot, right where you want it. 😎