Why doesn't "Screenshot" make it clear that it is in VIDEO mode?

Question

Why doesn't "Screenshot" make it clear that it is in VIDEO mode?

I did something or another to put it into video mode. There is no obvious way to put it into or out of that mode, so once I've stumble-fingered my way into that mode, that's it. I know that most of the folks here are customers and not Apple folks, but they do wander by. If you are an Apple person, FILE A BUG REPORT. User interfaces that are user unfriendly are BUGS.

P.S. Ten minutes later and I still haven't figured out how to get it out of video mode.

IT SHOULD NOT BE THAT HARD TO FIGURE OUT.

See if deleting these two files helps
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.screencapture.plist
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.screencaptureui.plist

Nope. Not useful. It's still in record mode.

iMac 27″ 5K

Posted on Apr 5, 2024 9:16 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Luis Sequeira1

Level 9

75,610 points

Apr 5, 2024 9:41 AM in response to Youdonotneedauniqueusername

What?!

You press Command-Shift-5 and you see this:

The three on the left are stills, the two in the middle are video.

Just click on what you want, and the next time you do it again it will be selected.

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Answer 2

Apr 5, 2024 9:43 AM in response to Youdonotneedauniqueusername

The Screenshot app does not have a persistent video mode. The only way for it to be in Video mode is if you manually select one of the Record the screen options in the toolbar:

From left to right, the first three are pictures only. Entire Screen, Selected Window, and specific area.

The next 2 are the screen record (video) options: Entire Screen and Selected portion only.

Using the keyboard shortcuts Command+shift+3 or 4 takes a picture only. Using Command+shift+5, opens the toolbar.

I guess the real question is, how exactly are you taking a screen shot then?

click here ➜ Take screenshots or screen recordings on Mac - Apple Support

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Answer 3

Apr 5, 2024 10:15 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

So that little circle in the lower right means video. (lower left on my system) That is less than obvious to me. Maybe my problem, then, is that I'm primarily a command line guy. :) Since Screenshot saves its last state and I clicked that select-a-video icon, it remembered that and kept going back to it. I tried to end the capture with "Enter" but, instead, I needed to repeat the Cmd-Sft-5 (and not numpad-5 !!). Anyway, it's back to normal (thank you) and it feels to me like Apple ought to put more usability clues into the way it displays itself.

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Answer 4

BDAqua

Level 10

251,263 points

Apr 5, 2024 9:43 AM in response to Youdonotneedauniqueusername

Did you click the stop button?

The stop button is in the top menu. It should be to the far left of your icons on the top right of the screen.

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Answer 5

Apr 5, 2024 12:06 PM in response to Youdonotneedauniqueusername

There is a stop button that shows up in the menu bar when recording video.

Also: if you are recording just a still, it may be easier to press Command-Shift-4 instead of Command-Shift-5.

The former only records stills.

How do you activate a screen grab from Terminal?

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Why doesn't "Screenshot" make it clear that it is in VIDEO mode?

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