How to save an image on your Mac computer in 3 different ways

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  • If you find a picture online or in a document that you want to save, knowing a few ways to save an image on your Mac computer will come in handy.
  • You can import images you’ve saved into a folder, onto your Mac’s desktop, or even insert them directly into various types of files.
  • With a screen capture, you can even save images to your Mac from sites that won’t let you download them.
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Whether you are putting together a presentation for the office, preparing a project for school, or saving your favorite photos from a friend’s Facebook page, it’s easy to save images on a Mac computer. 

In fact, there are three easy ways to save an image on a Mac, each of which has its own benefits. 

Once you know how, you can save any image to your Mac, whether it’s from a website, a social media platform, or even a PDF that is supposed to be locked against saving.

Here are the three best ways to save images on Macs.

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How to save an image on a Mac computer

Right click to save an image on a Mac

For most images, this is the best way to save them on a Mac, as it offers you the most control. Remember that using two fingers to tap on the track pad is the same as right clicking on a Mac. And if you’re using a mouse with no separate right click, you can hold the Control button on your keyboard as you click to activate a right click.

1. Right click on the image, then select “Save Image As…” from the dropdown menu.

Click “Save Image As…” to rename the image and select where it will be saved to.
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2. Enter the file name you want to use for the selected image, and choose where the file will be saved.

3. Click the blue “Save” button.

You can rename your file before you save it.
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Drag-and-drop to save an image on Mac

Dragging is the quickest and simplest way to save an image on a Mac, but it offers less control than right clicking, as you can’t name the file.

1. Left click and hold on the image to be saved.

2. Drag it to its chosen destination, which can be the desktop, a folder on the desktop, an open folder, or even right into a Word or Pages (or similar) document.

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3. When a green circle with a “+” symbol appears, release the image to drop it into its new location.

Screen capture to save an image on Mac

A screen capture on a Mac — also known as a screenshot, or a “print screen” on Windows — lets you capture any image, even ones that you can’t directly download, such as those on Instagram or a PDF.

  • To take a screenshot of a specific image or section of the screen, hit “Command + Shift + 4” at the same time, then left click and hold, dragging a box around the content to be saved.
  • To screenshot the entire monitor on a Mac, hit “Command + Shift + 3” at the same time.

Note that in both cases, the image will be saved to your Mac’s desktop. For more info on how to take a screenshot, check out our article, “How to take a screenshot on a Mac, and find that screenshot on your computer later.”

Related coverage from How To Do Everything: Tech:

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  • How to use Parental Controls to block websites on a Mac to help protect children or to increase productivity

  • How to set a password on your Mac computer and lock it, in 5 different ways

  • How to create folders on a Mac computer and organize your files

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