# How to take a screenshot with a timer on Mac

> Press ⌘⇧5, open Options, and pick a 5- or 10-second Timer. For any other length, use screencapture -T in Terminal or hypershot's delayed capture.

Press **⌘⇧5** to open the Screenshot toolbar, click **Options**, choose **5 Seconds** or **10 Seconds** under **Timer**, then click **Capture**. macOS counts down and takes the shot on its own, which gives you time to open a menu or hover a tooltip first. If you need a length other than 5 or 10 seconds, Terminal's `screencapture -T` takes any number of seconds, and hypershot's delayed capture lets you set anywhere from 1 to 30 seconds and start it from one shortcut.

## The built-in way

The timer lives in the Screenshot toolbar (the same tools as the **Screenshot** app in Applications → Utilities).

1. Press **⌘⇧5**. The toolbar appears at the bottom of the screen.
2. Pick what to capture: **Capture Entire Screen**, **Capture Selected Window**, or **Capture Selected Portion**. For a portion, drag the selection box where you want it.
3. Click **Options** and, under **Timer**, choose **5 Seconds** or **10 Seconds**.
4. Click **Capture**. A countdown appears; use those seconds to open the menu, right-click, or hover the thing you want in the shot.

The same **Options** menu has **Show Mouse Pointer**, which you'll want on if the shot is about where to click.

It's a good tool, and it ships with every Mac. The limits are worth knowing:

- **Two lengths only.** 5 or 10 seconds. If the thing you're staging takes 15, you're out of luck.
- **Only from the toolbar.** **⌘⇧3** and **⌘⇧4** still fire immediately; the timer only applies to captures started from **⌘⇧5**.
- **It remembers.** The Timer setting sticks, so the next **⌘⇧5** capture will count down too until you set it back to **None**.

## From Terminal

`screencapture` is the command-line version of the same system tool, and its `-T` flag takes any number of seconds:

```sh
screencapture -T 15 ~/Desktop/later.png
```

That waits 15 seconds and captures the whole screen to your Desktop. Add `-C` to include the cursor, or `-c` to send the image to the clipboard instead of a file. It's handy in a script; for everyday use, typing a command every time you want a screenshot gets old fast.

## With hypershot

hypershot has three delayed capture modes, each with its own shortcut:

- **Delayed region**, `⌘⇧7`. Drag the area first, then the countdown starts and the capture fires on that area.
- **Delayed window**, `⌘⇧9`. Click the window first, then the countdown starts.
- **Delayed screen**, `⌘⇧8`. The countdown starts right away, then it captures the full screen.

You can also start them from the **Delayed** items in the menu bar menu. A countdown overlay shows the seconds left, and **Escape** cancels.

*Start the timer, open the menu, and the shot is taken with the menu still open.*

What's different from the built-in timer:

- **Any length from 1 to 30 seconds.** Set it once in **Settings → Captures → Capture delay** (5 by default). A one-second delay is enough to get your hand off the keyboard; thirty is enough to set up something fiddly.
- **You aim before the countdown, not after.** With a delayed region or window, the selection is already made, so when the countdown ends your hands are free and the menu stays open.
- **Your normal shortcuts keep firing instantly.** The delay belongs to its own shortcuts, so there's no setting to forget to turn off.
- **Cursor is your call.** **Show cursor in timed and fullscreen captures** in **Settings → Captures** (off by default).

The capture then lands like any other hypershot capture, ready to annotate, crop or [redact](/blog/redact-before-send/) before you send it. The full details are in the [delayed capture docs](/docs/hypershot/capturing/delayed-capture/).

## When a timer is the wrong tool

Timers are for things you can open and leave open. For a tooltip that vanishes the moment you move, or a menu that only stays up while the mouse is held, a countdown can still miss. hypershot has two other ways in: freeze the screen while you select, or [hold the mouse button](/docs/hypershot/capturing/hold-to-freeze/) to record a short burst and pick the frame afterwards. There's more on all three in [how to capture a menu, tooltip, or anything that disappears](/blog/capture-anything-that-disappears/).

## Does the Mac screenshot timer work for screen recordings?

Yes. The **Timer** option in **⌘⇧5** also delays the start of a screen recording. hypershot's delay is for still captures for now; its screen recording is coming soon.

## How do I set a screenshot timer on Windows?

Snipping Tool has a **Delay** menu. See [how to take a screenshot with a timer on Windows](/blog/screenshot-timer-windows/).

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From https://hypernuclear.com/blog/screenshot-timer-mac/